Diwali 2014: Being "Indian" Alone

- October 23, 2014, Thursday.

- I bet my closest friends are not anymore surprised when I kept telling them how I excited I was for diwali today. "Diwali" or "deepawali," is the pan-Indian festival of lights, and is one of the biggest festivals in the Indian subcontinent, as well as the South Asian transnational communities around the world; it is comparable to, but not an equivalent of, celebrations such as Christmas or New Year. Although I am not Indian, I have my little diwali celebration when the festival knocks on the calendar. I've celebrated diwali with many non-Indian friends too, and it has usually been my practice to visit the Hindu temple in Manila to light a candle, or maybe have some small talk with the high priest, Ashok Maharaj.

- This year, I had no one to go with to my temple visit, so I decided to go alone and spend some quiet time by myself. I wore my green kurta, dashed off to Little India in UN Avenue early in the afternoon, and had some Indian food take-away. While waiting for my food to be prepared, I went to the Manila Hindu Temple to see how they have decorated the prayer hall. As always, the highlight of any temple visit during diwali is to see how the temple people have dressed up the Hindu deities. The gods and goddesses always have a new and better set of clothes every year, which makes me wonder if the statues have their own costume committee in the temple.

The greeting upon entrance.

My best friend in the temple - Surabhi/Kamadehnu, the mother cow goddess.

I am loving Shiva's garb this year.

Rama, Lakshman, Sita, and Hanuman also have their shiny clothes this year.

- The temple was too quiet this afternoon, apart from Baba Kartasi's occasional chanting of mantras with his harmonium, since the puja (prayer/mass/offering) will be done tonight, when more people in nice kurtas and saris will come and pray. However, I was able to observe the handful of people celebrating diwali in the Hindu temple, and their different ways of doing their prayers and offerings. This is not surprising since there are a handful of beliefs with their own interpretations of diwali. The most prominent reason, according to Hinduism, is to venerate Lakshmi, the goddess of purity and wealth, and to celebrate the triumph of good over evil; in this case, the date of the diwali is on the darkest new moon, and is balanced by the blinding lights that the people put on. The festival is celebrated in 5 days, each day with a specific name and a specific way of celebrating. The third day, called "Bada Diwali" (Big Diwali) is the exact day of diwali. Usually, people light "diyas" (clay lamps,) candles, lanterns, or firecrackers. Needless to say, diwali is best seen at night.  

Indians giving some offerings.

Baba Kartasi and his harmonium. 

- Before I left the temple to get my take-away Indian food for dinner, I was given some prasad (food offerings,) and had a small chat in Hindi with the lady who gave the prasad to me. (My visits to Little India have always proven to be a good way of brushing up on my Hindi.) I also lit a small candle at the open area, which of course, is the highlight of celebrating diwali.

My prasad: a banana, a ladoo, a barfi, and a jalebi.

Lighting a candle.

Hot hot hot hot.

- I got my big bag of take-away Indian food, and tried to avoid the nearing rush hour. The gods must have been happy with me, because when I arrived at the train station, the LRT that arrived was a skip train, so I was able to have a spacious trip home.

- This is just the beginning of my diwali celebration, and I am anticipating a bigger celebration this Saturday evening. For now, diwali mubarak!! Happy diwali!!

Excited for this!!