Decorative Diya: Creative Ideas to Brighten-Up Home
Diwali, often referred to as Divali or Deepawali, is a significant holiday that is observed over five days by people of several religions in many regions of India. It is also known as "the festival of lights." Numerous Hindus celebrate Diwali by igniting little oil lights called "diyas" in honour of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and riches. The lights stand for the victory of light over evil and darkness.
Lighting of Diyas is an integral part of Diwali. These little lights are lighted in every residence beginning in the days leading up to the festival. But do you understand what they mean? Diyas characterize virtue and purity, and lighting one signifies escaping the shadows and entering the light. Additionally, as Deepavali is observed on the day of the new moon, when it is dark everywhere, lighting these lights is a way to chase away the shadows. Lighting the lights also symbolises banishing vices like greed, rage, and other emotions. The lights also represent luck. Traditionally, ghee (clarified butter) was used to light diyas, although currently oil is also often used. According to history, the little diyas are traditionally purchased on Ashwin Purnima, a full moon day that falls approximately two weeks before Diwali. Then, to prepare them for the Diwali puja, the diyas are submerged in water. As modernization has left no part of our lives untouched, therefore, nowadays people tend to use Decorative Diyas for Diwali.
There are many types of decorative diya. Without a doubt, the retail marketplaces have been overrun by the Chinese market for lights and fireworks. These lights come in a wide range of forms and patterns, are inexpensive, colourful, and brilliant. Particularly the designer clay lights are rather pricey. However, many people find that lighting clay lamps is both time-consuming and costly. It must be filled with oil, then the wicks must be correctly positioned before being lit. This requires time. Additionally, both oil and diyas are pricey. Lights have taken the place of the traditional diya lighting because of this.
Our neighbourhood potters, artists, and craftspeople start working hard on lamps and diyas around the time of Diwali. The price of the "mitti" (clay) used to make ceramics has also increased. Even so, potters begin casting and burning their goods during Durga Puja and begin spinning the wheels to manufacture the clay lamps for Diwali. They look forward to festivals because they can make more money than they do normally. Sadly, this was not the case in recent years since more individuals chose to use electric lights. People were increasingly eager to purchase these items from upscale malls and retail establishments at twice the price as mall culture took hold.
Thus, the obvious question is what are these decorative diyas, and how are they different from regular Diyas? To be honest, there is no significant difference between a normal diya and a decorative diya. Let us discuss a normal clay diya first, before we elaborate on decorative diyas. Traditional earthen diyas are made out of clay. These diyas have been in use for centuries, and are lit using oil. The diya has an hollowed out section, along its periphery into which oil is poured. This oil can be anything, such as Gingelly oil, mustard oil, peanut oil, or any other vegetable oil. A cotton wick is dipped in this oil with one end of the wick protruding out of the diya, on the cusp made on the side of it. This end is lighted and the fire continue to burn as long as the wick remains dipped in oil. The simplest part of this is that when the oil level runs low, one has to simply add more oil to it to keep the diya burning. A decorative diya is a type of an earthen diya that has intricate design, pattern and shapes to make the diya look beautiful. Artisans make use of clay, wax and other materials to make such diyas. These diyas can be made into the shape of deities, beautiful birds and animals or even modern designs. In many cases, on can see multiple diyas, interconnected to each other to provide a beautiful design to the diyas. Sometimes, artisans also use stones and other beads to add along the walls of the diya. To make these diyas simpler to use, they come with prefilled paraffin wax, with the lighting end exposed for ease of access. Therefore, one can also say that these diyas are a combination of traditional clay diyas and candles. As the wax burns out, one can either refill the diya with more wax or simply add oil and a new wick to it, and continue using it.
What are some beautiful decorative diya for Diwali?
As explained above, decorative diyas are more expensive than traditional diyas, but given the trend, it is the first choice preference of everyone who loves to use traditional methods to dispel darkness through diyas instead of using cheap LED lights. The online space is flooded with many kinds of decorative diyas for Diwali, that come in mind boggling shapes and design. These elegant, refined, sophisticated, and discriminating Diwali diyas are purposefully made to radiate positive, strong, and calming energies that provide festival goers pleasure and tranquilly. Some of the most popular decorative diyas are the terracotta diyas, brass diyas, etc. Also popular are the diyas that are designed using LED as candles. This a quite a novel design, and good quality products, manufactured in India, would definitely last a long time.
How to make decorative diyas at home and at the office?
One need not make decorative diyas, but rather buy them online on any of the marketplaces. There you can choose between different designs and shapes, along with the materials used in the diyas. In order to decorate the home or office space, generally celebrants first made a beautiful Rangoli. These decorative diyas can be placed on the periphery of this design to provide a holistic but beautiful effect. In order to make your own decorative diya, you can let your imagination run wild. You can start off by using reusable earthern clay lamps, bought from the potter. The simplest way to decorative diyas is to use acrylic paints. You can select any design and sketch the outline of it, on the diya. You can use vibrant colours to fill in the design. Also, you can use glitter and other craft material to make your design stand out.
Another way of making these diyas, would be the use of wax. Oil is expensive, so you can replace oil with wax. In a can or bowl, you can put some bees wax and heat it till it melts. Then you can put a cotton wick inside your decorative diya, and pour the hot wax till the brim. Allow it to cool. In order to ensure you have replacement, you can use one earthen lamp, and use it as a mould for your wax replacement. As soon as the one in the decorative diya extinguishes, you can replace that with a new wax one. Ensure that before you put the wick in the wax, coat it uniformly with the wax, so that it burns longer and doesn’t die out. Remember, the only limit to decorative diyas is the limit of your imagination. Get creative and get exploring new designs and ideas.
Conclusion
Diwali is the time of the year when light must overcome darkness and evil must make way for goodness. The diyas are important for the festival of Diwali, andthe marketplace is flooded with plenty of options to choose from. The trend now is to use decorative designer diyas that are environment friendly. Also, buying diyas from local potters would be a beneficial way for you to appreciate their craft. The glorious light of a diya is irreplaceable. Despite its simplicity and brown clay colour, lighting an earthen diya symbolizes the commencement of something positive in our lives. The homes' characteristic glitter and charm are provided by earthen lighting. The potters who create the tiny, colourful lamps use their own unique magic, and the flickering light is quite captivating. Decorative lamps come in different price ranges and one should always explore various buying options before procuring one. As a thumb rule, let us avoid imported Chinese goods and focus on our Indian crafted diyas. So go out and buy your diyas!
FAQs: Decorative diyas on Diwali
Q. How do I decorate a home with decorative diyas on Diwali?
Ans. There are many ready to use decorative designs and packets that come handy for this purpose. You can select the shape of Rangoli and follow the step by step process to design it on the floor. Hence forth, you can add decorative diyas to this mix.
Q. Where can I buy decorative diyas?
Ans. You can buy them online of many different shopping sites such as Amazon, Flipkart etc. However, do think of the potters in your neighbourhood. Support them by purchasing heir wares and their traditionally made decorative diyas.
Q. How do I decorate a home with decorative diyas on Diwali?
Ans. Diwali isn't complete until you light a few diyas and scatter them around your home, on windows, and at the entrance.
Q. Where can I buy decorative diyas?
Ans. Decorative Diyas may be purchased from a plethora of web-based retailers. To help out some local folks, though, it's preferable to track down some potters and buy some decorative diyas from them.