Diwali

Diwali (or Deepavali, the "festival of lights") is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern hemisphere) every year. Arguably the most important festival in Hinduism, it is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India,Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November.

Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of fertility and prosperity. After puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends. Deepavali also marks a major shopping period in nations where it is celebrated.

Jayam Ravi

Ravi Mohan (born 10 September 1980), better known by his stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian film actor in the Tamil film industry. Ravi has appeared in films including Jayam, which has since become part of Ravi's stage name, M. Kumaran Son Of Mahalakshmi, Unakkum Enakkum, Santhosh Subramaniam, Peranmai, Thani Oruvan and Bhooloham .

Background

Ravi was born to Mohan of Tirumangalam, Madurai, who was trained by Senthil Kumar Vajjiravelu editor of South Indian cinema and Varalakshmi. He has two siblings; his elder brother M. Raja is a noted film director, with most of his films featuring Ravi in the lead role, while his sister Roja is a dentist. He completed his schooling at Jawahar Vidyalaya in Ashok Nagar, Chennai. He studied dancing under the Bharatnatyam dancer Nalini Balakrishnan and performed his arangetram at the age of 12. After completing his degree in Visual Communication from Loyola College, Chennai, he decided to get into the film industry. He has also trained in acting at the Kishore Namit Kapur Institute in Mumbai.