Diwali - Deepawali 2007

Diwali is a festival of light, which is celebrated in India and in Nepal, to commemorate the victory of good over evil. Diwali runs for five days and each day has a spiritual importance of its own. Main day is the third day of the festival, which is called Lakshmi Pooja. On the day of Lakshmi Pooja, people wear new clothes, exchange sweets and burn crackers. Hindu deity of wealth Ma Lakshmi, is prayed on the day, and people ask for wealth and prosperity for the forthcoming year. Although the festival has religious significance, nowadays people from all religions celebrate it to enjoy its aesthetics. Furthermore, due to presence of Indians in many other countries, Diwali has become a global festival, and is celebrated almost all over the world.

Jacobs University being a multicultural university also celebrates Diwali. And guess what, the venue for celebration is Krupp College. Krupp College has been organizing Diwali for several years now.

Last year our Diwali celebration was on November the 10th. The Indian and Nepali community along with students from many other countries worked together to realise this event. Indian and Nepali dances, and folklore dramas were performed to increase the fun of the festival. Rangoli, Mehndi, Indian classical dance, pottery and other workshops were organised for interested people. A group from Radha-Krishn temple came to present a bhajan for the event. The whole environment was filled with music and colours of Asia. To add to the fun, students had cooked nice Indian sub-continental meals which were served at dinner time. After having so much fun, we could not let go the last part, and that was crackers. So we burnt lots of crackers to finish the day in loud manner. In my personal opinion, it was just great, I was very happy to be able to celebrate an Indian festival out of India. Now, I am looking forward to Diwali celebration 2008 at Krupp College. I wonder what the format would be, they change the celebration manner every year, and every year there is a surprise. My fingers are crossed, yours should also be.