KARACHI: The Hindus throughout Sindh have made all the preparations to celebrate the biggest Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepawali, which would be celebrated on Friday, November, 05.
Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated every year between mid-October and mid-November, to remember the return of Hindu god Rama to his kingdom Ayodhya from the forest, after 14 years of exile. It also celebrates Rama’s success in a war against the ‘devil’ king of Lanka, Raavan. Hindus, Sikhs and Jain all celebrate this festival in their own way.
More than 3 million Hindus currently reside in Pakistan, a majority of them live in Sindh. Many Hindus have painted their houses and the female community members have started searching for saris, henna (mehndi) and bangles to mark the specialty of the day, while young boys have started inviting their friends for dinner on the night of this grand religious festival.
Special markets, like on Eid, are not set up as Hindus are a religious minority. However, shopkeepers have set up makeshift shops, usually in local temples to sell special items such as statues of Hindu gods and goddesses, earthen lamps and other religious items.
Some Hindus have acquired special permission from the Sindh Home department or from the Sindh police to sell firecrackers on this special occasion, to make the festival enjoyable and to celebrate the return and success of their god Rama.
In Sindh, many legends are associated with Diwali and some Hindus in Sindh believe that Diwali brings a change in the weather and the winter arrives with the celebrations of this day. On the night of the festival, Hindus decorate their homes with lamps and candles, and arrange special dinners for family members and friends.
Special prayers are planned in different temples to worship the Hindu goddess Lakhshmi as a part of the festival. Hindus in Sindh who speak different languages, including Sindhi, Marwari, Marathi, Gujarati, Dhati and even Urdu, arrange separate programmes in different temples or community halls on the night, to celebrate the festival.
Usually they invite their Muslim neighbors or friends for the festival and arrange special dinners for them as well. Though Hindus are the biggest religious minority group in Pakistan and some of the provincial departments of the Sindh government allow official holidays for them. They also issue their salaries in advance so that they can enjoy this festival.
However, several government departments and private organizations are not doing the same. While talking to Pakistan Today, some of the Hindus demanded the government to issue holidays and advance salaries for different religious festivals so that they can celebrate religious and traditional events.
