Top Tips For A DIY Diwali Celebration
An Ancient Celebration of Light’s Triumph Over Darkness
Diwali is one of the most celebrated annual festivals in the Hindu calendar, observing the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and love over evil.Â
Lasting for five days, Diwali incorporates a stunning array of illuminations, candles, and vibrant ‘rangoli’, which are used to usher in good fortune for the coming year and welcome the gods into peoples’ homes.Â
With billions of individuals set to celebrate Diwali this year, Scarlett Entertainment thought we’d explore this colourful tradition and its origins.
Where it Begins and Regional Variations
First mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts, Diwali developed on the Indian sub-continent, and has widely been celebrated by not just Hindus, but also by Jains and Sikhs across the globe. Traditionally, Diwali is celebrated over a five day period, peaking on the evening of the third night to coincide with the darkest night in the Hindu lunisolar calendar. This also coincides with the Hindu New Year, making Diwali one of the most important celebrations of the Hindu calendar.
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Although Diwali is celebrated by a wide range of people, different regions of India and Nepal celebrate Diwali differently, with local regions associating the festival with the epic tale of Ramayana, the Goddess Durga or Lakshmi
These regional variations also dictate the style and colours of the rangoli used, which are passed down from generation to generation and are used as a way of keeping local traditions alive.
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In Jainism, Diwali symbolises the time from which Mahavira’s soul reached Nirvana. This also traditionally signals the time when Jains start their financial accounting year.
With this rich and diverse history surrounding Diwali, we’ve found some useful resources to help you celebrate your own Diwali this year.
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Rangoli
Channels such as ‘Easy Rangoli Classes’ and ‘Top Rangoli’ on Youtube provide a wealth of incredible rangoli designs, which you can use to usher good spirits and fortune for the coming year. Here is our favourite video below from 'TsMadaan'.
Delicious Mithai Recipes
One of the quintessential parts of Diwali is enjoying some of the delicious sweet treats called mithai. A range of Indian desserts go hand-in-hand with the festival of light, and are part of the celebration of light over evil.Â
Youtube channel ‘Hebbars Kitchen’ has compiled a video showing how to make 6 of these delicious goodies for you to enjoy. Click the video below to find out how!
Flower Garland Making
Another traditional element of Diwali that is a must have is creating flower garlands. An essential part of any ‘Puja’ or worship, colourful garlands can be seen all over India during the Diwali celebrations, with flower vendors often selling out before dawn each morning.Â
This video by ‘Rainbow Rangoli’ shows you how to make your very own flower garland, and is perfect for adding even more colour to your Diwali celebrations.Â
Embracing The Light
If you want to go one extra and incorporate some Indian entertainment that incorporates light into their performances, you should definitely check out our LED Bhangra Dancers as well as our Luxury Bollywood Dancers.  Both of these stunning entertainment packages offer visually mesmerising choreography whilst embracing the theme of light that is so prevalent with Diwali’s core message.
