Diwali is considered to be a festival of lights, but since centuries Indians have associated firecrackers with the festival as well. So it did not come as a surprise when the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on banning firecrackers in Delhi-NCR created a ruckus.
While many people, keeping the environment in mind, praised this step; there were others who opposed the idea as firecrackers are an integral part of Diwali and the ban has hurt Hindu sentiments.
The history of Diwali goes back to the time when Lord Ram, after defeating the demon king Ravana, came back to his kingdom of Ayodhya. One wonders if firecrackers even existed at that time. “There is no mention of firecrackers in the puranas at least,” points out author Anand Neelakantan, who has written many novels, inspired by Hindu mythology. “It is known that firecrackers were first made in China. At least till 1000 AD, we don’t find any such references in our texts. Hence, Diwali is called the festival of lights and not sounds,” the author says, adding, “Earlier people used to come to a particular location and burst the crackers. However, now we see people going wild during Diwali. So I feel there needs to be some kind of regulation.”
Interestingly, one of the earliest known text to mention fireworks is Kautukacintamani, by Gajapati Prataparudra-deva, which was possibly written between 1497 and 1539.
This book contains a few Sanskrit verses on the ingredients needed to manufacture fireworks, including sulphur, charcoal, saltpetre, quicksilver, hollow piece of bamboo and cow urine.
Talking about the situation, Chitra Divakaruni, author of the book The Palace of Illusions, says, “My research into Ramayan shows there were no firecrackers for Diwali then, only lamps and incense sticks were lit to celebrate. People would play the dhol and sometimes had bonfires. However, given our current situation, I think it is important to do what we can to reduce pollution as so many problems arise from that.”
In his book, A History of Fireworks in India, published in 1953, author P.K. Gode mentioned that, “According to Chinese historians, the process of making explosive powder was first described fully in a military handbook issued in 1044 AD. The first trustworthy reference to the use of mixture of sulphur, saltpetre, paper, charcoal, tung oil, etc., for military purposes dates to the year 1000 AD.” He also mentioned Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese voyager who travelled to India in 1518, who made a reference to firecrackers in his own writing, where he described it being used during weddings and other festivities.
Evidently, the tradition of bursting firecrackers on Diwali day has been around for only 500 years and is certainly not ancient. However, well-known novelist Amish Tripathi opines that traditions and cultures change over time in any religion.
“One can’t say that firecrackers were used when Lord Ram came back to Ayodhya,” Amish says, adding, “However, traditions and rituals do change over time. For example, Santa Claus was not a part of ancient Christmas celebrations; but today, Santa Claus is very much a part of Christmas festivities. Similarly, maybe crackers weren’t a part of Diwali celebrations in the ancient times, but today they certainly are.”
