Healing light @ Deepavali

Light is the essence of life on Earth! Sunlight was considered vital for health and recovery, and sunlight exposure was an integral part of traditional healing regimens.

- Dr. Sunil S Chiplunkar

The word Deepavali or Diwali immediately conjures up images of diyas or oil lamps. Light has a positive appeal, and is so vital in human psychology that there is an entire festival of lights: Deepavali! Historically, light is seen as divine and leading individuals from ignorance to enlightenment. Light is also a healer - sunlight and it's component UVB rays are required for Vit. D synthesis. UVB radiation converts 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D₃. This preVit. D₃ is then converted to Vit. D₃ through heat-induced isomerization in the skin. As such, the use of light for therapeutic purposes dates back thousands of years to civilizations such as ancient Egypt, India, and Greece. These cultures practiced heliotherapy, exposing patients to natural sunlight to treat skin diseases and other ailments. Sunlight was considered vital for health and recovery, and sunlight exposure was an integral part of traditional healing regimens. And Deepavali festival celebrates the importance of light as a source of energy, healing, knowledge and happiness.

Light as a healer

Florence Nightingale, nicknamed “The lady with the lamp”, is the founder of modern nursing, a social reformer, and a statistician. As a healer, Florence Nightingale emphasized the health benefits of light and fresh air for sick patients, advocating bright, well-ventilated hospital rooms with direct sunlight as essential for recovery. Danish physician Niels Finsen in the late 1800s, developed early artificial phototherapy devices using ultraviolet (UV) light. His treatment of skin diseases like lupus vulgaris and tuberculosis scars with UV light led to his receiving the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1903. These successes encouraged rapid adoption of scientific phototherapy in many countries, including the use of light boxes for treatment in American and Australian clinics.