FRESNO, Calif. – It's Sunday evening at the Hindu Temple of Fresno, and the prayer room is quickly filling up in the middle of the annual Diwali festivities.
People are lining up to see the priest, who is on stage giving blessings to Hindu worshippers. With a spoon, he pours holy water into the hands of a small child.
She slurps the water from her tiny hands.
Then, “Say, ‘Happy Diwali,’” the young girl’s dad tells her.
It’s what everyone here is saying to each other.
Just like Christmas, for Hindus and non Hindus alike, wishing a “Happy Diwali” is wishing goodwill unto others.
This is the biggest celebration of the year in India.
It marks the triumph of light over darkness – good over evil. During the five days of celebration, devotees promise to see the good in others and make prayers and wishes for wealth and prosperity.
Stutee Khandelwal belongs to the Hindu temple. She is among those who use Diwali as a time to hit reset.
“Diwali is not just like one day or like one moment or one evening. It’s like this continuum where you’re really reminded of the bigger picture in life and what’s really important,” she says.
She holds a tiny clay lamp known as a “diya.” Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights, and the diyas are used in traditional lighting ceremonies. Their shape is unique because it has a pointed end that allows a flame to burn outward.
Khandelwal says this represents letting one’s light spread to others.
“When you pour faith in it, and then you light the lamp of your consciousness, that makes this complete,” she says.
Fresno's growing Indian community
Spreading light to others is becoming an increasingly important task in Fresno. The latest census revealed Fresno saw a 46% increase among its Indian population.
Gita Rajani is the president of the Hindu Temple of Fresno. She says she has definitely noticed the Indian community is growing. That means more Hindu people are visiting the temple. This year the Diwali event was expected to draw around 800 people, up from previous years.
“We volunteers are having a tough time keeping up with it,” she says.
But it’s a good problem to have, since Rajani says the temple is a welcome place for all – especially for important occasions like Diwali. She says Hindus who may not speak English are welcome to feel at home here.
The Diwali holiday reminds many of India and its culture. Bindia Patel says all of the colorful clothing worn by festival guests is specially delivered months in advance.
“Everything,” she says, “comes from India.”
She says some stores in the United States may offer items for Diwali, but there still isn’t a lot of variety when it comes to clothing, despite Diwali gaining popularity among Americans in recent decades.
Patel says, however, the growing attention to the Indian holiday has made it easier to find Diwali-themed party decorations at stores.
“A lot of things that we got this year [were] from Party City and Walmart,” Patel says. “We were pretty impressed and surprised that we were able to get all of that here.”
Still, not every Diwali event is the same. At the Hindu temple in Fresno, there are no firework displays like in other places. That is mostly because dry conditions and bad air quality have put restrictions in place in the past, and temple leaders want to play it safe.
Instead, at Diwali this year, children played bingo and broke a piñata. Patel says the piñata is a symbol of Indians’ embrace of other cultures, like Mexico.
Sticking to the meaning of Diwali
Sirisha Shumway, a mother who attended Diwali with her family, says she remembers the fireworks growing up. Diwali meant trying on new clothes, setting off fireworks with her dad and passing out sweets.
Fireworks or no fireworks, though, she has come to appreciate the Fresno Hindu community’s way of celebrating, because people are at the center of the tradition.
“As I grew up, I think I changed from crackers to people,” Shumway says, laughing.
And the main spiritual traditions do still go on.
At the end of the night during Diwali, Shumway starts to make her way inside the prayer room for a ritual known as Puja. It’s one of the final ceremonies of the night where worshippers will chant and pray to their gods. Far from home, Hindus in Fresno are keeping the flame burning for their most sacred tradition.
“This is the closest we can get to home and be able to with other Indians celebrate the festival,” says Shumway.
