The Sojourner

During my weekly visit to my local Indian grocer, Choithram, I became aware of the festival of Diwali.  All of the staff were dressed up and they had a small shrine with gifts below.

Diwali (or Deepvali) is a five-day celebration in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism.  It is known as the "Festival of Lights".  Move over Hannukah.  Suffice to say that it is the only festival of lights celebrated on the Arabian Peninsula.

The word Deepvali translates into a row of lamps in Sanskrit.  Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to celebrate the triumph of good over evil.  Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana.

While Judeo-Christrian America will be enjoying Thanksgiving turkey with dressing and pie in November, Marcus of Arabia will be having a chapati cooked in ghee with curry rolled inside.  Yummy!  The festival is also marked by the sharing of sweets.  When I offered a Happy Diwali greeting to my Indian friends, several of them offered me candies.

I do not know about the significance of the swastika in the shrine in the photo.  Do you think that the little guy spent some time on the sub-continent before conjuring up the thousand-year reich?