Choti Diwali: The Bath Before Dawn

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Dharma Katha · Season 4: The Road to Diwali · Episode 150 It is still dark. Four in the morning, perhaps a little after. The house is cold. Somewhere in Chennai, a grandmother is warming sesame oil in a small pan, and waking the children one by one, and putting a dab of warm oil on each head. Somewhere in Pune, a boy is standing barefoot on a doorstep, about to crush a small bitter fruit under his heel. Somewhere in Kolkata, a family is counting out fourteen little clay lamps, to set out tonight for fourteen generations of the dead. And in Ayodhya, at the temple on the hill called Hanumangarhi, the bells are already ringing. Same day. Same country. Very different mornings. Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 149 first. Source note. Label: tradition. Abhyanga snan, the Ganga snanam greeting in South India, Roop Chaudas, the crushing of the karit and the Narakasura effigies of Goa, Bhoot Chaturdashi with its fourteen greens and fourteen lamps, Kali Chaudas, and Hanuman Jayanti on Kartik Krishna Chaturdashi in Ayodhya are living regional traditions, and practice differs between communities. The link between the oil bath and Naraka's death is popular tradition. The reflections are my own. Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.