Deepavali Padayal
Deepavali Padaiyal, to begin with, is not prescribed in the Hindu scriptures. Whether one considers the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, or Puranas such as the Skanda Purana, Srimad Bhagavatam, Garuda Purana, Shakti Bhagavatam, Siva Purana, or any other authentic Hindu scriptures, none has insisted that a prayer should be conducted for or in honour of one's deceased loved ones, including parents. It has, however, been a practice, particularly among Tamil Hindus in Singapore and Malaysia, to observe the prayer during Deepavali. As the belief goes, they lay out on banana leaves the deceased's favourite foods, a set of new clothes for them, and a large and sumptuous variety of Deepavali sweetmeats such as Murukku and Jelabi, and even popular local non-vegetarian dishes such as Kueh Mamood, Dahlia, and Kueh Tart, in front of the deceased persons' photographs. Hindu deities are not included in this prayer. Timing, in this regard, varies from family to family: some do it on the eve ...
