Which is correct Deepawali, deepavali or dipawali ?

Which is correct Deepawali, deepavali or dipawali ? Both Deepawali and Deepavali refer to the same festival and are correct. The name vari...

Which is correct Deepawali, deepavali or dipawali ?

Both Deepawali and Deepavali refer to the same festival and are correct. The name varies slightly based on regional languages and pronunciations:

1. Deepawali (दीपावली): Commonly used in Hindi-speaking regions of North India.
2. Deepavali (தீபாவளி): Commonly used in South India, as well as in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam-speaking regions.

Both terms come from Sanskrit, where "Deepa" means lamp and "avali" means row or series, symbolizing rows of lit lamps.

In Nepali, the festival is also called Tihar (तिहार) or sometimes Dipawali (दिपावली).

While Dipawali directly references the Sanskrit term, Tihar is the more widely used name for this festival in Nepal. Tihar spans five days and includes unique traditions specific to Nepali culture, such as honoring animals like crows, dogs, and cows on different days, along with the main celebration of Laxmi Puja.