HOUSTON, TEXAS, October 21, 2006: Like Christmas in the U.S., Diwali in India often involves a month of preparation. There are Diwali sales at stores and decorations to hang at home. A few movies are always marketed for Deepavali release. “It is hard to create the same ambience here in Houston,” Narasiman said. “Because it’s mainly celebrated only in our community.” For the past 12 years, members of Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, Texas, have done their best to recreate the celebrations that many remember from their youths. Each year, the festivities have grown, said C. Vijayarajan, joint secretary of the temple board. Nearly 4,000 Hindus attended last weekend’s Deepavali festival, he said. The daylong celebration included dance performances and a bazaar selling jewelry and clothes, statues of deities and tiny Diwali lights. Apples in silver bowls were available to buy as gifts for temple deities. Narasiman and Roopa Bala coordinated a parade of about 50 children, ages 3 to 10, who were elaborately dressed as Hindu deities. Six dance companies joined in the parade outside the temple walls. “Every year we have a different theme,” said Narasiman, a member of the temple board. “This year it was devotion to the Deities. Ten Deities were picked for the children to choose from, and the dancers were asked to perform dances in their honor.”
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