Community Corner

Hindus Celebrate Diwali with Feasts, Music and Prayers Wednesday

Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights and marks the beginning of a new year.

Hundreds of locals Hindus will spend Wednesday evening celebrating Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, in temples across the D.C. metro region.

“Diwali marks a new birth of the inner light or knowledge, a journey from falsehood to truth and overcoming evil with goodness,” Head Priest Pandit Pitamber Dutt Sharma, of The Hindu Temple of Metropolitan, Washington in Adelphi, MD, said.

Equivalent to the Hindu New Year, the celebration reflects a story in the Bhagavad Gita, or their holy book. It’s when .

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They celebrate his return with feasts, music, praying and the lighting of lamps.

Vijay Kushawaha, volunteer coordinator with The Hindu Temple of Metropolitan, Washington in Adelphi, MD said the five-day festival started Monday, each day marking a spiritual cleansing for Hindus.

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However, each region of India celebrates Diwali differently based on its own cultural interpretations.

Kushawaha said traditionally, on the first day, Hindus buy new dishes, utensils, or gold marking the auspicious occasion. On the second day, they should clean their home, to welcome god into their lives, getting rid of any demons.

The third day marks the official Diwali celebration, or the celebration of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Ganesh, the God of auspicious beginnings, she said. It brings good fortune and well being into their home. The fourth day Hindus celebrate Lord Krishna by offering him a “mountain of food.”

The final day is a celebration of brotherhood and celebrated with the exchanging of gifts between siblings.

Abahay Das, the community secretary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Potomac, MD, said for Hare Krishnas, the entire month is a holy for them.

“We are orthodox in that way, as opposed to observing it as another holiday,” Das said.

Several temples will celebrate Diwali this week:

The Hindu Temple of Metropolitan, Washington
10001 Riggs Road, Adelphi, MD 20783
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

International Society for Krishna Consciousness
10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD
Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Greater Baltimore Hindu-Jain Temple
2909 Bloom Road, Finksburg, MD 21048
Wednesday and Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Washington Kali Temple
16126 New Columbia Pike Burtonsville, MD 20866
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.


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