
Diwali is a five-day festival of lights, which originated in India. Diwali is a shortening of the word deepavali, which means "row of lamps." The darkest night of autumn lit with diyas - earthern lamps, candles and lanterns, makes the festival of lights particularly memorable. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs to mark different historical and religious events, stories or myths but they all symbolize the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil. Celebrations include fireworks at night and Rangoli designs painted on pavement near home entrances with colored rice flour. As night falls, thousands of tiny lamps, colored lights and paper lanterns are lit turning each village and town into a fairyland.
Grade School Diwali Festival
Grade school students will hear a story of Diwali. Beautiful Rangoli artwork will be created by community members near the entrance of the school. First through third grade students will be making and decorating Diwali diyas, or clay lamps, filled with ghee, to be lit on the night of November 11th.