Shine, within !

Which else shall beautify a home
But the flame of a lovely lamp
Which else shall adorn the mind
But the light of wisdom deep?
- Swami Chinmayananda

The Karthigai Deepam is one of the most important festivals of the ancient Tamils and is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Karthigai (mid Nov-mid Dec). One of the earliest references to the festival is found in the Ahananuru, a book of poems, which dates back to the Sangam Age (200 B.C. to 300 A.D.). Houses and streets are lit up with rows of oil lamps (deepam) the evening of the festival day.

The wick in the traditional oil lamp symbolizes ego and the oil used symbolizes our negative tendencies. When we are lit by self knowledge, the negative tendencies (oil) melt away and finally the ego (wick) perishes. When the ego perishes, we realize that we are all part of the Divine.

n’s “Fall” from Divinity comes from Ego. Ego makes us cover our true personalities and hide behind make-up, fashion and snobbery. Ego makes us crave and hence suffer. Ego is the Forbidden Fruit that has cast us out of Paradise. -  Excerpt from http://devdutt.com/ego-is-the-forbidden-fruit/

Sacred Texts often liken the gleam of the lamp to the infinite form of God.

Here is a beautiful verse from Thiruvacagam (meaning, Sacred Utterances) by Tamil poet, saint, and sage Manikka-Vachagar.

O Ancient one, who cuts the root of every servile bond
You taught me the way to grasp thee
You accepted my worship by entering my soul
and showed me thy flowery feet

Resplendent Lamp ! Thou mystic Form of splendour bright !
My Wealth of bliss ! O Lord Siva !
Ruler Supreme, I’ve seized thee, held thee fast,
Henceforth,
Whither grace imparting, woulds’t thou rise?

In Karnataka, Karthigai is celebrated about 2-3 weeks earlier and therefore all pictures above were shot on 21-Nov-2011, at a nearby temple, during the event of Karthigai somavara (Monday) here in Bangalore, India.