Celebrating Diwali “the Festival of Lights”
September 30, 2014 • Photography & Travel
This year, on October 23rd, tens of thousands of Sikhs and Hindus will be celebrating one of India’s grandest festivals, Diwali – the Festival of Lights. Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival that signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. The preparation and rituals for Diwali typically last for five days, with the main festivities happening on the evening of the new moon.
To prepare for the festival, people clean and decorate their homes. On Diwali night, people dress in their best outfits, light candles inside and outside their homes and gather to say prayers typically to Lakshmi- the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Fireworks follow, as well as a feast, and the exchanging of gifts between family and friends.
One of the best places to celebrate Diwali is the Golden Temple of Amritsar located in the state of Punjab. It truly is an ineffable experience, one that if you have the opportunity – you do not want to miss. The festival of lights lives true to its name at the Golden Temple as tens of thousands of Sikhs gather in and around the temple complex for one of India’s largest celebrations. The entire complex is draped in lights and it is quite a sight to behold.
When I attended Diwali at the Golden Temple, it was half past 7pm when the fireworks started and what ensued the following 30 minutes was a feast for the eyes. I found a nearby building and made my way to the rooftop to get the best possible view. The main fireworks display launched from the temple complex itself but all around the temple enthusiastic Sikhs set off endless rounds of deafening fire-crackers. Though the main fireworks organized by the temple ended after 30 minutes or so, colorful explosions could be heard and seen above for at least another 4 hours at which point I decided to retire for the night.
If you do decide to treat yourself to one truly amazing experience, I recommend staying at either Radisson Blu Hotel Amristar or the Hyatt Amristar both located near the Golden Temple. There are only a few higher end hotels because Amristar is a pilgrimage city but it is definitely worth the trip.
Fireworks go off as the grand celebrations begin at the Golden Temple.
Children and adults light thousands of candles along the sacred pond.
Many Sikhs take this opportunity to bathe in the sacred pond as well.
I’m proud to say this photo was my first photo that ever made it to a cover of a magazine. Spice Route the inflight magazine of Spice Jet airlines featured it on the cover of their November 2012 issue.
The Golden Temple at dawn the morning after Diwali. All is quiet and the temple is absolutely spotlessly clean even though there were easily over a hundred thousand people there on Diwali night.
Joyous Children
Today I thought I’d share some images that I photographed of smiling and laughing children during my many travels to India. These pictures remind me of my favorite quote from my guru, Gurudeva Subramuniyaswami: “Life is meant to be lived joyously.” Whether you are going through a challenging time...
Read More
The Colored Sand Makers of Tamil Nadu
It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of my photography posts. As many of you know I am passionate about photography. During a recent trip to South India in December last year I drove past a small village in Tamil Nadu, South India, where it looked like the main industry here was making…
Read More
My Visit to Seoul
I recently posted about giving a keynote at the 2017 World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, South Korea. Once that event concluded, I spent a couple extra days exploring this wonderful city. I’m particularly drawn to historical sites and spent most of my time exploring a few of the main palaces wi...
Read More
A Day in the Floating City
I hope to share with you, once or twice a month, one of my passions — photography. I believe it’s so important to make time in life for what you love and who you love. I love photography and always do my best to integrate it into my travels around the world. I’m currently in&hel...
Read More
