KARACHI, PAKISTAN, November 11, 2015 (Daily Times): For jubilant Maalsi, visiting Karachi’s Darya Lal Mandir on Eduljee Dinshaw Road on Diwali is something special this year. Almost renovated it would be one of the port city’s historic mandirs having the biggest gumbad (dome) of Jhoolay Lal, which makes Diwali celebrations more colourful for Maalsi and his family.
Hindu communities all over the world are celebrating Diwali today, the event is also recognized as the ‘Festival of Lights’ as this is one of the greatest and brightest festivals of the Hindu religion and it spiritually signifies the victory of good over evil. The preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new attires or their best outfits, light up lamps and candles inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi-the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.
Renovation work of Mandir is part of Eduljee Dinshaw Road (EDR) Trust Project which was inaugurated on November 11, 2014 by Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ebad in line to beautify the historical building of Karachi Port Trust, Old Customs House. According to Syed Haider Raza, an architecture and Project Manager of EDR Trust project, through renovation of Mandir, he tried to show how old Karachi looked like. The total expenditure of renovation has almost cost around US$30,000, said Raza. The Mandir itself has historical importance as it was built in the late nineteenth century when Karachi Port Trust was constructed in 1887. In the British era, people used to come from all over Sindh for Pooja Paat, Bhandara and Yatra.