Diwali is the festival of lights. Once a year, the entire world comes together to light divas (candles) in remembrance of good conquering bad. The night sky is also lit up with beautiful fireworks. This amazing short animation shows why people from the Sikh faith celebrate Diwali, and how it came to be known as Bandi Chhor Divas.
Interesting Fact: The actual robe that Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji wore to free the 52 kings can still be seen today at Gurdwara Chola Sahib, Ghudani Kalan, Punjab.
The story starts with the sixth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, who resided in Sri Amritsar Sahib. Instigated by corrupt ministers, the Guru was invited to Delhi to meet the Mughal emperor, Jahangir. Upon their arrival, the Guru spent much time with the emperor and even saved their life from a lion attack!
The emperor’s ministers had failed to make the Guru look bad, so a minister named Chandu Shah bribed an astrologer to tell the emperor that he had been cursed! The emperor was then told that the only way to remove the curse was to imprison the Guru for 40 days.
Although Guru Ji knew that this was all a hoax, they agreed to go to prison, knowing that they had a different task to fulfil.
Watch this beautifully animated Sakhi (true story) on why Sikhs celebrate Diwali.
This beautiful story was created by our friends at Everythings 13 (Basics of Sikhi). We thank them for permission to make it available here on SikhNet. Please support them here
The coloring illustration was made by Sikh Vision. You can download other illustrations for coloring by them here.