There was a time when Diwali felt like a slow warmth that entered homes days before the festival itself. The air carried the smell of oil lamps, sweets made at home, and the sound of families planning visits to each other. People cleaned their houses with care, not for display, but as a way of preparing space for light and togetherness. The festival lived in small moments, in shared laughter, in simple food, in the feeling that time itself was softer during those days.
Over the years, this feeling has begun to shift. Diwali still arrives with its lights and rituals, yet it now arrives with advertisements, discount announcements, online banners, influencer videos, and shopping reminders. The festival has expanded into a market season where emotions and spending often sit side by side. What was once centered around presence and community now often carries the weight of choice, comparison, and consumption.
This change is shaped by many forces that have slowly entered everyday life. Economic growth increased purchasing power for many families. Urban living changed how people spend time. Digital platforms changed how people see and experience celebration. Together, these shifts created space for festivals to become commercial moments.
One of the strongest examples of this transformation can be seen in online shopping platforms like Amazon and Flipkart. During Diwali, these platforms turn the festival into large sale events with aggressive promotion across television, mobile phones, and social media. People begin preparing for the festival by waiting for discounts rather than preparing rituals. The excitement of buying often becomes as important as the festival itself. For many families, the joy of receiving a package replaces the joy of walking through local markets together.
In many homes, this shift brings a quiet emotional change. Earlier, shopping for Diwali meant going out with family, choosing items together, bargaining with local shopkeepers, and sharing small street snacks along the way. These moments created a connection. Now, much of that experience has moved to screens. A click replaces conversation. A delivery replaces shared time. The festival becomes efficient, yet something human in it feels reduced.
The beauty and makeup industry shows another layer of this transformation. Brands like Nykaa have turned Diwali into a season of curated looks and beauty trends. Influencers create tutorials showing how to achieve the perfect festive appearance. Every look is linked with products, shades, and discount codes. For many young people, celebration begins to include pressure to look a certain way. The festival that once focused on inner light slowly begins to carry expectations of outer perfection.
A young person scrolling through social media during Diwali may feel both excitement and pressure. There is joy in watching creative expressions, yet there is also a quiet sense of comparison. The feeling of celebration becomes tied to appearance, and appearance becomes tied to purchase. In this space, emotion and marketing blend into each other.
Jewellery brands also play a powerful role in shaping Diwali as a commercial event. Companies like Tanishq and Kalyan Jewellers build campaigns around family emotions, reunion stories, and traditions of gold buying during the festival. Gold, which carries deep cultural meaning connected to prosperity and blessing, becomes closely linked with advertisements and payment plans. Festive offers and easy instalment systems make buying more accessible, yet they also turn a spiritual practice into a financial decision for many families.
There are households where the purchase of jewellery during Diwali once felt like a symbolic act passed through generations. Now, it can feel influenced by advertisements that arrive weeks before the festival. A tradition that once belonged fully to personal belief now shares space with marketing strategy. The emotional weight of the purchase changes when it is guided by urgency and promotion.
Food traditions have also experienced this shift. Earlier, many families prepared sweets together at home. Cooking was a shared activity that brought different generations into the same space. Today, ready made sweet boxes from branded stores are common. Companies market festive gift boxes as symbols of love and care. While convenience has increased, the slow joy of making something together has reduced in many homes. The kitchen, once full of collective effort during Diwali, can feel quieter.
A case study often discussed in cultural research is the growing dominance of packaged sweet brands during festivals. In many urban areas, local sweet shops and large confectionery brands report massive seasonal sales. Families often choose packaged sweets because of time limits and professional schedules. While the practice feels practical, it also changes how affection is expressed. The act of making food together becomes less frequent, and expression of care shifts toward purchase.
Firecrackers present another emotional layer of this transformation. In places like Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, firecracker production is a major industry that depends heavily on Diwali demand. The festival becomes a crucial economic season for workers and factory owners. At the same time, marketing around firecrackers increases every year, with new designs, packaging, and competitive pricing. The celebration of light becomes tied to commercial expansion.
For many families, bursting firecrackers once felt like a shared neighborhood experience where children and adults gathered outside, laughing and watching the sky. Over time, this experience has become more regulated, more debated, and more commercialized. The emotional simplicity of those nights feels different when surrounded by branding and environmental concerns.
Influencer culture adds another emotional layer to Diwali commercialization. On platforms like Instagram and YouTube, festivals are often presented as visual experiences designed for sharing. Influencers collaborate with brands to promote jewellery, clothing, makeup, and home decoration items. Every post becomes both a celebration and an advertisement.
A person watching these posts may feel inspired to decorate their home or dress in a festive way. At the same time, there can be an unspoken pressure to match the visual standard being shown. Celebration becomes something that is performed for an audience. The private joy of the festival slowly blends into public display.
Corporate gifting also shows how deeply co has entered Diwali. Many companies distribute gift hampers to employees and clients. These gifts often include branded items, luxury goods, or packaged food products. While this practice strengthens professional relationships, it also turns the idea of giving into an organized system. The emotional simplicity of choosing a personal gift becomes replaced by structured corporate packages.
The emotional shift in Diwali can be felt most clearly in the contrast between past and present experiences. Earlier, the festival carried long moments of preparation and anticipation that were shared within neighborhoods. Children played outside, families visited each other without formal planning, and homes were open spaces of gathering. Today, busy schedules, online shopping, and digital entertainment often reduce these interactions.
Research on cultural commercialisation shows that festivals gradually become spaces where economic activity and tradition merge. This creates a situation where cultural expression and consumption exist together in the same moment. Over time, consumption can begin to take a larger space in how festivals are experienced.
One important case study comes from the expansion of festive sales by online platforms. During Diwali periods, sales records often reach peak levels across categories such as electronics, clothing, and home goods. The scale of these sales shows how deeply festivals are now connected to purchasing behaviour. Families plan their budgets around these sales, and the festival calendar becomes a financial calendar.
Another case study can be seen in beauty industry campaigns. Seasonal marketing campaigns by brands like Nykaa show how festivals are now connected to appearance-based consumption. Tutorials, influencer collaborations, and discount offers create a cycle where celebration and purchase are closely linked.
These examples reflect a wider emotional pattern. Festivals that once created shared emotional time now often create individual consumption moments. The feeling of belonging remains present, yet it sometimes competes with the pressure of participation in commercial activity.
The loss experienced here is not always visible, it is felt in small ways, in fewer visits to neighbors, in quieter kitchens, in shorter conversations during preparation, in the shift from handmade to purchased and in the movement from shared spaces to digital screens.
At the same time, people continue to find meaning in festivals in new ways. Families still gather. Lamps are still lit. Prayers are still offered. There is still laughter, still food, still light. The festival has not disappeared. It has changed shape.
The emotional question that remains is how much of the festival belongs to the market and how much belongs to memory. Both exist together now. One is loud and visible. The other is quiet and personal. Between them, people continue to navigate what celebration means in their own lives.
Diwali still carries light. The difference lies in where people choose to place it.
Resources:
- Impact of Commercialization on Culture: https://www.researchgate.net
- ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net
- McKinsey & Company: https://www.mckinsey.com
- The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com
- LiveMint: https://www.livemint.com
- Business Standard: https://www.businessstandard.com
- Centre for Science and Environment: https://www.cseindia.org