Deepavali in Mauritius – The Festival of Lights

A little History

Why is Diwali(from the word Deepavali in Sanskrit) celebrated?

That’s because Lord Rama(a really cool dude ) defeated Ravana(the bad guy )  and returned to Ayodhya on this day and the people of Ayodhya(The Lord’s Home) celebrated the occasion by decorating the entire city with lamps. Since then, every year Diwali is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Good over Evil, Truth over Falsehood , Right over Wrong , of Light over Darkness.(Thank @Chaya for the inspiring sms )

Mauritius

Diwali in Mauritius has been a deeply rooted tradition and is even a public holiday. Due to the diversity of cultures in our small island, diwali can be considered to be a National Festivity..!

Local Youngters performing Teri Deewani(Including me)

PS: Just for fun!

There are diwali shows all around the country during the days surrounding the Diwali event, and its indeed a period when musicians, artists and priests are really busy people! Bon Courage to all of them!

Preparations

Men will probably be Rapping Coco!(not that easy.. believe me) and decorating the houses, going to the market to get the ingredients while all the ladies will be busy cooking delicious ‘Mithaiis’/sweets..!

Decorations

Obviously, when somebody says divali, you immediately make a picture of an illuminated house in your mind. Many Mauritians especially those of Hindu background decorate thoroughly their home with electrical chasing/twinkling lights and traditional oil lamps. In villages such as Triolet, during the divali night, its literally day time, due to the high concentration of decorated houses! Eye Candy

To be noted that this year, there has been a call for a team specialized in lights decoration from Paris, and the towns of the country will be dressed up by them!

At Curepipe

Celebration

What do we do for diwali? Ever thought? Many do ‘Yaj’ , special prayers at home. But what do most people do?

Like many, i don’t believe in ‘symbolic rituals’ just-for-namesake without self transformation. Actually celebrating diwali has already started, the decorations, the cooking, the ‘helping-each-other’ , and most important of all! Sharing of sweets..! But not just that, this is an occasion to go visit the people whom you don’t usually talk to, those ‘so-called enemies’, make peace, Share Joy! This is what diwali is all about(from my point of view).At least on this day , Defeat the darkness in you, help others without really expecting anything in return, be good, be enlightened, Shine!

An international Event

Diwali is not only celebrated in India and Mauritius, but all over the world! Even if people don’t actually know the origin of this festival, the Spirit of the Diwali is persistent and accepted universally. A message of Peace, of Goodness. Even the president of the US wished all people celebrating.

Happy Diwali

Full Album on my Flickr