Dev Diwali or Dev Deepawali – Diwali of the Gods Triveni Sangam Prayagraj

Dev Deepawali is celebrated 15 days after Diwali. The festival of lights as we all know began with the return of Lord Rama from his exile to Ayodhya. Dev Diwali marks the culmination of the Diwali celebrations which is considered to be the grand finale when Gods descend on earth. It is celebrated in a big way in Varanasi. That day begins with bathing early morning to mark Kartik Purnima and ends with a massive Ganga aarti on the ghats. Hundreds of lamps are lit on the steps of the ghats. However this article will focus on Prayagraj instead which unlike Varanasi does not have this one limitation.

History and significance of Dev Deepawali

Prabodhini Ekadashi signifies the end of the four month sleep of Vishnu. This period is also called Chaturmas. Awakening of Vishnu also signals the end of the monsoon season during marriages and other religious rituals are forbidden. Prabodhini Ekadashi is the most significant of the ekadashi where some people even observe a nirjal or waterless fast. Many others who do not fast regularly observe a fruit only fast.

The marriage season begins with tulsi vivah on the day of Probodhini Ekadashi. Four days later is another significant event in the Hindu calendar, Kartik Purnima. It is on this day that Dev Deepavali is celebrated at Benaras.

Dev Deepawali celebrates the victory of Shiva over Tripurasura who was a combination of three demons, Vidyumali, Tarakaksha and Viryavana. These three demons performed the most difficult penance to please Bramha and managed to obtain a boon from him. This boon make them almost immortal because they could only be killed by a single arrow, together. As part of the boon they also got a golden fort in heaven, silver fort in the sky and iron fort on earth. All the three forts were scheduled to align once in 1000 years and together they were called Tripura. This celestial event happened just for one second. Asuras started staying in these forts and prosper. Gods were not happy with this and went to Bramha and Shiva for help, but since the demons had done nothing wrong, they expressed inability to do anything. Vishnu however had a plan in mind to trick the asuras. Things worked as per the plan which finally culminated in the demons denouncing the vedas and they stopped worshipping the Shiv ling. This angered Shiva who now took upon the task to destroy Tripura.

At the exact moment, Shiva wielded the most powerful weapon Pashupatastra which fired a single arrow into the three forts. This destroyed the three forts along with the trio of asuras who had built them. This was a massive war between the asuras and Gods. Shiva got a special chariot constructed which was made entirely of gold. Bramha took the role of his charioteer. It was this battle that earned Shiva the two titles – Pasupatinath and Tripurantaka.

Why Varanasi?

The ghats are believed to be the spot where Gods descended to take a dip in the holy Ganga river. The early morning Kartik snan at Varanasi is considered to be spiritually very important. However the ritual of lighting earthen lamps is quite recent. It began in 1985 at the Panchganga Ghat. Another event is held at the ghats by the Ganga Seva Nidhi. Patriotic songs are sung as well as various programs organised by the public and members of the Armed Forces.

Varanasi is slowing taking the rightful place at the most important spiritual destination of Hinduism. However the tradition of lighting oil lamps on the banks of river Ganga is not just limited to Varanasi only.

Varanasi versus Prayagraj

Varanasi might be the oldest occupied city in the world and has the largest number of ghats (84) inside the city, but it has reached saturation point of tourism. The city has narrow streets, even narrower ghats, the hotels are now full all year long and there are too much tourists around.

In contrast, Prayaraj has a massive open space in the triveni sangam area itself. A little farther away the Saraswati Ghat is also a quieter option. However the massive expanse of Arail Ghat is also there for the taking.

Year 2023 marked the spectacular aim of lighting lakhs and lakhs of diyas by the people of Prayagraj, easily surpassing the record of hundred of diyas by the people of Varanasi.

So if you are aiming for something simple and different, put Prayagraj on your itinerary. It has ample parking and affordable hotel options for stay too. Within a span of five days you can enjoy Prabodhini Ekadashi, chaat puja and Kartik Purnima with the peace and quiet of Sangam city.

Rest I will leave it to the visual to say their story.