Diwali - the festival of lights
Diwali, the 'Festival of Lights' is Indian festival celebrated worldwide by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. It lasts for 5 days and usually falls within November or early December each year although the exact date changes each year.
Diwali is called the festival of lights because people fill their homes and workplaces with candles, lanterns, fairy lights and diyas, which are small oil-filled lamps. They also decorate their homes with petals and stunning designs made from coloured sand.
Day one is known as Dhanteras or Dhanatrayodash and on this day people will clean and decorate their homes.
Day three is considered the main event of Diwali and is called Lakshmi Pujan or Kali Puja. This year it falls on Saturday 14th November and usually involves a big special meal and time spent with family. There are also rituals performed to invite the goddess Lakshmi into homes to bring good luck and happiness.
Woman lighting Diwali oil lamps. Photo by Nikita Khandelwal from Pexels
Om Group, part of our Luton Carnival family, have shared with us some photos from Diwali celebrations in Luton Town Centre in previous years.
We have found some great activities you can try, and also created some colouring sheets which you can colour in and decorate your home with.
Diwali Craft Ideas
We have found some great activity ideas online.
They have 8 easy Diwali craft ideas for children including salt dough and glitter Diya lamps, flower rangoli craft and how to make a Marigold Garland from paper. There are also some great book suggestions if you would like your children to learn more about the festival.
They have searched far and wide to find a list of the best Diwali crafts out there for toddlers and pre-school children. Check them out!
Diwali - Family Activity Fun Pack
To help make your Diwali extra special, Swaminarayan Faith have created an activity pack for the whole family to get involved with. Click here to download.