• Home
  • Our Shop
  • About Us
    • About MKB
    • Our Shop
    • MKB Board
    • Editorial Board and MKB Administrators
    • Our Contributors
    • For Bloggers: Join MKB
    • Books and Products from Our Members
    • Cultural Resources
    • Contact Us
  • Product Promotion Services
  • Blog Hops & Series
    • Holidays Around the World
      • Martin Luther King Day
      • Chinese New Year
      • Purim
      • Passover
      • Easter Around the World
      • Ramadan
      • Hajj (Eid al Adha)
      • Rosh Hashanah
      • Day of the Dead
      • Diwali
      • Hanukkah
      • Christmas in Different Lands
    • Heritage Months
      • Black History Month
      • Women’s History Month
      • Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
      • Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
      • Native American Heritage Month
    • Blogging Carnivals
    • Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
    • Global Learning for Kids
  • Resources for Raising Global Citizens
  • Privacy Policy
  • Hanukkah
  • Christmas
  • Celebrate Christmas Around the World!

Multicultural Kid Blogs

For families and educators raising world citizens, through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love.

Diwali Moments – A Festival of Lights, Togetherness & Happiness

October 26, 2015 by Shruti Bhat

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

I have a frenetic week planned: I’m heading to the local Farmers Market to buy flowers and fresh ingredients for the four-course meal I’m cooking today, then heading to the bylanes of Bangalore to pick up clay lamps and festive lights. I’ll also be making a pit stop at my favorite jewellers to buy some gold.

I assure you, this is not normal for me. But for this one week every year, I have a never ending smile on my face. It’s going to be Diwali soon, the Hindu festival of lights.

Diwali Moments1

But not so long ago, this annual week of celebration was a natural part of my growing up life.

Diwali brings back myriad memories from my childhood. As children, all 21 of us cousins would take the train and converge at our ancestral home where our Grandparents lived.

Deepavali or Diwali literally means ‘a row of lamps‘ in Sanskrit. Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya, with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana from a 14-year exile and a war in which he vanquished the demon king Ravana. It was said that the whole city of Ayodhya was lit up with a million lamps to welcome the king. The festival celebrates new beginnings, the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.

DIY-Diwali-Card-1

Diwali is a national holiday in India and the celebrations are loud and colorful. As a family, we spent most of the week preparing the house by cleaning and decorating it before Diwali began. Intricate Diwali cards were made and sent to family living overseas. It’s was also time for activities that we could do as a family. Be it decorating, cooking, shopping or crafting. Here are 50+ Diwali ideas for you to try with your kids. 

Atta-ladoo-764x1024

Image courtesy – Nidhi Jain [whatscookingmom.in ]

The main part of any indian festival is its food. I’d eagerly anticipate my mother’s spiced aloo curry with deep-fried pooris, Kheer and Laddoo for Diwali dinner.

IMG_3407

I would love huddling for hours with my family to adorn our floors with intricate Rangoli patterns around the house to symbolically welcome Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Diwali meant sitting on my grandma’s lap reading the Ramayana.

IMG_3351

 

From dozens of bright lights at my house entrance; to clay diyas, string lights & colorful urlis (earthern pots) distributed in each room around my house, the festive season was visible everywhere. I can still vividly remember the smell of incense, the acrid smell of burning crackers, the aromas coming from the kitchen.

After the evening Laxmi puja and dinner, fireworks would follow. Fireworks boomed, bulbs flashed, and flames flickered as the whole neighbourhood would come out to enjoy the scene.

As each one of us watched in wonder, Diwali gave us the gift of togetherness, happiness,teamwork, connecting to our roots and most importantly of memories that would last us a lifetime. 

What are some of your favorite Diwali moments?

Diwali for kids

This story is part of our ongoing Diwali for Kids series.  Stop by our main page to see the full schedule of posts and link up your own!

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Shruti Bhat

Shruti is a writer, photographer, DIY lover, passionate homemaker, and the chief dreamer at ArtsyCraftsyMom.com . Shruti lives in India with her husband and daughter. She loves showcasing the Arts, crafts, festivals, books & all the craziness that is India.

Latest posts by Shruti Bhat (see all)

  • Diwali Moments – A Festival of Lights, Togetherness & Happiness - October 26, 2015
  • Celebrating Raksha Bandhan in India - August 8, 2014

Filed Under: Diwali, Hinduism, Holidays Around the World, India Tagged With: diwali festival of lights, diwali food, diwali for kids, what is diwali

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Comments

  1. Helen @ Peakle Pie says

    November 7, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    A lovely post, I really enjoyed how you shared your childhood memories. Thank you for this Shruti.

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on Instagram

Anti-Bullying Resource FREE Download

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab Our Button!

grab button for Multicultural Kid Blogs
<div class="multicultural-kid-blogs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/button-take-3.jpg" alt="Multicultural Kid Blogs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>
Multicultural Children's Book Day Co-Host

Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT