If you see a house in your neighborhood with string lights twinkling along the eaves, don't be quick to assume its residents are leaning into the early Christmas trend. Instead, they might be a family like Rahul Sharma's, who hang such lights each fall to celebrate Diwali.
Diwali is a lunar holiday, typically celebrated in late October and early November, which symbolizes the victory of good over evil; light over darkness. It's traditionally celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists, among others. For the many groups who observe Diwali, it's comparable in scale to Christmas with its many gatherings, performances, rites and other traditions.
"To me, they're Diwali lights, and they'll be on all night," Sharma says. "We leave the lights on so that Lakshmi can come into the house. We're welcoming her."
Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity, is a central deity of Diwali.
As president of the Spokane India Community, a nonprofit created in 2015 to foster connections among the region's residents with Indian heritage, Sharma is one of the main organizers of Spokane's new Diwali celebration. It's the first publicly focused Diwali event for the city, adds co-organizer Charity Bagatsing Doyl.
The festival is to include performances, food, arts and crafts, and a welcoming introduction to what Diwali means and how it's celebrated by various groups in the Spokane area and around the world.
"Spokane has like six Indian community groups," Doyl says. "And then we're learning that Diwali is also celebrated by other cultures — not necessarily Southeast Indian — it's also celebrated by the Pakistanis, the Sri Lankans... and other neighboring countries including Nepal and Tibet. So, we wanted it to be inclusive and include all the other cultures, not just Southeast India, but all the others that follow and celebrate Diwali."
These groups, she adds, will be present at the event, held throughout River Park Square's first floor, with booths introducing themselves and their cultural heritage to the community.
"These are communities that have never really been represented in Spokane in this manner," Doyl says. "So for them to come out publicly is a big deal because they are normally shy and keep to themselves. So we're excited we were able to coax them out of their shell!"
Inside the mall's main entrance on Main Avenue, local artist Sreedhani Nandagopal, from the South Asian Cultural Association, will be creating a rangoli, a mixed media collage made with rice, colorful flowers and other materials. Rangoli are placed on the floor or ground at the entrance of temples and homes of Diwali observers to welcome the goddess Lakshmi.
"She's going to be doing it live and using traditional patterns so everyone can see and enjoy how it's traditionally made," Doyl says.
Leading up to the event was also a public rangoli art contest with cash prizes totaling $2,000. Doyl says the contest was open to all, and winners are being unveiled at the celebration.
Members from Spokane's Hindu Temple and Vedic Cultural Center will be passing out the traditional clay lamps, or diyas, that are lit during Diwali, and hosting other activities like traditional henna artwork, or mehndi. The Natanam Dance School and Indian Youth Club of Spokane are also on the schedule, performing a mix of Bollywood and traditional Indian dances. Attendees can also try samples of vegetarian dishes served at Diwali gatherings, and, of course, there will be music, performed by members of the Spokane Ghaana group.
"They are a group of musicians that normally only perform at the temple, so they're coming out, going public now, and playing traditional Indian music using this instrument that has only been played at the temple," Doyl says.
While Spokane hasn't hosted a public Diwali celebration on this scale before, at least to Doyl and Sharma's knowledge, there are always plenty of events within the cultural communities who observe the holiday. Many of these events kicked off in late September, and will culminate in the final day of Diwali, this year Oct. 24.
For Sharma, who moved from Bethel, Connecticut, to Spokane in 1999, getting involved in the region's Indian community and helping organize Diwali events has been a priority so that his children and other families here can share and pass on these traditions to the next generation.
"When we got here, really, it was five families that started doing a Diwali party for ourselves and our kids," Sharma says. "My thought process was, we moved here to have a better life for ourselves, and what did our kids do to not have the cultural background that we did? So we needed to do something to bring them that culture that we had grown up with."
Those early events grew, year after year, from those first several families to hundreds of attendees. But since the families were splitting costs among themselves to rent venues, cater food and hire musicians, they weren't sure a public party was feasible. Then Doyl, who's organized numerous multicultural events in the community, stepped into the picture. She helped secure grant funding from local and statewide organizations, including Humanities Washington, the city of Spokane and the Washington State Arts Commission.
"We've come here, we make a living, and we love it here, but that doesn't mean we forget where we're from," Sharma says. "This helps us connect back, and that's why we do this. And what this event is all about is for us to give back to this community and introduce one of our beloved holidays, which is Diwali." ♦
Happy Diwali: Festival of Lights • Sat, Oct. 22 from 11 am-5 pm • Free • All ages • River Park Square • 808 W. Main Ave. • spokaneunitedwestand.org
