diwali

With Diwali coming up this October, I want the residents and citizens to be aware that a common symbol of this holiday is a Diwali swastika. This symbol is known to date back to 3000 BCE. A symbol of good fortune and good wishes, the swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. [...]

As Diwali approaches, a touching video from New Zealand highlights the festival’s global spirit, featuring local police performing Bhangra at a Diwali event. The video showcases officers in uniform joining community members in a joyful dance, promoting cultural appreciation. Social media reactions celebrated this gesture, with users expressing happiness at the embrace of diverse traditions. [...]

Diwali will be a New York City public school holiday starting next year in 2023. Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks announced Thursday the school calendar was moved around to make room for the important holiday for many religions. [...]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State minister for religious affairs, Pir Aminul Hasnat Shah, speaking in parliament, said that interior ministry has already given permission to heads of government institutions to grant leave to minorities on their religious festivals. For the first time, minority communities in Pakistan will have public holidays on Holi, Diwali and Easter festivals after [...]

Since time immemorial there have been strong and influential Western women who have been drawn to and been inspired by Hinduism, and who have taken up the mantle of Hindu Dharma, becoming great leaders, swaminis, and gurus as keepers and vanguards of this ancient culture. [...]

MUMBAI: Accounting books are mostly anachronisms these days. Students still fill up those long columns, but few businessmen would bother now that computers and accounting software are so cheap. Yet every Diwali businessmen still flock to shops like the ones near the Mumbadevi temple in Mumbai to buy account books that they will fill up, [...]

Jyoti Sharma fondly remembers Diwali festivities from her childhood in India. The Hindu festival of lights is observed every autumn with prayers, fireworks and feasts. But one thing that made Diwali really special, Sharma said, is that she had five days off from school to observe the holiday. Sharma now lives in Millburn, N.J., with [...]

The White House celebrated the start of the Hindu holiday of Diwali on Tuesday, something they have done every year since the Obamas have lived there. Given that this is a non-Christian holiday and the Obamas were involved, you just know that the religious right could not stay silent. Sure enough, Bryan Fischer opened his [...]

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha joined the Diwali celebrations at the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the largest traditional Hindu temple outside India. More at British PM and Wife Celebrate Diwali at Hindu Temple [...]

Stylish Samantha Cameron is known for her knack of dressing impeccably, whatever the occasion, and today the Prime Minister’s wife chose a dramatic autumnal sari to take in London’s colourful Diwali celebrations. Samantha, 42, chose a russet-coloured sari edged in gold for a visit to the Swaminarayan Mandir, the largest traditional Hindu temple outside India, [...]