HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, USA, October 29, 2005: (HPI note: the following article is one of several that are appearing in the mainstream USA press to explain Deepavali, or Diwali)
Growing up in Mumbai, India, Beena Pandit remembers the sights and sounds of the Hindu holiday of Diwali, a time of celebration that marks the year’s end. The house was filled with the aromas of traditional dishes, there were special candy treats, and children would get new clothes, she said. “We get up early in the morning and begin visiting family members. The houses have lights on them, and in evening, everyone has fireworks,” said Pandit, a resident of South Windsor. Re-creating the experience of Diwali for her American-born children can be a challenge. Diwali is a lunar holiday that occurs between October and December. In New England, the weather rarely cooperates with holiday rituals such as setting lighted candles outside in clay pots or drawing a Rangoli design of colored sand on the ground in front of the house. The holiday also has to compete with late-year holidays – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. But Pandit said that she and her husband, Ashvin, observe the rituals of Diwali to preserve its meaning for their son, Saagar 14, and daughter, Priya, 16.
The seven days of the Diwali holiday began Friday night. The word Diwali is short for Deepavali, a Sanskrit word that means “row of lights.” Because candles or outdoor lanterns can be impractical, many American Hindus decorate their homes inside and out by hanging sparkly white holiday lights. The ritual represents “removing the darkness of ignorance, which allows you to spread knowledge, peace, love and joy,” Pandit said. In the Pandits’ living room is a special shrine that honors Ganesha, the God of divine wisdom who has an elephant’s head, and Lakshmi, the Goddess of spiritual wealth and material prosperity. For days in advance of the holiday, Beena Pandit made traditional foods and desserts from scratch.
“I have to be sure I create all these things like this – hopefully [my daughter] will remember this and pass it on to her children,” she said. “Here we don’t have the extended families, so I make sure I do at least a couple of things that my mother and grandmother used to do.”
When she was a student at South Windsor High School, Priya said, she would switch to traditional Indian clothing during the holiday season, which helped increase awareness of the Diwali holiday among her friends and classmates. “I used to get a lot of questions about the red dot on my forehead,” she said. Now a freshman at the University of Connecticut, Priya said she is working to form a Hindu students’ organization on campus for Hindus and others interested in learning about Hinduism. There are about 30,000 Hindus in Connecticut and one temple, Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple, in Middletown. Many will gather at the Middletown temple this weekend for a festival and on Tuesday for puja or prayers for the well-being of friends and families.