Diwali celebrated with pomp and gaiety across Andhra Pradesh despite price rise

Amaravati, Nov 12 (PTI) People across the length and breadth of Andhra Pradesh celebrated Diwali on Sunday with pomp and gaiety, and lit up the night sky with fireworks.

Commercial establishments shut down their day’s operations earlier on Sunday to enable employees to return home earlier than usual to celebrate Diwali with their family and friends.

Earthen lamps and colourful electric lighting adorned several houses as part of Diwali festivities in the state and many people visited temples during the day.

The Andhra Pradesh state government declared Monday a holiday as Diwali fell on a Sunday this year. However, bank employees would have to go to work as usual on Monday.

Unlike earlier times when firecracker vendors were allowed to sell their wares freely everywhere, this year the Andhra Pradesh Police Department restricted their sales to certain designated places in the village, towns and cities.

N Narayana, an electrician-cum-plumber who lives in Bhimavaram in West Godavari district complained that Diwali crackers are rising in cost year after year.

“Crackers prices have risen exorbitantly in 2023 when compared to 2022 Diwali. There is a good variety of crackers and a higher number of shops to buy, but it's expensive,” Narayana told PTI.

Purchasing crackers at the Lutheran High School ground in Bhimavaram, where a Diwali crackers market has been set up, he said a pack of 10 sparklers which cost him Rs 50 in 2022 now cost Rs 100.

Besides crackers, Narayana said he also bought up to 50 earthen lamps, which will be used for rituals and also to adorn his home.

Further, he lamented that many labourers do not have sufficient disposable income this Diwali as they could not find work due to paucity of construction work and other related income-generating activities.

N Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy from Kurnool said he bought a smaller quantity of crackers this year, being mindful of the environment and pollution.

“What I observed is that many people are losing interest in making noise by bursting crackers or showing off for Diwali. Many people are interested in lighting diyas (lamps) because they are aware of sound pollution and air pollution, including me,” said Reddy, who runs a private company that offers management solutions.

As part of Diwali celebrations, Reddy said he distributed sweets to his employees and clients but said that he did not give out as many as in 2022 because his company could not make sufficient profits.

K Harish Kumar, a bank employee from Vizianagaram noted that Diwali celebrations in the north coastal part of Andhra Pradesh generally start with celebrants hitting a burning castor-oil plant (amadam mokka) on the ground and chanting ‘dubbdu dubbu Deepavali malli vacche nagula chaviti’ three times (a ritualistic Diwali chant).

Following this ritual, Kumar said they pay their obeisance to the deity, pay respects to elders, eat sweets and then start bursting crackers.

Kumar also highlighted the high cost of crackers, stating that for Rs 3,000 he could not get many.

He also lamented the fact that the older tradition of making some varieties of home-made crackers is also mostly non-existent nowadays.

'Five days prior to Diwali, we used to prepare our own Diwali rockets, flower pots, matabulu (cracker variety) and others in our childhood but not anymore,' he added.

“Every Diwali, festival enthusiasts used to compete in street duels with Diwali rockets (tarajuvvalu). This tradition is lost now. One of our relatives lost an eye in such a duel during one bygone Diwali,” he said. PTI STH ANE