Every Wednesday, the Eliot House for Religious and Spiritual Life hosts an Interfaith Lunch at which students can learn about different religions and their respective traditions. On Oct. 26, participants had a chance to learn about Hindu fall holidays while indulging in potato leek soup, French bread, garden salad and various cookies. "This provides the first door to learning more about [different religions]," Alison Branistky '18 said.
"Hindus celebrate way too many holidays," Manju Sharma, the Hindu advisor for Mount Holyoke, jokingly told those present at the lunch. She introduced Mahima Poreddy '18 and Manisha Malik '18 who led a slide show presentation about the seasonal Hindu holidays. They first briefly explained Navaratri, a holiday that occurs Oct. 1- 10. The 10 day festival celebrates the Hindu goddess Durga. The primary emphasis of the presentation was placed on Diwali, which fell 20 days after the end of Navaratri, on Oct. 30.
Diwali is known as the "Festival of the Lights" and is celebrated by Buddhists, Sikhs and Jainists as well as Hindus. Huge displays of fireworks, lit candles and lamps characterize the festival. "It's all to celebrate the triumph of good versus evil," Poreddy explained.
For Hindus, the celebration recalls a story in which Lord Rama, a figure of Hindu scriptures, and his family return from a 14 year exile and dethrone Ravana, an evil ruler. Even with this myth as the focus of the holiday, the significance and meaning of Diwali vary from family to family.