Diwali 2010

It is Diwali in India at the moment and its Fantastic!!

Deepavali is an official holiday in India.

Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen-year-long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana.

In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst crackers.

Here is a little bit of info I found interesting

The city Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu is the capital of India’s firecracker industry with about 8,000 factories, big and small, producing 90 percent of the country's total fireworks output.

It also has the world's largest fireworks manufacturing unit.

Popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in Hinduism,Jainism and Sikhism occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes.

 In Tamil Nadu it is celebrated as People light deepams, bursting firecrackers, wearing new clothes and sharing sweets.

A traditional visit to the Temple is a significant ritual of the day. 

Just like Christmas in the Western World

We handed out a boxes of mixed sweets to all the security guards and gardeners here they were very happy.

When I say sweets its not the same thing as in western world

Indian sweets, known as mithai  Many are made with sugar, milk and condensed milk, and cooked by frying.

In the evening before it even gets dark the Fireworks start,up on the roof top we go and everywhere you look you can see fireworks its just beautiful

Except for the constant letting of of crackers they are going day and night!

We are so glad we decided to live away from the main town and out a little, as you go closer into town it gets loader at least we have some relief from the constant noise.

Once we go in the house its not so bad and we can at least get some sleep, unlike some people we know that live in closer to town are not experiencing the same luxury as we do... sleepless nights!!

We were invited to a Diwali dinner by our freinds new landlord,we were looking forward to experiance this wonderful tradition in India.

The day started with us entering the house greeted by the hosts Sucharita and V.Kumar we were given blessing for mother,father and children also meg and I were given floweres to put in our hair.

Jasmine flowers are worn in girls' and womens' hair mainly for their beauty and fragrance.

They are also used in floral decorations for marriages and other important functions.

After our greeting we are taken upstairs to a balcony that overlooked a fantastic view of the sea and introduced to other guests we were offerd refreshments and nibbles then after a while we were seated and entertained by a young man with a guitar and a young girl who sang like an angel it was just beutiful they sang some traditional Tamil songs and some modern, the guests were invited to come up and sing a song also but that is something I was not willing to do dident want to scare people away...lol

After our entertainment we played a game of bingo and guess what I managed to win second prize while mark won 3rd how lucky were we mind you mark had convinced Melisa a freind to swaped tickets!!!

Once the game was over we all went down stairs to a lovely Lunch and to mingle with other guests we were given gifts by our hosts and then the fireworks began it was a enjoyable relaxing day.

thank you sucharita and V.kumar for a fantastic Diwali.