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Indian community in Kincardine celebrates Deepawali, the Festival of Lights By Virat Krishna Tripathi |
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 The Tripathi family in Kincardine celebrates Deepawali, the Festival of Lights  Lighting sparklers outside  Enjoying a meal together | |||||
Wednesday, here in Kincardine and around the world, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists celebrated the festivity of Deepawali with lights. This is the biggest festival in India and celebrated for five days. Many who observe this holiday do so by lighting the Diya, or lamp, which symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. United States president Barack Obama was proud to be the first president to mark Deepawali and light the Diya at the White House. Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper said “the celebration of Deepawali illuminates the universal hope of all people for the renewal of life and the triumph of good over evil.” Like many families, the Tripathi family in Kincardine celebrated this auspicious time with family and friends enjoying festivity, friendship and food. A Community Deepawali Celebration is planned for Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Underwood Community Centre. Anyone interested in Indian culture or food, contact any local Indian family for more information. Diwali or Deepawali is the Festival of Lights. Deepawali means row of lights. The real reasons why Diwali is celebrated is shrouded in the antiquities of India’s ancient past which goes back many thousands of years. The most popular reason, of course, is the celebration of Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya and his coronation as a king after spending 14 years in exile. The significance of Diwali is that, in rural India, it marked the end of the harvest season. End of harvest, meant money from the sale of produce which in turn meant that the villagers could afford to buy new clothes and other things needed for the home, carry out maintenance work on the house and get ready for another year and a new crop. It was also the time to offer special prayers of thanksgiving to the Divine for a successful harvest, hence the Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) Pujan (prayer). For the Indian people living abroad, this reason now does not apply, yet they celebrate Diwali with as much enthusiasm and excitement as the people in India do.
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Let us think deeply about why Diwali still has so much significance in our lives. What message does it have for us today? Or do we celebrate Diwali because it has a much deeper meaning and significance for us in our everyday lives? How many of us as we were lighting the diyas and candles paused to think about what we are doing and why we are doing it? Let me say to you that the Festival of Diwali has transcended beyond the reasons for its origin. How or why it originated is not important. What is important is what meaning it has for us in this day and age, in our present lives. We celebrate Diwali because it has become embedded in our Hindu culture. The tradition of Diwali is an integral part of our society, our norms, our religious beliefs, values, and our hearts. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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