Have you ever given thought to how Christmas and New Year will be celebrated in the COVID-19 times? Well, you may learn from how Northern Ireland Hindus are celebrating Diwali.
Diwali symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Hindus, Sikhs and Jains all celebrate it.
This year’s festival began on Thursday 10th November 2020. Its main event is on Saturday, 14th November 2020, at the Hindu temple in north Belfast.
In the words of Ashok Sharma, a member of Belfast’s Indian Community Centre, “it’s like Christmas to us”. Usually, during the period of Diwali celebrations, “it’s a really big family get together, children working in London or wherever, they all come home,” Sharma told the BBC.
Needless to say, this kind of gathering is not possible during this period. So, what they have done is to innovate.
“We have curtailed down into three different sections of half an hour and people have been asked to book their slot and to wear all their masks and everything – full Covid restrictions will be in place,” Ashok Sharma explained further.
They have asked many other people to watch online as well instead of struggle to get slots to gather and pray together. The service is live on Zoom and Facebook.
The Diwali festival usually involved cultural, musical programme upstairs with 300 or 400 people singing Bollywood songs and dancing, and a free feast downstairs for all the devotees and attendees, which is open to everyone.
Participants will have non-contact forehead cameras, face-masks, gloves and hand gel as well for safety. Families who cannot be together due to travel restrictions will have to make-do with virtual communications.
The unrelenting spirit of people