Celebration

Diwali is my favourite festival of the year. I love it because we pray and come together at this time. We celebrate Diwali in November, on the day when there is no moon.

Diwali means festival of lights. We celebrate Diwali with our family and friends too. It was on this day that our sixth guru Hardogind Sahib Ji returned home from prison and we celebrate the fact that he freed 52 other kings. In the Sikh religion, he has a different name.

On this day we go to the Sikh temple, called Gurdwara, to pray. Gurdwara means, “God’s home.” To prepare for Diwali, people clean their homes and then decorate them. They buy new clothes, sweets, candles, divas and lighting bulbs for their houses. Divas are clay pots that you can put oil in. Then you add a cotton wick. We light them like candles.

During the time of Diwali, people decorate their homes just like at Christmas but with no Christmas tree. On the day of Diwali and evening before, we have special things like: kheer, gulbjamen, fried puri, and cholay. Cholay is made of chickpeas. At the end of the evening, we have fireworks. We all come together to pray for our future. My son’s favourite thing about Diwali is the fireworks.