Diwali Festival celebrated at WC
by Chris Garben
Sun Star Reporter
The Hindu New Year festival, celebrated over five days in India and Nepal, took place at the Carol Brown Ballroom in the Wood Center Sunday Nov. 18. In lieu of the orthodox five-day event, the universities’ celebration lasted over five hours. It was organized by the student group Namaste India.
The entire ballroom was packed with guests as various performers danced, sang, or otherwise entertained the crowd. Anyone who happened to be in the Wood Center Sunday night was treated to sights of men and women sashaying around in various regions of Indian style dress. Vijay Kulkami, the president of Namaste India, says that celebrations of Diwali are different in India than what they throw here.
All family members get together… [and] has lunch and dinner together,” and special sweet foods are prepared for the occasion.
Besides the difference in duration, firecrackers are lit and diye lights are put up all over town. The lights are part of a tradition stemming from an Indian legend: Lord Rama returns to India after a long exile. To help him home to North India from Sri Lanka, the locals put oil lamps along the entire length of the journey. Numerous other legends are associated with Diwali, but Lord Rama’s return is the most significant, as Diwali roughly translates to “Festival of Lights.” |
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Sunita Tanwar performs the Ghoomar, a dance from the state of Rajasthan in Northwest India, for the Diwali festival on Sunday.
Photo by Chris Garben/Sun Star
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