Saturday, October 22, 2022

Diwali and Deepavali - Lights At Night, Autumn Lights


 Rangoli 
Sand or cereal or other products are used to make vivid multi-colour paintings, usually on the ground, sometimes on the walls to celebrate Diwali or Deepavali.




The main day of the festival of Diwali (the day of Lakshmi Puja) is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, IndiaMalaysia, MauritiusMyanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri LankaSuriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In Singapore Monday October 24th is the national holiday for Deepavali.

Diwali and Deepavali
These are two names for the same festival. The name means row of lights. The festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. it is celebrated by Hindus Jains and Sikhs.  It is an autumn festival, October or November in different years. In the Northern hemisphere, these is when days are getting darker. 

How do you avoid stepping on them and spoiling them? Place lit candles in the design, or flowerpots around the outside.

Other Cultures With Lights - Hanukah
Every culture seems to have something with lights at night in winter months. The Jewish celebration of Hanukah features the symbol of the nine branch candelabra, which is larger than the usual seven branch candelabra used every sabbath throughout the year.

Different days of the festival are associated with different activities. Day one is associated with gold and buying items for the kitchen. 

If you belong to a club with members of other cultures, you or your club President or PR might wish to send out a greeting message. 
You can also have a themed meeting with foods brought by Indian members or bought by your committee from Indian shops.

The sweet foods come in boxes of colourful items, often with a mixture of sweet such as honey or sugar, and sometimes almonds or pistachios or other ground nuts. They might be balls or flat diamonds, in boxes with gold wrapping inside a box with a colourful top.

Expect to see street lights in Little India and surrounding areas in Singapore, as well as seeing and  hearing fireworks in London, England, and seeing celebrations in other countries.

Street lights for Deepavali, near Mustafas's department store, near Farrer Park MRT, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 2022. Copyright. you can see that this is by Tekka Place and looking towards the Holiday Inn hotel.

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