Diwali, between Nepal and Bangladesh

 

Diwali. Sarbojonin Hindu Puja Mondir. Tor Pignattara. Rome, 24 October 2022 

The struggle between Good and Evil, between Light and Dark, is a constant motif of every religion and is lost in the mists of time. Each culture has developed its own myth and resists over the centuries by slightly changing shape depending on the latitude and the people in which it is incarnated.

Although in the South Asian continent the root is common to many countries, although it assumes different appearances in Buddhism and Hinduism, it's interesting to note that some small nuances are not so distant from our Greek-Latin tradition.

 

Certainly, the Diwali festival remains one of the most fascinating in the Hindu tradition.

I have been following it for many years in the Bangladeshi community of Rome, but I have also experienced it in Malaysia, where the presence of Tamil Hindus was very strong, especially in my city Penang.

If only for the fact that it is the epic translation of the core of the photographic act: the struggle between light (photo) and darkness which is the absence of images and reality. Each photograph is an act of luminous writing on the dark surface of oblivion.

Awareness that I found perfectly described by the poet and scholar David Levi Strauss in the book “Why do we believe in photographic images” (Johan & Levi publisher, 2021) in which he writes that seeing, believing, and loving are three acts that spring from the same root: since we believe what we see and remember. and the word believe has the same root as love.

 

But this is another discourse that maybe I will resume in the future.

I was talking about how initially the myth of the struggle between Good and Evil, in that area of the world with India as its epicenter, took on the appearance of concrete candlelights as a metaphor for victory over darkness.

It should be remembered that, although there is a tendency to believe that Hinduism and Buddhism are two different religions or philosophical systems, initially they were one, and Buddhism is a direct offspring of Hinduism, in fact, Buddha is considered the 37th avatar of Vishnu, after Krishna.

Proof of this is Loy Krathong, the floating lantern festival that is celebrated in Thailand in November, not far from Diwali, and the Nepalese Tihar, which usually falls in late October.

 

This year I had a good fortune and the pleasure of meeting the Nepalese community in Rome during the celebration of Durga Puja, which I have already written about in the previous article; therefore I immersed myself in the double celebration of Diwali.

Here are the words and pictures.

In order of time, the Nepalese Tihar was celebrated first, which lasts five days.

Tihar is the second most important festival in Nepal after Dashain, and it is precisely the celebration of the victory of good over evil.

Tihar is celebrated on the night of the new moon in the 8th month of the Hindu calendar (the month of Kartik), which is considered the darkest night of the year, and the date changes every year because it is based on a lunar calendar, but normally falls from mid to late October or November.

Also in this festival, small candles and clay lanterns (diyas) are lit to illuminate the houses and the entire city.

Unlike the Indian festival, in the Nepalese one, thanks to the animals for the harvest is very important. Yama is also worshiped, the god of death, the goddess Lakshmi who brings wealth and prosperity to life, and the mountain of Govardhan, thanks to which people are saved from floods, according to an ancient legend in which the house of Gokul of Lord Krishna it was about to be flooded, and to protect his people, Krishna raised Mount Govardhan above the floodwaters, saving Gokul's people and animals.

Each day of Tihar is celebrated through different rituals and traditions. The first three days (23-27 October 2022) focus on animal worship and prayers to Lord Yama and the goddess Lakshmi: in Nepalese culture, it is believed that gratitude and worship shown to animals and gods will bring success and luck in people's lives.

Tihar. Lungotevere Testaccio. Rome, 23 October 2022

On the first day, Kaag Tihar (October 23, 2022) focuses on the worship of the crow, which is called “kaag” in Nepali. As I wrote at the beginning, it is interesting to note that even in distant Nepal the crow is considered a messenger of death and therefore must be worshiped and fed. The ancient Latins used the term “cras” to mean tomorrow, precisely because of the crow's cry which was a continuous memento mori, with its shrill and chilling sound to remind men of the death that could have come the next day.

On the first day, the Nepalese community gathered together for the puja, the lighting of small candles, and then they let themselves go to the fun, with lots of food and the langur burja, the traditional game of dice.

 

Tihar. Lungotevere Testaccio. Rome, 23 October 2022

The second day is called Kukur Tihar, this day dogs are revered for their loyalty. People wear marigold garlands around their necks and red markings are applied to their foreheads (tika). They start decorating houses with string lights (choti diwali) and designs called rangoli.

Rangoli comes from the Sanskrit word rangavalli, from the Sanskrit "रङ्ग" which means color, and avalli which means climbing colors or row of colors. Rangoli art is widely used during the Diwali festival as a welcome sign for people who come to the house.

I had the honor of being invited by my friend Dev Gurung to his house to attend the puja and the decoration of the lights by his wife Pramila Pradhan whom I sincerely thank.

 

At Dev Gurung's house. Tor Pignattara. Rome, 24 October 2022

The third day is Gai Tihar dedicated to cow worship and Lakshmi.

On the fourth day, Goru Tihar, there are three different traditions of worship and the one that is chosen depends on the cultural background of the person: The worship of the ox, the mountain, or oneself.

The last day is Bhai Tika and the bond between brothers and sisters is celebrated, through the execution of rituals and sweets exchange.

 

On the second day, Diwali was also celebrated in the Hindu temple Sarbojonin Hindu Puja Mondir in Tor Pignattara by the Bangladeshi and Indian community, which was also attended by some Nepali families. Even Diwali, in its origin, was structured into five days of worshiping the goddess Lakshmi. The cult of the goddess Kali, the deity of Anger, Destruction, and War, was also celebrated in the temple.

The main and liberating moment was that of the small candles offered to the divinity as a wish for victory over Evil.

 

Diwali. Sarbojonin Hindu Puja Mondir. Tor Pignattara. Rome, 24 October 2022

A long journey through the different semblances of the Faith, in the perpetual human and divine struggle of the Light on the Dark.

 

Italian vesion