The floors are washed and wiped, the wardrobes are cleaned, all corners of the house are dusted and for once, the store where everything is stuffed is also cleared. This is perhaps the story of every household a few days before Diwali. Be it the fancy houses in the cities or small huts in remote villages, no one wants to leave a bit of dirt in their houses. Ever wondered why everyone is indulged in cleaning their houses until it’s spick and span during the Diwali days?
Marilyn Monroe once said, “Everything happens for a reason”. Well, we can’t say about everything but the Pre - Diwali cleaning is done for a special reason.
Diwali is the festival of lights, and it celebrates the victory of good over evil. On this day, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. People perform pooja and pray for their prosperity. They hope for the Goddess to enter their house and bless them with eternal wealth and good health. In light of the popular religious beliefs, it is assumed that Lakshmiji, as we call her, will only enter the house if it is clean, hence the pre - diwali cleaning routine.
Also, giving your home a good tough cleaning, decluttering, and decorations signify the purity of mind, body, and soul. It’s also a way of saying, ‘it’s time to start anew’. Diwali is in fact the new year, according to the Hindu calendar.
How and what to clean?
A general rule of thumb is to throw out whatever you have not used in the past 6 months. Replace old faulty appliances like kitchen appliances, the old TV, toys, and chipped or broken decorations around the house apart from the regular sweeping, mopping and dusting. Now that you know what to do and why to do it, what are you waiting for? Get your hands dirty before the festival begins.