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An oil lamp is a simple vessel used to produce light continuously for a period of time from a fuel source. The use of oil lamps extends from prehistory to the present day. While a basic form of lighting prior to the era of widespread electric lighting, oil lamps today are popular for mood lighting, as an alternative to candles, or as an alternate source of emergency lighting when electricity is not available. Many oil lamps provide a small wheel that when turned, moves the wick up and down so that the user can adjust the light produced. Some lamps sold now are both the traditional farmer’s lantern, made mostly of metal, with a glass chimney, and the old-fashioned hurricane lamps, made mostly of glass, with only the wick holder assembly made of metal.

A basic earthen oil lamp used for Divali.
In vedic times, fire was kept alive in every household in some form and carried with oneself while migrating to new locations. Later the presence of fire in the household or a religious building was ensured by an oil lamp. Over the years various rituals and customs were woven around an oil lamp.
Deep Daan, the gift of a lamp was and still is believed to be the best daan. During marriage ceremonies, spinsters of the household stand behind the bride and groom holding an oil lamp to ward off the evil. The presence of oil lamp is an important aspect of ritual worship offered to a deity. Moreover, a day is kept aside for the worship of the lamp in the busy festival calendar, on one amavasya (no moon) day in the month of Shravan. This reverence for the deep is based on the symbolism of the journey from darkness and ignorance to light and the knowledge of the ultimate reality – ‘tamaso ma jyotirgamaya!’
The earlier lamps were carved out of stone or seashells. The shape was simple like a circular bowl with a protruding beak. Later they were replaced by earthen and metal lamps. In the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, there are references of gold and silver lamps as well. The simple shape evolved and the lamps were created in the shapes of the matsya (fish), kurma (boar) and other incarnations of god Vishnu and also in the shape of the many attributes of gods like conch shells, lotuses and so on. The birds like swans, peacocks, parrots and animals like snakes, lions, elephants and horses were also favorites while beautifying a lamp. For lighting multiple lamps, wooden and stone deepastambhas (towers of light) were created. Erecting a deepastambha in front of a temple is still a general practice in western and southern India. For adapting the design to the households and smaller spaces, the deepavriksha (tree of light) was formed. As the name suggests, it is a metal lamp container with aesthetically curvi-linear lines branching out from the base each holding a lamp. The Deepalaxmi is another favorite design where goddess Laxmi holds the lamp in her hands. Kuthuvilakku is another typical lamp traditionally used for house hold purposes in South India.
Oil lamps also became proverbial. For example, a Bradj (pre-Hindi) proverb says, “Chiraag tale andhera”, “the [utmost] darkness is under the oil-lamp (chiraag)”, meaning that what you seek could be close but unnoticed, in various senses (and indeed, a lamp’s container casts shadow)
These days oil lamps are coming in different shapes, colors and made from different materials.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Oil Lamp”