Enjoy Fireworks and Perform Puja Online > Cyber-Diwali

Finally, the lesson seems to have sunk into lay Indians: Louder is not better when it comes to celebrating the Festival of Lights. The courts moved the government to put in place strict noise and safety standards — and tightened purses this year seem to have played their part in muting both inclination and ability to ‘burn’ money in costly, noisy fireworks.

That is not to say we can’t enjoy a complete Diwali experience — complete with colourful fireworks and lighted lamps — thanks to improved Internet technology.

Webdunia, India’s first multilingual portal has created a special Diwali page called “Online Aatishbaaji” (fireworks) where one can use the mouse to ignite a “rassi” (or thread bound) bomb, let off rockets, or set of an ‘anaar’ or ‘flower pot.’ For those who want to perform a very realistic puja online, Webdunia has created a Lakshmi Puja site where you can perform ‘aarti,’ make an offering of flowers or fruits — all with keyboard and mouse, to the background of a melodious bhajan.


The primary Hindi page to access these is http://www.hindi.webdunia.com/index.htmbut one can find links to do this in any of 11 other Indian languages. The Lakshmi puja application can also be accessed by mobile phone owners who have a GPRS connection to the Web, by going to http://wap.webdunia.com/.

These language sites also have a selection of e-greetings you can use — but if your friends appreciate a bit of culture with the Diwali message, the best place to look is the IndiaVideo portal, an ambitious Web encyclopedia on Indian culture, created by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Invis Multimedia, in association with UNESCO.

You will find short video clips of all important Indian dance forms, many by leading artistes, which you can paste into your e-greetings. Invis Managing Director M.R. Hari says the site has been extremely popular since it went live last year, attracting about 2,000 downloads every day — and Google has rated it at page rank 6 among websites monitored by it. ( http://www.indiavideo.org/greetings/diwali/)