The story goes that the demon king Narakasura ruler of Pragjyotishpur (a province to the South of Nepal) after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificient earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess (the ruler of Suraloka and a relative of Satyabhama, Lord Krishna's wife) and imprisoned sixteen thousand daughters of the gods and saints in his harem.

On coming to know about this, Satyabhama was enraged by Narakasura's malevolence towards women, and she appealed to Krishna to give her the golden chance to destroy Narakasura. The legend also says that Narakasura was given a curse that he would be killed by a woman. Krishna granted Satyabhama a boon to fight with Narakasura. With Krishna as the charioteer, Satyabhama entered the battle field. During the war, Krishna swooned for a while, a preordained divinely act adopted to empower Satyabhama to kill the demon. After Narakasura was beheaded, the imprisoned women were released, and Krishna accepted to marry them.

So on the day previous to Narakachaturdashi, Lord Krishna's divine intervention led to the killing of the demon, Narakasura and liberation of the imprisoned damsels as well as recovery of the precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon king's blood. Krishna returned home in the very early morning of the Narakachaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice specially in Maharashtra.

It is interesting to note that Bhudevi, mother of the slain Narakasura, declared that his death should not be a day of mourning but an occasion to celebrate and rejoice. Since then, Deepavali is being celebrated by people every year with joyous celebrations with lot of fun and frolic, and fire works.

In South India that victory of the divine over the mundane is celebrated in a very peculiar way. People wake up before sunrise prepare a paste by mixing Kumkum in oil, symbolizing blood and after breaking a bitter fruit that represents the head of the demon King that was smashed by Krishna, apply that mixture on their foreheads. Then they have an oil bath using sandalwood paste.

Dating back to 1500 BC (or the 4th century BC, according to some recent studies), the Ramayana narrates the story of Rama, in twenty four thousand stanzas. Composed by Valmiki in Sanskrit, the classical language of ancient India, the work is said to have been created by the sage in a state of pure inspiration. The Ramayana ends with the safe return of Rama, Sita and Laxmana to Ayodhya, after a period of exile. This is the mythological reason for the celebrations that make up Diwali. Here's the sequence of events, as they unfold in the epic.

Narak Chaturdashi: The day after Dhanatrayodashi and/or Diwali eve is Narak Chaturdashi. It is dedicated to Yama, the god of Naraka or hell. Taking oil massage & hot water bath is special on Deepavali. Those who bathe early in the morning on this day, after an oil massage, are believed to earn religious merit with religious points earned getting nullified if the bath happens after sunrise.

Abyangam (oil massage)

After the bath, Yamraj is offered libations three times to avoid the tortures of death. A fast is maintained. In the evening, lamps are lit in honour of Yama. Piety on Narak Chaturdashi liberates the worshipper from a future in hell. People in South and West India celebrate Narak Chaturdashi as the day when Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasur.

In Tamil Nadu, on the night before the big day, the Tamil households place new clothes, home-made sweets, and a mixture of heated sesame oil and shikakai in front of the image of god, in anticipation of the next day.

In The Morning: Diwali begins early in the morning. The eldest family member applies sesame oil on the heads of all the family members. Then, it's off for a bath, beginning with the youngest in the family. They emerge with new clothes and a look of anticipation at the thought of bursting crackers, which symbolises the killing of the demon king Narakasur.

Lehiyam:But before that comes Lehiyam, the bitter concoction, to cleanse the system of its festive over-eating! Then to the crackers.

Murukku: A puja is performed for the family deities in the morning. Breakfast consists of murukku , a sweet dish and, of course, idli or dosa.

Wish fulfilment: Some communities believe that when Narakasur was to be killed, Lord Krishna asked him his last wish. Narakasura replied that he wanted to enjoy the last day of his life in a grand manner and Diwali was celebrated. That was the beginning and the practice continued.