5 Must-tell Diwali Stories

It’s Diwali!!! And your child is so excited about the diyas and the crackers…and the sweets and the rangoli, the gifts and so on – naturally he/she would be, but an exciting storytelling session, sometime in the day, would take your child on a different high altogether! Light up their imagination and curiosity… let’s start!

Diwali Short Stories for Children

Here are some Diwali stories to tell your child – do animate and use dramatic gestures and voice modulations; after all it is Ram Lila, mama-style!

1. Why Do we Light Diya's?

So the most popular story of Diwali is the return of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshman to Ayodhya. Perhaps they already know… but add some details. Tell your child how Dusshera is different from Diwali – Dussehra is the day of Rama defeating Ravana, the evil Lanka king and Diwali denotes the end of the 14-year exile. Here’s what will excite them: Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshman travelled by air on the magical flying chariot - Pushpaka Vimana! It was a moonless night when they returned back to Ayodhya and so the people of the kingdom, lit lamps to show Lord Rama the way home – and also celebrated the return by decorating their homes. 

2. Why Do People Gamble?

Your school going child would in all probability know about the practise of gambling during Diwali time. The popular belief is that it is way to invite the Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of fortune) home. From where did this belief start? Tell your child the story: Legend has it that Lord Shiva and Parvati enjoying gambling themselves during Diwali. The goddess in order to turn this vice into a practice announced that whoever gambled on Diwali night, would be blessed with good fortune in the year ahead. You can also interpret it to your child like this: In gambling, fortunes keep changing, just like in life – sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. So the game of gambling teaches us to be level headed.

3. Why does Ravana have 10 Heads?

Ravana’s 10 heads never ever fail to arouse curiosity and wonder in children. Tell them the story behind it: Ravana worshipped Lord Shiva. His devotion for Lord Shiva was too strong, so much so that to please Lord Shiva, Ravana cut off his head. But every time Ravana cut his head, it grew back and Ravana continued his penance time. This total devotion of Ravana made Lord Shiva very happy and in return he gave Ravana 10 heads! The ten heads of Ravana also are symbolic of the four Vedas and six Shashtras that Ravana mastered during his education. Tell your child that Ravana was not really a demon (he became terribly unpopular after abducting Sita) – he was infact one of the most learned beings on earth.

4. The Story of a Squirrel

Ravana kidnapped Sita and Lord Rama made a plan to rescue his wife from Ravana. Lord Rama along with this army of monkeys and bears started making a bridge over the sea that would connect India to Lanka. Even a little squirrel tried to help! The squirrel picked up pebbles in her mouth and dropped them at the construction site – a monkey noticed this and started laughing and then the whole army started laughing.

The squirrel started crying. Lord Rama was noticing all this from a distance. He came forward, stroked the squirrel’s back to pacify her and appreciated the squirrel’s contribution. Lord Rama then showed the army how the pebble thrown by the squirrel has worked as a connector between two bigger stones. It is believed that the white stripes that all squirrels have on their backs are actually Lord Rama’s fingerprints. Your child will love to tell this story to his friends!

5. Why do we call Hanuman, Bajrangbali?

Bajrang means ‘orange.’ Once upon a time, long ago, Sita, wife of Lord Rama was applying vermilion (sindoor) on her forehead as a mark of her being married. Hanuman who was standing close by asked Sita: “Why are you applying this?” Sita replied: “This is for longer and healthier life of Lord Rama.” Now Hanuman was a true devotee of Lord Rama, so he got very excited and smeared his full body with vermilion. When Lord Rama saw Hanuman, he started laughing and named him ‘Bajrangbali’! And so Hanuman is fondly remembered as Bajrangbali by the masses.

Did your child like any particular story? We would love to hear from you in the comments section. Happy Diwali!