Fireworks Display at Diwali Festival

Display location:Sri Ganesha Temple
City:South Jordan
State:Utah
Date: Oct. 16

Details: Retailers, take note: There's an upcoming Hindu holiday that is like Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July rolled into one.

It's Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, which Utah Hindus will celebrate Oct. 16 at the Sri Ganesha Temple in South Jordan.

That means scores of Indian Americans will be caught up in a frenzy of shopping, buying new clothes, Asian delicacies and plenty of fireworks. They deep-clean their houses from top to bottom, then decorate the porch with fragrant flower and mango leaf garlands and special fabrics marked with huge Rangoli designs to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

Diwali commemorates the triumph of Lord Krishna over the demon who personifies all of life's ills, explains Indra Neelameggham, a leader among the state's Hindus. On a practical level, it signifies the end of ignorance and heralds the coming of prosperity and joy into everyone's lives.

"It is a festival of splendor, brightness and happiness," she says. "Every home and business is illuminated with deeps -- oil lamps -- and every heart is filled with joy."

At dawn, the eldest woman of the house, usually a grandmother, distributes the gifts and a sweetmeat. Family members take special baths, mirroring bathing in India's holy Ganges River. The family then will light sparklers and fireworks, Neelameggham says, to celebrate the coming of a new day.

For Indian business executives, Diwali marks the end of the fiscal year. Old accounts are settled, new books are opened.

On this day, people purchase something for the house or jewelry for the women. It is auspicious to buy something metallic, such as silver.

Sneha Kumar Kasera lights his porch and every room in his Salt Lake City house with lamps.

"That's welcoming Lakshmi into our home," says Kasera, a computer-science professor at the University of Utah. "It's welcoming a new year and welcoming prosperity."

South Jordan resident Hari Selvaraj, his wife, Roopa, and two children enjoy Diwali's social traditions.

"We exchange gifts with 10 other families in the Hindu community," Selvaraj says. "We give them sweets and they give us sweets. It's a happy time of year."

Selvaraj, a software programmer, came to Utah from southern India about 10 years ago. Back home, Diwali also is a time when the latest Bollywood films are released, he says. People always wonder which movies will come out at that time of year.

In his area, on Diwali, people build a giant effigy of the demon, then hang it from a tree. In the evening, they burn it.

"This is the story of the liberation of all good people," he says. "I have taught it to my children and they know it well."

Most American Hindus try to phone home on that day, sometimes clogging up the system.

Though there are dozens of Hindu celebrations throughout the year, Diwali is the biggest.

"We might sometimes miss one of the other ones," Selvaraj says, "but we'd never miss Diwali. The temple will be packed."