Thumbnail Image

Festival of Lights

T Mun Yee

(Oil lamp drawing by Arunachala Grace, PowerPoint Clip Art)

Deepavali or Diwali will be celebrated by Hindus all over the world on 12 November 2023. The festival has its origins in India where in the north, it hails King Rama's triumphant return to Ayodhya after defeating his nemesis, Ravana. While in southern India, it celebrates Lord Krishna's defeat of the demon Narakasura. There are associations with many other deities and observations by various faiths but as a whole, it symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

Hindus mark five days of celebration with special prayers and rituals, and brighten up their homes by lighting rows of oil lamps, hence its name, the festival of lights. In Malaysia, with around 10 percent of its population being Indians and predominantly Hindus, we enjoy a one-day public holiday. Its celebrated by all who visit their Hindu friends to join in the festivities.

Many Hindus also have beautiful 'kolams' set out on the floor of their homes. These are motifs of varying intricacy, detailed with plain chalk or colourfully dyed grains. Some homes practise kolam drawing daily for its auspicious significance. On Diwali, I've seen kolams framed by oil lamps and they are truly lovely to behold.

This Diwali, let us all put our hearts and prayers together for the victory of light over darkness yet again.

Source: Kolam design from free stock photo

Note: Thank you to those who have written to let me know you enjoy reading my column but daren't take a lesson because there are parts you don't really understand. I assure you we'll always speak at a level which suits you so that we can enjoy a casual conversation. Also, we can go through words and sentences that are difficult so that we learn together. Perhaps, they will be easy then and we'll always have something to talk about. No stress!

Added to Saved

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

Lesson

Conversations this Week

45 min
1,200 Points

Comments (0)

Login to Comment Log in »

from:

in:

Lesson Categories

Language Fluency

English   Near-Native
Malay   Near-Native
Cantonese   Daily conversation
Chinese   Daily conversation

T Mun Yee's Most Popular Columns

  • English

    Duku Langsat

    It's duku langsat (duku in short) fruit season in Malaysia. Our market fruit stalls are simply lade...

    T Mun Yee

    T Mun Yee

    0
    2095
    Oct 22, 2023
  • English

    Loving Masala Chai

    I had my first sip of masala chai in India. Specifically, I was exploring the streets of Manali, a ...

    T Mun Yee

    T Mun Yee

    0
    1874
    Apr 22, 2023
  • English

    Book Rebellion

    Initially, I was thrilled with the task of naming my favourite book. Surely, that would be the tale...

    T Mun Yee

    T Mun Yee

    0
    1830
    Mar 18, 2023
  • English

    Starry, Starry Night

    First, I must confess to being an uncultured dummy as far as art is concerned. I walked into a Vinc...

    T Mun Yee

    T Mun Yee

    0
    1802
    Mar 4, 2023
« Back to List of Tutor's Column
Got a question? Click to Chat