Why do we Light a Lamp?, by Ravi Kiran
As a part of the Hindu culture there are many practices which we follow diligently. We have often wondered what is the explanation behind them. One such practice is lighting a lamp. In almost every Hindu home, a lamp is lit daily before the altar of the Lord. All auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the lamp, which is often maintained right through the function. What is the reason behind this practice?
Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness, ignorance. Knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievements can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth. Why not light a bulb or tube light ? That too would remove darkness. But the traditional oil lamp has a further spiritual significance. The oil/ghee in the lamp symbolizes our vasanas or negative tendencies and the wick, the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the vaasanas get slowly exhausted and the ego too finally perishes. The flame of a lamp always burns upwards. Similarly, we should acquire such knowledge so as to take us towards higher ideals.
Ravi Kiran is a PhD student at the Computer Science Department at University of Washington. You can reach him at kiran@cs.washington.edu
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May 15th, 2008 15:20
I want more details pl.
July 11th, 2008 06:25
It is pleasing to note that many contributors of this site are outside of India, well Hindu culture doesn’t seem too weak as it is after all.
January 7th, 2009 07:47
“Thanks for provide me this informative info. Great! I am really waiting for your next post.
Thanks for sharing!”
April 2nd, 2009 11:59
Hi from Mauritius! I always light Diyas on Diwali…as a remembrance of the story of Ram and his return…But I didn’t realise the spiritual side of the act…Thank you for keeping the torch alive and sharing the knowledge! That’s the problem today I think…there is not enough commitment on the part of temples & “authorities” in various countries where Hindus are settled to explain to people, to give meaning to rituals & practices..all we are left with is a couple of religious priests who just say prayers in Sanskrit without actually demystifying the deep meaning of these words! It is so sad that the religious institutions are failing so many of their people! I commend your initiative and will come back again!