From one public holiday to the next. We are now celebrating Deepavali which is a Hindu holiday for the Indian population. It is similar to Hari Raya in that it is a time for family and friends to get together.
As per Hindu calendar, the five day festival of Deepavali is centered on the new moon day that ends the month of Ashwin and begins the month ofKartika, beginning on the 13th day of the dark half of Ashwin and ending on the 2nd day of the bright half of Kartika. The main day of celebration varies regionally.
Deepavali is a Sanskrit word - Deepa meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed illumination forms its main attraction. It symbolises that age-old culture of India which teaches us to vanquish ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge. Deepavali, the festival of lights even to-day in this modern world, projects the rich and glorious past and teaches us to uphold the true values of life.
In Hinduism, across many parts of India and Nepal, it is the homecoming of Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory overRavana.[10] In the legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (dĭpa), thus its name: dīpāwali. Over time, this word transformed into Deepavali in Hindi and Dipawali in Nepali, but still retained its original form in South and East Indian Languages. In Dravidian languages it is called as Deepavali and the same is used in Malaysia and Singapore.
The picture below is called Murukku. Samantha made some of this at school. You would expect it to be sweet but it is actually savory. Pretty good, although our maid tried it and said that her mom makes it and she would bring us some better ones.
The other part of Deepavali are these amazing rice pictures. They take colored rice and then arrange it into these huge masterpieces. Kyle took some pictures of this one that was all the way a staircase at one of the nice malls here. They are really beautiful and always done with bright colors. I need to take a close shot so you can see how many million pieces it takes to make these huge displays.
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