Let There Be Light

Light and sound played a very important role in Ancient India. The ritual of lighting a lamp has been a part of our Indian culture since long and so is the practice of ringing the bell during prayers. 

In the ancient times the sages lit the holy fire, also known as "Yagna". They believed that the light from the holy fire helps to destroy all the evil powers and the darkness around it. The same thought also prevails now in our daily customs.

Sound was also an integral part of the ancient rituals. Ringing the holy bell, playing the Conch shell, chanting of "Aum" all were important in the daily rituals. While each of them had their individual significance. It was widely believed that sound in different forms had this ability to dispel fear and negativity. The sound of "Aum", is considered to be very powerful and helps in awakening one's inner self as well.

All the rituals were performed in accordance with the position of the celestial bodies, especially the sun and moon. The rays of the moon has played an important role in the religious offerings. The "Yagnas" which were performed in the night were according to the position of the moon,  full moon, new moon, waxing gibbous & waning gibbous.

I don't believe light or sound will kill virus, but light and sound are those weapons which can bring positivity and togetherness. The ritual of lighting a lamp in "Tulsimanch" and playing the conch shell in the evening in many parts of India is essentially around the powers of positivity and togetherness and also a mark of showing respect to the almighty so that we can be guided by the divine blessings.  

Offlet, there has been lot of controversies regarding the Prime Minister's call for lighting Diya to dispel the darkness spread by Corona Virus. I find the PM's call extremely encouraging and support this wholeheartedly. I think our respected PM Modiji told people to lit any lights to show power of togetherness and destroy all negative vibes.

I lit candles to show respect to my nation, my fellow citizen and to all those who have dedicated themselves to save our lives. My special salute to all doctors and nurses and other medical staffs and to all the support staffs also who r continuously serving us in this critical situation. My special salute to police department also for protecting law and order selflessly.

I finish today with the lyrics of a beautiful Bengali song sang by Lata Mangeshkar, which tells how the auspicious "Mangal Dweep" helps to dispel darkness and bring us closer to our inner god.

"Mangal dweep jwele

Andhakarer duchokh aloy bharo prabhu

Tabu jara biswas kare na ko tumi acho

Tader marjona karo prabhu"

JAI HIND

Swati Mukherjee, 

Gurgaon, India

PS: I posted a small write up in Facebook on 5th April to show my support to the PM's initiative. There were some major controversies on my post. After that incident, some people requested me to write in my blog on "why I support this initiative". Through this blog, I want to clarify that my support to this initiative was not from any political perspective but purely from supporting the good intention behind this initiative.