Happy Deepavali!

The holy lamps lit on the day of Deepavali symbolize the "inner light" of the Atman.
Light outshines darkness. Why just on the festive day, on any other day, the holy lamp is lit in the prayer room near the Altar of God. Lamp symbolizes knowledge/wisdom. Knowledge is the enlivener, the ultimate Source and is the one which wards off the ignorance. Light wards off darkness as knowledge does with ignorance.

This is precisely the reason for lighting the holy lamp. Hindu culture is so symbolic and our day-to-day practices remind us of our duties and responsibilities to be performed as a part of human birth.

Lighting the lamp is one such practice. We light the lamp to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth. Knowledge backs all our actions, both good and bad. So, lamp is lit as a witness to our thoughts and actions on all auspicious occasions.

Also, the traditional oil lamp has a great significance. The oil in the lamp symbolizes our ignorance. As the oil gets exhausted, the lamp gets to glow brighter ad upwards. This symbolizes that as our ignorance/ego perishes, we make more room for the knowledge to occupy our mind and soul which would take us towards higher ideals.
Knowledge is one that increases with sharing, but never diminishes. So is the oil lamp. A single lit lamp can light so many other lamps without losing its radiance. Now tell me, can the tube-lights replace oil lamps?

Isn’t our custom a store house of intellectual and spiritual meaning?

“Shubham karothi kalyanam aarogyam dhanasampadaha |
Shatrubuddhirvinashaya Deepajyothirnamosthuthe ||
Deepajyothihi Parabrahma Deepajyothirjanardhanaha |
Deepo- harathi paapani Sandhyadeepam namosthuthe ||"