Padwa, Balipratipada

Bali Pratipada also known as Bali Padyami or Padva is the fourth Day of five day Diwali Festival. It commemorates victory of Lord Vishnu in Vamana Avatar over demon-King Bali.
According to the legends, the day is celebrated in honour of the notional return of the demon king Bali to earth.
The day is celebrated on the first lunar day of Shukla Paksha (Bright fortnight) in the Hindu calendar month of Kartika. This is the half among the three-and-a-half auspicious days in Hindu Astrology (sade teen muhurtas), the other three being Gudhi Padwa, Akshaya Tritiya and Vijayadashami. According to Hindu mythology, Bali Padyami commemorates the victory of god Vishnu in his dwarf incarnation Vamana, the fifth incarnation of the Dashavatara (ten major incarnations of Vishnu) defeating Bali, and pushing him to the nether world. But while doing so Lord Vishnu bestowed Bali with a boon to return to earth for one day on this day to be honoured and celebrated for his devotion to the Lord and for his noble deeds to his people.

BALI PRATIPADA CELEBRATIONS :

On this day people get us early and perform ritualistic oil bath (Abhyang Snan) and then wear new clothes. 
People decorate the main hall of the house with a Rangoli or Kolam drawn with powder of rice in different colours, thereafter Bali and his wife Vindhyavali are worshiped. 
Symbolically, seven forts are also built out of clay or cow dung to worship Bali. In the evening, as night falls, door sills of every house and temple are lighted with lamps arranged in rows.
It should be noted that the same day is celebrated as Govardhan Puja in North India and New Year’s Day Padva in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Their celebrations and legends are described in other articles seperately.
In Maharashtra, it is celebrated as Padva or Bali Pratipada. The day is linked to worship of king Bali. Men present gifts to their wives on this day.

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