The Hindu Festival of Lights, or Diwali, illuminated on Saturday night in a dinner and cultural event sponsored by the Hindu Temple & Heritage Foundation (HTHF).
The foundation has been celebrating the festival for more than 25 years, and this was the fourth time the event has been held at Clifton.
"It’s actually the most important festival of India," said Monica Jain, one of the event's organizers. "It’s the triumph of good over evil."
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Jain said that she celebrated the holiday at home with food and decorations, including patterns called rangoli, made with colored sand, and diyas--small clay lamps that are lit at Diwali.
The festival always falls on the new moon, which came on Oct. 26 this year. The festival commemorates many different stories, including the homecoming of the Hindu god Ram, who defeated a demon and was welcomed home with lights after a 14 year absence. Umesh Muchhal, one of the event’s sponsors, said that his family celebrates Diwali with a lot of good food and by honoring the goddess Laxmi.
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"She’s a goddess of prosperity," Muchhal said. "This also represents a new year for a lot of businesses in India."
Muchhal's daughter Ishika performed an Indian classical dance called Bharatnatyam in the evening’s cultural program, and he joined in a comedy skit based on the Mahabarata, an epic from ancient India.
The cultural program included folk dances, classical dances, poetry, Bollywood dances, comedic skits, and songs. Prior to the entertainment portion of the evening, the organization also served a dinner with many traditional Indian dishes.
The program also featured a special comedic children’s skit called DAD KI QAID, which was coordinated by Monica Jain, Niketa Verma, and Indu Garg. DAD stands for “Digital Age Disorder,” and QAID means “arrest,” Garg said.
Coordinator Indu Garg and her husband, Vinay Garg, said that the skit’s moral focused on honoring traditional ways of spending time with family instead of living a life overruled by digital gadgets. Their son Rijul was also in the skit and played the part of a magician, she said.
The evening included an invocation by Swami Adrishanandaji of the Pasadena Hindu Temple and a welcome speech by Dr. Manju Kumar, President of HTHF. Mayor Mary Ann Lutz presented HTHF with a certificate of recognition and received a model of the Taj Mahal as a token of appreciation from the organization.
