Celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, amid a second year of darkness

For the second year in a row, the festivities associated with the widely celebrated Hindu festival of Diwali have been scaled down in Saskatchewan due to rising COVID-19 case numbers.

The festival will be celebrated on Thursday.

"Diwali is one of the main festivals of Hindus. Diwali is the festival of lights and stands for hope for humankind. It's a symbol of togetherness as a community, friends, families and anybody who wants to celebrate," Vishal Gupta, vice-president of the Hindu Society of Saskatchewan, said.

Diwali is celebrated just 21 days after Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashami. According to Ramayana, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and important text of Hinduism, Dussehra marks Lord Rama killing the 10-headed demon king Ravana who had abducted Lord Rama's wife goddess Sita. 

The months in the Hindu calendar are based on the lunar phases of the moon, with the 15th day being a new moon or "Amavasya" and the 30th day being a full moon or "Purnima." 

Diwali marks the day when Lord Rama arrived in his kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. As per mythology, "diyas" or "deeps," oil lamps, were lit to celebrate his arrival on that new moon night or "Amavasya."

Since then, Diwali has been celebrated across India and other parts of South Asia on an Amavasya and remains an auspicious religious celebration for Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. 

"After the harvest, people would start looking for a prosperous new year. That's why we have the goddess Lakshmi, who is a symbol of prosperity, being worshiped on this particular day," Gupta said.

Though the main day for celebration that includes lighting "diyas," offering prayers to goddess Lakshmi and exchanging sweets falls on Diwali day, the celebrations usually last five days. 

"People do a lot of shopping and visiting family during these days. These are five days of joy and celebration where we could meet our friends, families, people we know of, and greet them with gifts and sweets," he said.

"Besides hope, Diwali is about the victory of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance."

Gupta and his family did their Diwali shopping a week ago and will celebrate the day with a few other families by burning crackers and recreating the nostalgia of the celebrations they witnessed while growing up in India.

"Religion is one aspect, but celebration is the main key," Gupta said.

The society would also be hosting prayers and celebrations at a Saskatoon temple on Sunday, as most people are available over the weekend.

"We're taking a hard hit in terms of organizing these events. But organizing the event is important to keep the people connected. People are encouraged to come out, celebrate, obviously in a restrictive and a controlled manner," he said.

'Hoping everything will be better by next year'

Devotees from different parts of India celebrate the festival differently, but share a similar history. In most regions, prayers are offered to goddess Lakshmi at a particular time in the evening depending on the position of the moon, but some regions celebrate goddess Kali. 

Arati Chattopadhyay, a resident of Saskatoon, has been celebrating Diwali since she moved to the city in 1969. 

She said back in those days there were not many South Asian families in the province and celebrations were limited to individual homes. 

The pandemic has brought a similar situation.

"I'm hoping everything will be better by next year and there's always hope, that's what Diwali is about. Particularly, this year it's hope over despair, because many people have lost their dear ones," Chattopadhyay said.

"Diwali is also about prosperity against poverty. By poverty, I mean moral poverty. It's about how we enrich our own mind."

Chattopadhyay said that as a part of Bengali tradition, she would be offering her prayers to goddess Kali and light 14 oil lamps for "bhoot chaturdashi," observed on the eve of Diwali.

"Bhoot means spirits and chaturdashi is the 14th day, Diwali being the 15th. We light 14 lamps for the 14 generations of ancestors who are not with us. We remember them and pay respect," she said.

"We're not inviting friends or neighbours to our house this time because of COVID. It's only me and my husband in the house. We will still do Lakshmi Puja and have the sweets that we'll end up eating ourselves I guess. This year is going to be much more laid back."