The Cupertino Courier
News
Diwali Festival offers an illuminating event
By Crystal Lu
Lamps will decorate trees in Memorial Park when the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce presents the fifth annual Diwali Festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 13. It will be a free event that showcases multicultural arts, crafts, food, music and dance.
Diwali means "a row of lamps" in the Hindi language, symbolizing an invitation to Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, by illuminating her path.
In India, Diwali is a four-day festival that takes place at the end of the seventh month on the Indian lunar calendar, which starts a new year in late March. Diwali thus falls in October or November. The festival will begin Nov. 9 this year in India but will be celebrated early in Cupertino because of the availability of Memorial Park and free parking at De Anza College, according to Mahesh Nihalani, chairman of the Diwali Festival.
"Diwali in Cupertino is a multicultural festival for everyone," said Nihalani, adding that there will be a health fair, sponsored by the South Asia Heart Center, and a job fair at the festival. The health fair will start at 8 a.m., before the start of the festival.
Mayor Kris Wang and B.S. Brakash, consul general of India, will light lamps at a ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
An essential part of Diwali is sharing sweets with relatives, friends, neighbors and business associates as a gesture of goodwill. One of the festival's popular desserts is called mithai, which is in round or diamond shapes made of condensed milk, sugar and perhaps nuts.
On the eve of Diwali, people in India will spread colored powder to create colorful patterns in the entryway of their homes.
"Diwali to Indians is what Christmas is to Americans," said Hema Kundargi, public relations coordinator of Diwali Festival.
Legend has it that the first day of the festival marks Lord Krishna's destruction of demons. Laxmi is welcomed to every household on the second day. The third day is for love and devotion between husband and wife. The fourth day men will bring gifts and sweets to their sisters while women pray for their brothers' longevity.
