Aseesh Vemagiri

Making art…Using Rangoli, junior Anuhya Vemagiri decorates her porch to make it look nice for Diwali. The festival took place on November 12-17, with Hindus celebrating something different each day.

To symbolize the victory of light over darkness, Hindus celebrate Diwali at home on November 12-17, by wearing traditional Indian clothing, lighting Diyas and fireworks, and making sweets.
Diwali, known as the “festival of lights,” is a major Hindu festival that is celebrated over a span of five days during November 12-17.
According to junior Shreeya Penugonda, Hindus celebrate Diwali in hopes of many good things to come for the new year.
Diwali brings good things overall, [like] bringing prosperity, channeling wealth and luck into your life.”
Penugonda said goddess Lakshmi represents “wealth and good luck” during this time, which is why most people pray to Lakshmi in hopes she will grant them with these blessings.
Senior Anya Patel said during Diwali Hindus go to “expel our ignorance,” and all of our bad habits to “enlighten our souls by lighting those lights.”
“Diwali is part of [the Hindu] New Year, so we celebrate it with lights, we light lights, we celebrate it to signify the light in our lives, ” Patel said, “and how in the new year, our lives are going to be filled with light.”
According to junior Anuhya Vemagiri, there is a story behind why Diwali is important to the religious people that celebrate the holiday.
“It’s about a god named Rama who went to war with Ravana,” Vemagiri said, “and Rama won the war and he came home and he was able to celebrate.”
Vemagiri also said that is why Diwali is known as the festival of lights, to “signify good over evil,” and how Rama won the war over Ravana.
During the Diwali festival, cleaning your house is an important aspect to bring in the Lunar Year and be blessed by Lakshmi.
“It is typically celebrated by cleaning your house and lighting Diyas [oil lamps],” Vemagirir said. “We clean our house because it kind of ties into the religious aspect, so we light those Diyas [lamps] and put them on our porch to let the goddess Lakshmi see our house and enter our homes.”
Vemagiri said people clean their homes because if your house is not clean, “goddess Lakshmi won’t give you that success.
Preparing for Diwali is similar amongst families before the religious festival.
“This is also the time when you buy new clothes [and] household items,” Penugonda said, “and a lot of people, what they do is you take chalk and draw designs outside on your doorstep, and it’s called Rangoli, and it’s to bring good luck into your house.”
Some people who do not celebrate Diwali, may not know what this festival is about as it is mainly celebrated by people who practice the Hindu religion.
“I know North Penn has an Indian-heavy student body, compared to Souderton,” senior Kushi Thaker said,” but I feel like we are so diverse and inclusive, so it’s important to recognize all these other holidays [during the holiday season].”
Thaker said that it’s important to “pay attention to the things that other people celebrate, as well.”