Daily Times

LAHORE: Like each year, the Hindu community on Thursday celebrated Diwali, also called the festival of lights, to honour Ramachandra (the seventh avatar of Hindu god Vishnu) with full religious zeal and fervour by performing religious rituals in the provincial capital.

In this connection, the central ceremony of Diwali was held at Krishna Mandir (temple) on Ravi Road in which a large number of Hindus along with their children participated. Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq also participated in the Diwali night ceremony and congratulated the Hindu community on this occasion. He said that the ETPB had made security and other arrangements regarding Diwali celebrations. He further said that minorities living in Pakistan had freedom to celebrate their religious ceremonies.

It is worthy to mention here that people from different sects also joined the minority community in celebrating the festival and expressed soldiery with them by giving a message of harmony, peace and brotherhood.

The Hindu community believes that on this day Rama had returned to his people after facing 14 years of exile and during this time, he fought and won a battle against demons, especially the demon king Ravana.

People started the day with special prayers at homes. Before celebrating Diwali night, Hindu families decorated temples and their homes with multi-coloured lights, garlands and other decorative items. They wore special new dresses and exchanged sweets and gifts with family members, friends and other members of the community. Hindu women lit candles and earthen lamps, while children were seen playing with firecrackers at homes and temples to celebrate the festival.

The Muslims also congratulated the Hindu community by wishing “Happy Diwali” posts on their social media accounts with hashtag #happydiwali.

Hindu Suhdar Sabha President Amarnath Randhawa while talking to Daily Times said that this day was a day of happiness and to enjoy and exchange best wishes and gifts with each other because “we believe that on this day our seventh avatar returned to his people”. To a query, he said the community members perform religious rituals and tell ancient stories and incidents of Rama to their children. He said that the stories represented the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair. Functions were held at Krishna Mandir, Nila Gumbat and more than 200 homes in different location of the city, he added.

Published in Daily Times, October 20^th 2017.