Faith

Diwali or 'The Festival of Light', is the biggest event on the Hindu calendar. As the name suggests, it's also a big night for fireworks.

The date of Diwali is set by the position of the moon, which also marks the Indian New Year. Berkshire Hindu, Harish Raichura always enjoys the festivities with his family and has many stories from past Diwali celebrations.

He told BBC Berkshire that Diwali was all about celebrating the Hindu Lord Ram.

"For centuries Hindus have celebrated 'The Festival of Light' by lighting their homes to help Lord Rama find his way home from years of exile."

The day is celebrated with people lighting diyas and candles all around their house. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening to seek divine blessings from the Goddess of Wealth. Diwali gifts are exchanged amongst friends and families.

Harish says,

Diwali

"In this country a lot of people tend to go to organised firework displays rather than having fireworks in their back garden.

"However back home in India, there’s intense rivalry between families about who has the biggest box of fireworks and where they're made."

He adds, 

"There's good meaning behind it all. It's simply a case of people wanting to show the most joy on this occasion.

Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. The reason for this is that Sikhism and Jainism stem from Hinduism.

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions around, dating back to almost Egyptian times. There have been many religions created as branches of Hinduism including Buddhism.

The auspicious day of Diwali is decided by the moon position. According to the Hindu calendar, Amavasya or the 'no moon day' is considered the perfect day for Diwali.

The dark night comes after every fortnight and in the Hindu month of Kartik (October - November) it marks the festive occasion.

The Diwali date holds an imperative meaning among Hindus, since the day is reckoned with Lord Rama's coronation ceremony as the King of Ayodhya.

This took place on his return to the kingdom, after 14 years of exile, along with his wife Sita and brother Laxman, after killing the demon, King Ravana.

Fireworks

Harish has always been a big fan of Diwali and promises that this year’s celebrations will be as colourful as ever.

Over the years Harish has had one or two near misses with Diwali fireworks. He recalls one particular instance where his neighbour fell foul of one particular vociferous pyrotechnic. 

"We had one of these display rockets. It was about four foot high and reached up to my stomach. We put it in the ground and lit it.

"However, the stick had become stuck in the ground, the top bit went off and started spinning around the trees in my garden. It flew into next door's garden and set their dog off. It was quite scary."

To hear more people talk about their life and faith, tune into Clare Catford, every Sunday morning, 6am – 9am on BBC Radio Berkshire.