Diwali: a traditional Hindu festival, or just an Eastern Christmas?

Name the event that involves: buying presents, family gatherings, decorating the house, lights, music, prayers and sweets? It’s not surprising that most people would label this as Christmas. The ancient Hindu festival Diwali is celebrated by millions across the globe, including around 800,000 Hindus in the UK. But has globalisation meant that the Eastern celebration has become so westernized it is nothing more than a commercial event?

Rassila Shah (76), is a Hindu, born in India and now living in the UK. She reflects upon the meaning of Diwali and the rapid changes it has undergone in the 50 years since she arrived in the UK.

 When you lived in India, what did Diwali stand for?

When I was living in India Diwali mainly consisted of visiting many temples, saying prayers to the gods and performing puja. It was quite a personal thing, as we spent a lot of time visiting local people all over the village, like shopkeepers and friends, where we said prayers and wished each other good fortune for the New Year. Decorating the house with rangoli patterns and making traditional Indian food such as mathri was also a major part of it. We reminded ourselves of the story of the enlightenment of the god Rama, as that is where the festival stems from. We thank the gods for the light, and our friends and family.

How was it celebrated when you first moved to the UK?

I moved here in 1965, almost 50 years ago. When we first came there were very little celebrations in place for Diwali, as due to the small Hindu population not many people were aware of it. There were no Indian temples to go to where we could take part in special ceremonies, for example. We celebrated it as a family, but even then we didn’t use fireworks as we do now. It was not a commercial event at all – you couldn’t find a single Diwali greeting card, for example, unlike nowadays, where plenty of Indian supermarkets sell hundreds.

How much has that changed in recent years?  

An incredible amount. Partly because of the increasing number of Hindus in the UK, and also the amount of media coverage Diwali now receives it seems that people of all cultures are now at least aware of the event, if not celebrating it in their own way. In the week of Diwali you can hear constant firework displays through the night, and in nearly all major supermarkets you can buy traditional Indian food, decorations and greeting cards for the festival. We are now able to celebrate the event as a community.

Do you think this change has been positive overall?

I would say yes to that. It’s nice that more and more people in Britain are acknowledging and getting involved with different cultural events like this, and although maybe not everyone celebrates it the traditional way, being open and showing interest in some of the ancient and most central Hindu traditions is definitely a good thing. After all, we like to celebrate Christmas also! For me the best part is that it is celebrated in some schools, as this shows people are really willing to learn about our culture.

 

Anya Shah, Sir William Perkins's School