Shina Utavani

Diwali is celebrated as 5 following days:Day 1: DhanterasIt is the beginning of the Diwali Festival. The day is known as ‘Dhanteras’. People around the country consider this day very auspicious and religious. ‘Dhan’ means ‘wealth’ and ‘teras’ means ‘the 13th day of lunar cycle’. People worship Goddess Laxmi or Lord Ganesha on this day. They are worshipped for wealth, prosperity and well-being. Buying Gold or silver is considered auspicious and people usually do buy these elements as a sign of good omen.Story Behind Dhanteras:There was a king named Heema. He had a young son and he was destined to be dead by a snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage. When he got married, his wife kept him awake on the fourth day in order to save his husband’s life. She prepared a large heap of gold and silver coins. She lit diyas and lamps. She also sang prayers in her soulful voice to keep her husband awake. When Yama, the god of death, appeared and his eyes were glorified by the light of lamps and shine of ornaments. He could not see anything and hence he had to return. Thus, the clever wife was successful in saving his husband’s life.Thus, from that day, it is celebrated with lights and candles and people buy gold and silver and worship it to pay the tribute. 2. Kali ChaudasThe second day of the Diwali week is called Kali Chaudas. It is also known as NarakChaturdasi. The day is allotted to worship Mahakali or Shakti. It is believed that on this day Kali killed the most dangerous demon Narakasura. This day is to abolish Laziness and evil in our life. By killing the demon, the world was freed from the fear. It is believed that one should not light diyas or step out on this day and rather stay at home and relax. 3. DiwaliFinally, the third day of the week is celebrated as Diwali. It is the celebration of light over darkness. It holds the meaning that light dispels the darkness of ignorance. The sole purpose of firecrackers and lights is to glorify the light of God. On this day, people clean their houses, light diyas, wear new clothes and worship Goddess Laxmi. The Goddess is worshipped for wealth and prosperity. Lakshmi puja is the most important of all rituals.Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama from his fourteen year-long exile after defeating the demon king Ravana. The return of Lord Ram was celebrated by lighting diyas and decorations in the city of Ayodhya. People cleaned their houses and lit up diyas in order to celebrate the return of Lord Rama. From that day, people celebrate Diwali. 4. New Year The fourth day of the week is celebrated differently in different parts of the country. In the western states of India like Gujarat, this day is celebrated as Bestu-Varsh, the New year as per their calendar. The day is celebrated with great pomp and joy.In northern states, this day is celebrated as Govardhan Pooja and Vishwakarma Day, when people worship their arms, instruments, and machinery. This day is also called Annakut. 5. Bhai DoojThe fifth and the last day of the week is celebrated as Bhai Dooj. This day signifies the relationship between brothers and sisters. The sisters pray to God for a long and prosperous life of their brothers. On this day, sisters request their brothers to come to their home for celebrating Bhai Dooj. The sister makes delicious food for her brother. It is just like Raksha Bandhan.&nbsp;

This is a story of bhai Dooj, dhanteras, Diwali, Kali chaudas, Laxmi, Ram and Ravan.

Diwali

Ravina Sewani

Once, there was a king who had a beautiful daughter. In the forest next to the kingdom, there lived a giant. This giant was in love with the princess. But he could never come close to the princess as she always wore an amulet that kept all evil away from her. Nevertheless, the giant would frequently appear before her and embarrass her. The princess was fed up with this.One day, the giant was hiding behind the curtains of the princess’s room when he heard the princess talking to her friends. She was saying, “A very powerful giant keeps pestering me. Please suggest some way of getting rid of him.” On hearing about a ‘powerful giant’, the giant thought that this must be some other giant, more powerful than him. He wanted to know who this other giant was so that he could kill him. To find out more about the powerful giant, he transformed himself into a horse and started living in the palace stables with the other horses.One night, a thief entered the stable with the mind to steal a horse. He looked at all the horses and thought that the ‘giant horse’ was the finest. So, he mounted him and started running away. The giant, however, thought that this man must be the other ‘powerful giant’. He got scared and started running wildly. The thief whipped him and he ran even faster in fear. When the thief pulled the reins to stop the horse, the giant did not stop. He was so scared that he kept on running. Finally, in an attempt to get off the horse’s back, the thief caught hold of a Banyan tree’s branch above and clung on to it while the ‘giant horse’ just kept running ahead.On this Banyan tree, there lived a monkey who was the giant’s friend. He figured out that the giant must have mistaken the thief for a more powerful giant and called out to him, saying, “This is just a human being. Why are you afraid of him?” Now, things became clear to the giant and he headed back towards the thief to kill him and eat him. Just then, the thief who was hanging from the branch, saw that the monkey’s tail was dangling quite close to his face. He bit it hard and the monkey screamed out in pain.This again convinced the giant that the thief was no ordinary human but a very powerful giant who would kill him. So, he ran away into the forest as fast as he could. Moral:A fool is misguided by the smallest of things and thoughts.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of horse.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The giant and the horse thief

Pallavi Hota

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayana.In the Swayamvar of Sita, Vishwamitra asked Ram to try to pick up and break the bow. Ram first bowed down to the bow and then only did he pick it up and break it.So as per the rules of the Swayamwar, Sita came to accept him as her husband and put a garland around His neck. However, Ram refused to bow down to accept the garland because he thought that he should first seek his mother's permission and her approval of Sita before accepting her.Vishwamitra hastily came up to Ram and told him that he had already asked his mother and she happily approved of Sita. Only then did Lord Ram accept Sita.

The Story of Lord Ram's Mother's Permission

Ali Momin

Eid-al-Adha is an extremely important festival for Muslims. They celebrate this festival with great zeal and enthusiasm. The festival is celebrated every year on the 10th day of the 12th month of the Islamic calendar, Dhu-a-Hijjah. The festival comes after the Hajj pilgrimage, which is an important part of Islam. This festival is also known as “Festival of the Sacrifice”.&nbsp; Like other Muslim festivals, this festival is also celebrated as per the lunar Islamic calendar including Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr. The festival is named after a story in Islamic history as per which, it was the day on which God decided to test the faith of Abraham.&nbsp; Abraham had a son named Ishmael. He was his dearest possession. When Ishmael was about 13 years old, Allah decided to test the faith of Abraham. For many days, Abraham had a recurring dream where Allah was commanding him to sacrifice his son, whom Allah had granted him after years of deep prayers. When the intent of dreams became clear to Abraham, he decided to fulfil Allah’s command.&nbsp; Before taking any action, Abraham decided to present the matter to his son. Ishmael did not show any hesitation and said, “Father, do what you have been said. You will find me, Insha’Allah!” Abraham was filled with tears after hearing this. To follow the command of Allah, Abraham decided to do the needed. Abraham took a knife and attempted to cut Ishmael’s throat, but he was surprised to see that Ishmael was replaced by a goat and his son was unharmed. Abraham had passed the test by his commitment to fulfilling Allah’s commands. Allah then granted Abraham the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq.&nbsp; Abraham had shown his love for Allah and that he would sacrifice anything for him. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha. Muslims perform animal sacrifice and offer prayers to mark this occasion. And so Muslims sacrifice goat on this day.&nbsp;Eid-al-Adha is indeed a significant and joyous festival that teaches us all to have the utmost faith in the wisdom of God just like Abraham. Moral of the story :&nbsp;This day teaches us lesson of ultimate sacrifice of our most valuable possession to show our love and trust in The Almighty God. It also symbolises willingly donation of our important means to others in order to strengthen relationships and friendships and to take care of needy and poor. Let’s celebrate the festival of sacrifice by vowing to make our lives meaningful and useful to others. Wish you all “Eid Mubarak”

This is a story of Eid-ul-Adha (Bakra Eid). The Eid celebrated for the message of Sacrifice in Muslim community.

Eid-ul-Adha / Bakra Eid

There was big a lion in a jungle and he was the king of the jungle. One day, the king of the forest was wounded in a fight with an elephant. The king was hurt very badly and could not hunt for many days. He did not have anything for food. He had to remain hungry for many days. The lion’s minister was a clever fox. Since the lion was unable to hunt, the fox too had to remain hungry. After remaining hungry for many days, one day the fox finally said, “Your majesty! We have not eaten anything for days and we both are hungry. If this continues for some more days then we will die soon.” The Lion said, “My legs are wounded and I cannot go for hunting. But we can do one thing. If you manage to bring an animal to me, I can kill that animal easily. Then we both can eat that animal.” The fox said, “I will try my best.” The fox left and went on to search for an animal. On the way, the fox saw a donkey. The fox was very happy to see the donkey and thought he was the right choice for the hunt. He went to the donkey and said, “Hello, how are you? I have seen you after so long. You are looking very weak.” The donkey replied, “Yes, actually my owner takes a lot of work from me and does not give me enough food.” The clever fox then said, “I feel very bad for you. Why don’t you come with me to the jungle? Our King is very kind. We even have a vacancy in the king’s court. He will keep you nicely.” The donkey was attracted by the fox’s words and agreed to go with him. The cunning fox was successful in fooling the donkey. They both went to the jungle. As soon as the lion saw the donkey, he jumped upon him to kill him. But the lion missed the target and the donkey was very scared so he ran away from there. They lost good meat because of the lion’s rush. They both felt very sad. The lion requested the fox to try again and bring the donkey back.So, the fox went in search of the donkey. The fox met him and said in a surprising tone, “Hey, Why you ran away that day? The King was very happy to see you and, in that excitement, he jumped to welcome you. The King is calling you back.” The donkey again believed fox and went with him to the jungle. This time, the lion was very careful. When the donkey came near to him, he grabbed him tightly and killed him.” The fox was very happy that they finally had something to eat. The king was excited to eat the donkey. But before he could start, the clever fox said, “King, why don’t you take a bath before eating your meal.” The lion liked the idea as he had not taken a bath for days. The lion went to take a bath. And in the meantime, the fox quickly ate the donkey’s brain. The fox thought that the lion will not give him much to eat so he ate the donkey’s brain. When the lion returned, he started eating and searched for donkey’s brain as he liked eating the brain. Not being able to find the brain, he roared, “Where is the brain? Did you eat the brain?” The fox cleverly answered, “No, majesty. The donkeys do not have a brain. If he had a brain, he would not have come with me for the second time.” The lion believed the fox and ate his food happily. Moral:Do not believe the words of an enemy under any situation.

This is a story of donkey, fox and lion.Moral: idiot

The Foolish Donkey

King Vikram was given the duty of bringing Betal to a tantric. Betal traditionally means ‘evil spirit’. Each time Vikram tried to capture Betal, it told him a story that ended with a riddle. If Vikram could not answer the question correctly, Betal agreed to remain in captivity. But, if the king knew the answer and still kept quiet, his head would burst into a thousand pieces. And if King Vikram spoke, Betal would escape and return to his tree.Betal told another interesting story, as King Vikramaditya carried him on his shoulders.Many years ago, there lived a king named Badsa. He was a great ruler and was loved by all his subjects. He had a son named Agni, who was wicked and had many vices. Unlike his father, he would not make a good ruler. This worried Badsa very much.One day, while the king was holding court, Agni burst into the room and announced, “I feel I am ready to take over the throne. You are old and I suggest you step down. If you do not, I will form an army to overthrow you.”Badsa was a peace-loving man and knew his son would go to great extents to take the throne. Ashamed that he was giving up the throne to his son without a fight, he denounced his title and decided he would spend his life in the forest in meditation.Meanwhile, in his kingdom, Angi tormented his subjects and the kingdom grew very unhappy.One day, as Badsa sat in meditation, he heard an old woman sobbing loudly. When he asked what the matter was, she replied, “I have only one son and a demon has vowed to eat him tonight!”Disturbed by what he had just heard, Badsa offered to sacrifice himself to the demon.The old woman and her son tried to convince him to change his mind but the king was adamant to help her out.As per his plan, when the demon arrived later that night, Badsa offered himself. The demon did not think twice before quickly eating the king. Thus, the old woman’s son was saved.Here, Betal asked King Vikramaditya, “What do you think of the old king’s sacrifice?”King Vikramaditya thought for a moment and then replied, “There is no sacrifice here. This was not a selfless act by the king. He felt guilt for leaving his subjects at the hands of his unworthy son and offered himself to the demon in the hope of achieving moksha.Betal replied, “I think you are right in your judgement. But since you have spoken, I will fly back to my peepul tree.”Saying this, Betal flew away, leaving King Vikramaditya to draw his sword and chase him once more. Moral:Always be ready to take accountability of your actions.

This is a story of king, demon, salvation and Vikram Betal.Moral(s) of the story: sacrifice

King Badsa and His Son

Yesha Desai

Imli was a very happy and playful little puppy. She was nearing her six month mark and her human parents sent her to get trained to be a guide dog.Imli was very excited as at the school, she met other puppies like her. She had a set routine for her and loved all the work she got to do.They were under strict instructions to always follow the order of their trainer and follow the routine that was set for them. Only then could they become guide dogs, and Imli was determined to ace all the tests and make her parents proud.However, one morning on a daily run she encountered a thief stealing a purse from an old lady. Her trainer had veered her and the other pups away. However, Imli couldn’t just follow orders and felt bad for the old lady.She ran after the thief, breaking her schedule, and even though she was tiny, she slowly caught up to him.This was how Imli saved the day. Moral:Having a fix routine is a good thing as it helps you be more organized. It is like a shelter. However, shelter can also prevent you from seeing the sun, so you sometimes have to break your general routine to follow your goals.

This is a story of dog and school.Moral(s) of the story: routine importance

How Imli saved the day

There was once a boy who always treated his mother horribly, shouting at her, insulting her. It didn't matter to him how sad he made her.One day, without knowing how, he woke up in an immense and lonely place. He was sitting on a rock from which four huge pillars rose up into the sky, appearing to support the entire world.He was all alone, but soon an enormous flock of crows with beaks made of steel landed on the rock, and set about violently chipping away at it.After the crows left, a mysterious door in one of the pillars opened, and through it came a charming and pretty girl. "Have you come to help us? That's great! We need all the people we can get."The boy was puzzled, and spotting his confusion, the little girl explained, "So you don't know where you are? This is the centre of the Earth. These pillars support the whole planet, and this rock keeps the pillars in place.""And how can I help you?" said the boy, confused. "Well, to help look after the rock, of course. Anyone can see by your face that you're the best person for the job," answered the girl,"The birds you saw are only increasing in number and if we don't look after this rock it will eventually crumble and everything will come crashing down.” "And what do you see in my face?!" exclaimed the boy, surprised. "I've never looked after a rock in my whole life!" "But you'll learn how, even if you've never done it. Here, look in this mirror," said the girl, holding one in front of the boy's face.The boy could clearly see he now had the face of a bird, and his nose was gradually turning into steel. There he stood, shocked and worried, not a word passing his lips. "All those crows used to be children like you and I”, explained the girl, "but they decided not to look after the rock. Now that they're older they've turned into evil birds; all they do is destroy the pillars now. Up to now, you haven't done much to look after it, but now that you know, will you help me to preserve all this?"She said all this with a smile, taking his hand in hers.The boy still didn't quite understand all this. He looked closely at the pillars and could see that each one was made of thousands and thousands of little figurines, representing the best virtues: sincerity, effort, honesty, generosity...Closely inspecting the ground beneath him, he could see that the enormous rock was made up of little instances of children showing respect to their mothers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and old people.What the crows were trying to do was cover over these instances by carving out scenes of shouting and insults. Next to his feet, he could see his own little carving, representing the last time he shouted at his mother. That image, in such a strange place, made him realise that the only thing keeping the columns standing was respect. Respect was sustaining the world.The boy, filled with regret, stayed there and looked after the rock for many days. He carried out his task joyfully, going without sleep to repel every crow attack. He carried on until, exhausted by his efforts, he collapsed; completely spent.When he woke he was back in his bed at home, and he didn't know whether it had all been a dream. However, what he was now sure of was that no crow would ever again get the chance to carve a picture of him shouting at his mother.Moral: It is only respect with which we can go forward in life.

This is a story of earth and crow.Moral(s) of the story: respect

Pillars of earth and a boy

The Sun and the Moon were best friends once upon a time. As they were always together there was no concept of the night. No one in the world knew anything about the night. They did not know anything about sleeping. The children played the whole day without feeling sleepy. One day, the Moon and the Sun were passing by and saw the ocean. The ocean was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The ocean enjoyed the Sun’s warmth and Moon’s beautiful face. She loved the moon more than the Sun. Whenever Moon was around, she created waves and tides in excitement. This made Sun very jealous.One afternoon, as the Ocean slept, the Sun did something terrible. He slowly lifted the Moon and threw him against the wall of the sky! Instead of breaking like glass, the Moon created millions of sparks that could not go out. He called the sparks “stars.”The Stars knew what the Sun had done to the Moon. The stars were very angry at the Sun and decided to attack the Sun. The stars formed an army and went on to attack the Sun. Before they could attack the Sun, the Ocean stopped them and asked, “Where are you going little stars?” The stars replied, “We are going to destroy the Sun!”The Ocean did not want either the Sun or Moon to be hurt or destroyed in a fight. She loved them both. So, she made a quick plan. She told the stars she had an idea. She called the Moon and the Sun. She told them to share their time with her. The Sun would visit her in the day, and the Moon at night. Both were very happy with the idea. This made the Ocean happy too. The Stars followed the Moon every day, to protect him from the Sun.From that day onwards, people saw the Sun in the day and the Moon at night. Moral:Fighting is not the solution to every problem.

This is a story of moon, ocean and star.Moral(s) of the story: ego and respect

movie characters stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.