Your guide to understanding Diwali, one of the biggest holidays in India
Diwali, the Festival of Lights is upon us.
Santhoshi Radhakrishnan, a Fort Mill chef and entrepreneur who has previously shared her food secrets with CharlotteFive, grew up celebrating Diwali in India and helped explain the holiday for those who aren’t familiar with it.
In short: Diwali falls on different dates each year, as the Hindu calendar differs from the Western calendar. It’s generally in October or November. It’s commonly a multi-day holiday, but this year the main date to celebrate the Festival of Lights is Nov. 4.
The background: The origins of Diwali differs for people among the various regions in India, Radhakrishnan said. In one telling of the story, Diwali celebrates a Hindu god coming to Earth to destroy a demon that was destroying peace on Earth. In another, it celebrates a prince’s royal homecoming after years in exile.
As a whole, the Festival of Lights that is Diwali marks the victory of good over evil.
How do you celebrate: Sweets and fireworks are huge.
In India, Diwali is a national holiday as big as Thanksgiving or Christmas, Radhakrishnan said. Again, it’s celebrated differently among the country’s north and south regions, but sweets and fireworks are common in Diwali celebrations.
“When I was a kid, we woke up at 4 a.m., as tradition,” Radhakrishnan said. After getting ready for the day with help from her grandmother who lived downstairs, her mother would make a variety of sweets, along with idli, which are rice cakes, and goat korma.
“We’d feel so full and go downstairs to the front porch, and my dad would have all the fireworks ready for us to start setting off. The whole street would be so loud the whole day,” she said.
In America, some families who celebrate Diwali gather with friends to eat homemade sweets and set off fireworks together. Radhakrishnan’s neighborhood in Fort Mill — just outside of Charlotte — is planning a gathering, but they won’t share food this year because of COVID-19.
“It’s one of the most fun days in my childhood memories — Diwali is very special,” she said.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Your guide to understanding Diwali, one of the biggest holidays in India."
