A 50th anniversary calls for a big celebration. Lots of people. Lots of food. And for the Hindu community in the Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Valley on Saturday evening, lots of light.
This year, the , or BAPS, Hindu organization, is celebrating its 50th year in North America. So, when the opened its doors for its Diwali celebration, it was ready with the best sweets, music and decor it had to offer.
Lights shine on the the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening during Diwali, a festival of lights.
“We started in one small basement in New York, and now we have the landmark ,†Sunny Shah, temple public relations and outreach administrator, said Saturday. “For Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø, this is the 11th year we are celebrating right now.â€
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“It is tremendously meaningful,†devotee and festival volunteer Meena Kajal Shah said. “We are just celebrating those accomplishments and those strides and growth.â€
For devotees, the festival of lights is about helping individuals to find the good and overcome the bad within themselves.
Women participate in aarti, a light-focused ritual, during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening.
“Everybody tries to come together,†Meena Shah said. “Dispelling the darkness within is more important than dispelling the darkness outside.â€
Saturday’s festivities at the temple on Sheraton Drive in Salem began at midday with annakut, “an impressive display of hundreds of vegetarian dishes offered to the Divine as a symbol of gratitude,†according to a news release from the Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø temple. “The intricate arrangement of food, prepared by devotees, young and old, reflects the community’s devotion.â€
Devotees prepare annakut, a “mountain of food,†for a ritual during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening.
Shah said the annakut, or “mountain of food,†was much larger this year than usual.
“Everybody is chipping in, and more people are joining in and volunteering,†he said. “They’ve been working for three weeks, late at night.â€
When it came to decorations, devotee Kajal Gohil said they wanted everyone to participate, so they made crafts with input from little girls and adults alike.
“Today, when they walk in, they can say, ‘Oh, I did this. I did that,’†she said. “We want them to feel that for this special day, they have contributed.â€
A child welcomes a devotee into the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening with chandlo, a dot of pigment placed in the center of the forehead.
Decor lined the temple’s walls and stairwells, which led to more food on its lower level.
“We are like Italians when it comes to festival time,†Meena Shah said. “It’s food, fun and family.â€
Meena Kajal Shah prepares samosas during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening. “We are like Italians when it comes to festival time,†she said. “It’s food, fun and family.â€
At 5 p.m., the crowd quickly grew to about 400 people in anticipation of aarti, a ritual that features a lamp that is passed around by devotees, who waved their hands over the flame before waving it over their heads. Viveknidhi Swami, a monk from the BAPS temple in Robbinsville, traveled to Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø to lead the ceremony.
Men participate in aarti, during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening. The ritual features a lamp that is passed around by devotees, who wave their hands over the flame before waving it over their heads.
Riya Patel said she was raised in the United States and has not experienced Diwali in India.
“Having the celebration here gives me an opportunity to get that exposure to my culture,†she said.
Devotees participate in aarti, a light-focused ritual, during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem Saturday evening.
“We want to share this well to this knowledge with our kids, so they grow up with it,†Gohil added. “We want them to be aware of their cultural heritage and background, as well.â€
A child participates in aarti, a light-focused ritual, during Diwali at the BAPS Hindu temple in Salem on Saturday evening.
But she said that in the Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø area, unity is the bottom line.
“We are not all separate. We are just one. Our underlying belief is one, but we are just following different paths,†Gohil said.
“Whatever faith you believe, whether its Christianity or Hinduism or Judaism or Islam, we try to bring all of us together,†Shah said. “In this world, it is very important that we know that part, that we all have the same goals, same life.â€
