The Festival Of Lights ...

I've been posting stuff about Christmas recently and I feel pretty ashamed of myself. My Hindu friends are about to celebrate Deepavali tomorrow and there I was blogging away about Christmas which is still about 2 months away!

Well, I'd like to take this opportunity (even though it's still one day too early) to wish all my Hindu friends a very happy Deepavali. As all of us over here know what the festival of Deepavali means but for the benefits of those who don't, well Deepavali is commonly known as the Festival of Lights. This celebration marks the triumph of good over evil, the victory of light over dark and is celebrated by the Hindu community, mainly consisting those of Indian ethnic origin. The word Deepavali is etymologically derived from the Sanskrit word that literally means 'rows of lights'.


As with all festivals in our multi racial country, it is celebrated in all its full glory and you can see beautifully decorated houses expressing their happiness of the festival by lighting up earthen 'diyas' (oil lamps), bursting firecrackers (though it's illegal here ... LOL) and inviting near and dear friends to their houses to partake in the sumptuous feast that's on offer :) The lighting of oil lamps is a way of paying obeisance to god for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valor and fame.

I do hope I got the explanation right. The best part about Deepavali is it's a public holiday and I can laze around the house ... LOL! I know one place I'll definitely be going the first thing tomorrow is this open house at this banana leaf restaurant called Sri Paandi, one I used to frequent quite a lot those days. Every year as a show of appreciation to all their loyal customers, they will hold an open house on the first day of Deepavali from 6am right up to 11am (I'm definitely not going to go that early that's for sure ... LOL) and they serve some pretty good breakfast food :)

I was there the past 3 years with the gang without fail and I'm definitely going for the open house again tomorrow though I know for a fact it's going to be pretty crowded cos they're a pretty popular restaurant and they do have a huge customer base. I'll try and get some pictures if I'm not too busy stuffing my face with their glorious and tasty food ... LOL!

So, to all my Hindu buddies, here's wishing you guys and your families a happy Deepavali.