Attendees at the celebration of Diwali — the Festival of Lights — that took place on Nov. 8 at Ern Commons.
The Indian Student Association and Hindu Student Council joined forces this past Thursday in Ern Commons to celebrate Diwali — the Hindu festival of lights.
Coming from the Sanskrit word “Deepavali” — meaning “row of lighted lamps” — Diwali festivities highlight the glimmering themes of light and positivity. The celebration emphasizes honoring Lakshmi — the Hindu goddess of prosperity — and rings in the beginning of the Hindu new year.
Because the holiday follows the Hindu Lunar Calendar, the exact dates change every year. However, the five-day celebration — with the third day representing the height of festivity — always occurs sometime between mid-October and mid-November. This year the celebrations lasted from Nov. 5 to Nov. 9.
Revathi Mohan, a third-year Engineering student and co-president of the HSC celebrates Diwali every year and offered insight into the deeper meaning behind the festive holiday.
The ISA and HSC focused on fostering an event of unity where Hindu students, as well as non-religious students, could join together to celebrate a piece of Indian culture.
While the event primarily attracted Hindu students, the ISA and HSC welcomed anyone to join in the celebration of ancient tradition.
Karunya Iyappan, a third-year Batten student and advocacy chair of the ISA, said she appreciated the opportunity to bring Diwali to the University for those who couldn’t go home to celebrate.
While the event couldn’t bring student’s families to Charlottesville to join in the holiday’s typical, customary family feasts, the ISA and HSC provided traditional Indian food and a dessert called “gulab jamun” for club members to enjoy in communion with one another.
Given the religious nature of the event, its coordinators worked hard to ensure that key traditional elements of the holiday were not forgotten. Attendees got to see what a true Diwali celebration typically entails and could learn to respect and appreciate the cultural aspect of such radiant festivity.
A big portion of the event’s festivities consisted of creating beautiful “rangolis” — an original Indian art form in which creators arrange colorful rice, sand, flour or other materials in unique patterns often to resemble flowers or varying geometric shapes. Using colored flour, the attendees formed different patterns and had the chance to test out their rangoli-making skills.