Deepavali or Divali as it is also called, is the magnificent Festival of Lights, the five-day Indian festival celebrated on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar. Divali is celebrated on 13 November 2012.

To Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains all over the world - and some Nepalese Buddhists - Divali is like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve all rolled into one.

In Australia, the faithful go to one of the many Hindu temples that now exist across the country. At home they entertain friends of all faiths and races with lavish buffets. In a departure from the motherland, some Australian Hindus add wine and beer to the joyous cheer.

In India, under the dark autumnal skies, the entire sub-continent blazes with fireworks and the light from millions of lamps, from tiny clay pots and brass braziers fuelled by coconut oil to huge paper diyas and kandil, lanterns lit with tiny electric bulbs. The fiery displays signify the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, a reawakening of the inner spiritual light in mankind, and the warmth and joy of secular prosperity.

Because of the many languages and sub nationalities in India, there are many different regional festivals attached to Deepavali. In Northern India, for example, the people celebrate the return of the exiled King Rama, restoring order and peace. In Southern India they commemorate Lord Krishna’s defeat of the evil demon-king Narakasura.

The highlight of most local festivals, though, is the worship of the goddess of prosperity, Lakshimi. The Laxmi-Poojan, held on a moonless night, Amavasya, marks the end of the financial year, when accountants close their books and a pooja, or offering, is made, and the Mumbai Stock Exchange holds a ceremonial bidding called muhurta.

However it is observed, Deepavali is a celebration of new beginnings and blessings, an occasion for lavish vegetarian banquets, and a never-ending procession of sweets and delicacies representing happiness, generosity and a bountiful table.

Dairy-rich Northern India favours milk-based sweets made with aromatic spices such as cardamom and cinnamon. In the South the festive foods are based on rice flour and flavoured with chilli, cumin and anise-like kalonji.

Two styles of cooking also prevail. The Northern sweets are slow-cooked for long periods with nuts, fruit and Indian cottage cheese, and then decorated with expensive silver and gold paper. Favourites include diamond-shaped burfi slices, a milk confection with almond, cashews or pistachio; laddu, balls of dahl cooked with milk and sugar; gulab jamun, cheese balls soaked in rose-scented syrup; and jalebi, loops of fermented dough coloured orange with turmeric, fried and dipped in honey syrup.

By contrast, the Southern rice flour treats are often savoury, not sweet, more akin to their European cousins, Spanish tapas, and finger food. Children and adults alike munch on deep-fried muruku, pretzel loops of rice flour, crisp coins of rice flour called chippi, dipped in sugar; and paitham paniaram, balls of moong paste dipped in flour and fried, and vaddai, doughnuts of fermented black gram flour and green chillis.

In prosperous homes, the tables groan with at least fifteen vegetarian dishes, from the simple dahl dishes to more complex dishes such as cabbage porial slaw, sauteed with onions garlic and popped mustard seeds, seasoned with turmeric powder, and crowned with toasted grated coconut. Pride of the table are the thrice-cooked and garnished dishes, collectively called avial. The vegetarian dhansak, for instance, starts with three lentil dhals stewed together with amaranth, bringal (aubergine) and pumpkin to which ginger, garlic, and onions, coriander, chilli and turmeric powder are added, then finished with tamarind juice and finally garnished with popped mustard seeds and sizzling curry leaves cooked in hot oil. Favourite accompaniments to the banquet include a brinjal pachidi or aubergine pickle, okra sliced into tiny coin medallions, then fried with chilli, turmeric and salt, a minted potato masala in a sour salty sauce and fresh salad kosambri of grated radish and carrots, and poori roti puffed in hot oil, symbolizing prosperity, and fertility.