Festival of Lights

My favorite things to do is something I've never done.  Literally.  I love trying new things!  Or going new places, or experiencing something new, or learning about a new [fill in the blank].  It doesn't matter the time of year, the company or where it is, I just love it!

Most recently, I headed down to Spanish Fork, UT with some friends for Diwali - Festival of Lights at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. 

This is the same place that hosts Holi - Festival of Colors every March (see this post for some great pics from Holi).  This festival is not as popular as the Festival of Colors, but it was very interesting to me.  Below is some information about it.

The Tradition
Diwali is a shortened version of Deepawali (deepa=lamps, wali=row: rows of lamps). Households in India put lamps in every window, and temples brightly illuminate their altars to bring in the best for the upcoming year. The date of the festival coincides with the return of the avatar of God, Sri Rama, to His ancestral kingdom after 14 years of exile and many adventures. All the citizens welcomed Rama home by brightening up his home city of Ayodhya and setting off fireworks.

The Festival of Lights occurs during the lull between fall harvests and the onset of the monsoons. Thus it is a time of thanksgiving, and that corollary festival is called Anna Kuta (literally meaning “heaps of food”). Lord Krishna inaugurated this festival by inspiring the inhabitants of His village (Vrndavan) to worship the cows on this one day per year and to prepare a huge celebratory feast consisting of no less than 108 preparations.

Guests are encouraged to prepare vegetarian dishes at home (without onions or garlic) and bring them to the temple to augment the devotional offerings. Optionally, one could bring fruits, or flowers.

We didn't take any food offerings, nor did we arrive in time for the cow worshiping.  But, we did arrive in time to see some  

classical Indian dancing...

I didn't take any pictures myself because I didn't want to be obnoxious

the lighting of the lamps and wishes for the new year which each person placed in the pond as they made their wish... 

and of course the fireworks!

It was really fun for me to experience this celebration.  I think it is important to understand other religions and respect the things they believe.  The more I learn about other beliefs, the more I can appreciate the people who believe it, and the better I am for it!

"We...have a great responsibility and opportunity to show to others our love and tolerance and respect to those who believe in other faiths. This attitude makes friends out of  strangers..."    -Gerald E. Jones