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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE Hindu community in Bulawayo yesterday converged at a local leisure centre located in the city’s Suburbs suburb to celebrate their inaugural local Diwali festival.
Diwali is the Hindu version of Christmas. It is a five-day festival of lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.
Event coordinator, Ms Inky Giga said the festival, which coincides with the start of the Hindu New Year, primarily focuses on celebrating new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.
“Diwali is the festival of light and we want to bring joy into everybody’s life and what we actually do is that we burn a candle and say, ‘let there be light’. We thought this was an ideal way of bringing the Hindu community together by celebrating Diwali as one big family in Bulawayo,” she said.
“It is quite amazing how everybody has turned up in their numbers where we have Moslems, Hindus, Coloureds, and this is our Christmas and that is how we celebrate it. Today (yesterday) is our Christmas and our New Year is tomorrow (today) and we are entering year 2076, which means we are way ahead of the English calendar.”
Ms Giga also took the opportunity to wish the Hindu community worldwide prosperity in their New Year, which begins today.
“Let us lift everybody’s spirits and face the New Year with determination and tenacity. On behalf of the local Hindu community, I also want to take this opportunity to wish everyone prosperity,” she said.
Diwali or Deepavali is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism and it symbolises the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance”.
It is celebrated to honour Rama-chandra, the seventh avatar (incarnation of the god Vishnu). It is believed that on this day Rama returned to his people after 14 years of exile during which he fought and won a battle against the demons and the demon king, Ravana.
The last day of the five days long Diwali festival end with Bhai Dooj, the day when sisters pray for long and happy lives for their brothers.
After celebrating the festival of Diwali, the Hindu celebrate Devotthan Ekadasi also known as Prabodhini Ekadashi, on the eleventh day of half of the Hindu month of Kartik.
In 2020, Diwali is on November 14.
Among those who graced the occasion were Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi and prominent Bulawayo businessman and former Zanu-PF councillor Mr Mohammed Hassan Esat. — @mashnets
Online Reporter