Happy Diwali - do you have your periods?

Last week was one of the most important festivals here, namely Diwali. It lasts for about three days, is comparable to our Christmas, and is a festival of lights. All houses and apartments are decorated with (rather kitschy) fairy lights, colorful ones that blink. The background of the festival is again the victory of good over evil. Due to being born into a caste, it is also more or less predetermined which of the several gods one believes in. I was allowed to celebrate the Diwali festival with the family of my coworker, and on this day their family worshipped Lakshmi, the goddess of luck and wealth, in a prayer called Puja. But I was only allowed to participate if I didn't have my periods or if I would have them in the next 7 days. The father would not have allowed it, as it is apparently a bad omen. Or brings bad luck or something like that. In the apartment, a small 'altar' was set up and decorated with flowers. In addition, several types of vegetables were placed there as an offering, as well as many oil lamps. In the center was a picture depicting three deities. The ceremony involves singing a song in Hindi and then dabbing cooked rice, red color, and ghee on the heads of the deities, in a specific order, by everyone who is praying. After the prayer, we sat on the floor and ate (by the way, I have now learned to eat completely with just one hand - I am proud of it!). And then, a lot of people gather outside on the street and it's like New Year's Eve. Firecrackers and rockets everywhere. But mainly just those loud ones... The whole thing was a really intense experience for me, very interesting. This is also a sign of how hospitable the Indians actually are. They have only known me for 3 weeks (at most) and I had several offers to join them for their Diwali. Even if it takes place in the closest family circle, like at my friend's place, where I was. However, I was really nervous because at least the father is very religious (referring to the question about my menstrual cycle - also, he once arranged a marriage for his daughter, but it didn't work out) and I was afraid of doing something wrong simply out of ignorance. But I don't think I did anything wrong :)