At the Diwali festival the Banias worship Ganpati or Ganesh, in
conjunction with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Lakshmi is considered
to be the deified cow, and, as such, the other main source of wealth,
both as mother of the bull, the tiller of the soil, and the giver
of milk from which _ghi_ (clarified butter) is made; this is another
staple of the Bania's trade, as well as a luxurious food, of which he
is especially fond. At Diwali all Banias make up their accounts for
the year, and obtain the signatures of clients to their balances. They
open fresh account-books, which they first worship and adorn with an
image of Ganesh, and perhaps an invocation to the god on the front
page. A silver rupee is also worshipped as an emblem of Lakshmi,
but in some cases an English sovereign, as a more precious coin,
has been substituted, and this is placed on the seat of the goddess
and reverence paid to it. The Banias and Hindus generally think it
requisite to gamble at Diwali in order to bring good luck during
the coming year; all classes indulge in a little speculation at
this season.