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DIWALI CELEBRATIONS
Sharma joins Diwali celebrations in Reading
Alok Sharma, the Member of Parliament for Reading West, was the chief guest at the Diwali celebrations taking place at the Rivermead Leisure Centre on Friday 1st November 2013. The celebrations were organised by MASS (Multicultural Activities for Secular Society), a small group from Reading which aims to unite individuals and groups from different cultural backgrounds to celebrate and create awareness of all cultures. Attendees at the celebration were able to enjoy a range of food and sweets and to buy traditional Diwali home deco-
rations, designer Indian clothes and jewellery and other handicrafts from around the world. There was also the opportunity to get traditional henna tattoos. Children enjoyed face painting, a bouncy castle, balloons, arts and crafts. Prizes were awarded for the best Ramayan posters submitted and the best dressed couple. Alok Sharma said: “I was delighted to be invited to attend the Diwali celebrations organised by MASS, who have a very positive message of inclusion and of celebrating other cultures and I hope to be able to support them again in the future.”
Diwali with a bang in Leicester
Thousands of people gathered on the famous Melton Road in Belgrave to join together to celebrate Diwali. Restaurants were overflowing with revellers, while over 10,000 people gathered in Cossington Street Recreation Ground for the traditional fireworks display and celebrations. Side roads were also lit up as decorations from many houses beamed out of the windows, as peo-
ple celebrated the end of the Hindu year. Belgrave Road was also dazzling with more than 6,500 lights, loud music and dancing. The festival began two weeks ago when 35,000 visitors watched a lights switchon spanning 1km along Melton Road. As well as the main entertainment by the firework display, many other Diwali events took place across the city.
Hindu Forum of Britain hosts intimate Diwali event at House of Commons
Indian sweets, the gentle flicker of lights, and excited murmurs of celebration swept through the corridors of Westminster on Wednesday October 30, 2013, on the occasion of the Hindu Forum of Britain’s 12th Diwali event. Speaking in the historic Member’s Room, the Hindu Forum of Britain President Arjan Vekaria JP, emphasized the need for unity and how people should live a life full of love, harmony and peace. “Diwali is an international event celebrated across the world. The single fact that reverberates across
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the celebration period is the unity in diversity. It’s a time where we forget the personal animosity and
extend our hands for a friendly gesture even to a strange” he said. The Speaker of the
House Rt Hon. John Bercow lighted the lamp and stated clearly that ‘You, the Hindu Community are the best immigrant community in the UK’. Attorney General Dominic Grieve, Rt Hon Andrew Lansley, Caroline Lucas MP, Rt Hon Ed Balls, Chuka Umunna, Ashok Sharma, Seema Malhotra, Paul Uppal ,Shailesh Vara, Virendra Sharma also attended amongst many prominent parliamentarians who wished everyone a pious Diwali and spoke about values such as sacrifice, family and hard work.
The temple reverberated with chants of Hanuman Chalisa on Saturday night. Singers and devotees chanted the hymn in unison for 108 times during the five-hour programme, which commenced at 7 p.m on Saturday and lasted untill 1 a.m. on Sunday. Account books and ledgers were placed by devotees and an Aarti was performed for Goddess Lakshmi, praying for more prosperity, Health wealth and Happiness for all.
sSenior parliamentarians attended the annual diabetes charity event, the Silver StarDiabetes Health Challenge, as part of Diwali at Westminster at the House of Commons. On Wednesday 30th October, Opposition Leader Ed Miliband, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Steve Brine MP, David Ward MP, Mark Durkan MP, Caroline Nokes MP, Iain Stewart MP, Nic Dakin MP and Julie Hilling MP along with other Members of Parliament were issued with a Silver StarDiabetes Pedometer. The pedometer will measure the amount of steps taken on a chosen day from the day of the event until World Diabetes Day
on 14th November 2013 to see who can take the most steps. Matthew Hancock, Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State for Business and Education is the current holder of the 2012 Health Challenge. The winner of this year’s challenge will have their award presented by the Reverend Jesse Jackson at the Silver StarDiabetes’ Health and Diversity Breakfast Seminar on the 5th December 2013.
Harsha Trivedi, Chiranjibi Paudyal, Sumantrai Desai, Swami Nirliptananda ji, Arjan Vekaria, Trupti Patel, Madhava Turumella, Velji Vekaria, Rickie Sehgal Second Row: Kirty Vekaria, Hament Mistry, Gauri Das, Swaminathan Vaidyanathan, Ramesh Patani, Jit Jethwa, Vinay Sofat
4 Days of celebrations at Uxbridge Temple
Diwali celebrations took place over a four day period at the Adhya Shakti Mataji temple in Uxbridge. New year celebrations, Diwali, Chopda puja (worship of account books) and chanting of Hanuman Chalisa (a religious hymn in praise of Lord Hanuman) all took place over the Diwali weekend. Ankut Darshan, which literally means an offering of a mountain of food, was performed to the reigning temple diety. An oblation of 56 varieties of savouries and sweets were made to the Goddess and an Aarti (offering of wicks soaked in ghee lamps with an invocation song) was performed at noon. Devotees, dressed in their best clothes offered prayers and partook of the food later.
MPs indulge in Mithai and take diabetes test in support of Silver Star Diabetes challenge
Hundreds attend Diwali Celebrations at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Southend-on-Sea
Hundreds of people from across Essex gathered to celebrate the most popular Hindu festival in the year in Southend-on-Sea on Sunday 3 and Monday 4 November at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Hindu Temple) in Queensway. This year’s Diwali and Hindu New Year celebrations were one of the best, lively and colourful to date, attracting hundreds of visitors over the two days of festivities, while raising valuable funds for BBC’s Children in Need.
The festival was celebrated with great devotion and merriment over the two days - traditionally a time when charity, goodwill, family values and the love of God are celebrated and reinforced. Those who attended witnessed beautifully bright and authentic Indian decorative patterns, flickering lamps, and elegant arrangements of delicious vegetarian food items. The central attraction was the ‘Annakut’ – literally, ‘a mountain of
food’ – which saw a grand offering of more than 250 pure vegetarian food items of all tastes and varieties and left all who visited in awe. The dishes were prepared by devotees and offered to the deities with faith and devotion as a traditional form of thanksgiving. Everyone had the chance to share the food offered in the Annakut at the end of the day. The rich aromas, vibrant colours and classical Indian sounds provided the perfect ambience for the occasion.
Ilford town centre dazzles for diwali Ilford was an illusion of multicolour on Saturday as Diwali celebrates were kicked of in the town centre. At the Exchange Ilford in High Road, free yoga, meditation and dance workshops were all on offer as well as Indian head massages. The official Diva light was lit by MPs Mike Gapes and Lee Scott with leader of Redbridge
Council Cllr Keith Prince. Outside on High Road, Bollywood performances, stand up comedians and musicians entertained passersby. And at the Kenneth More Theatre, Oakfield Road, Ilford there was even a chocolate samosa class together with children’s plays and art displays.