On Friday 21 October 2022, the first of a number of Diwali events took place in Luxembourg this year, with the Hindu Forum Europe joining with the Hindu Forum Luxembourg to celebrate Deepavali together.
At the start of the evening, the offering of five elements (fire, water, wind, earth and sky) was made, offering incense and other items to the pooja, blowing on the conch and ringing a bell.
Ambi Venkataraman, President of the Hindu Forum Luxembourg (and one of the 13 original founders of the Indian Association Luxembourg), and Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe, welcomed Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India to Belgium and Luxembourg, as special guest for this occasion. Many of the 100+ attendees were from Luxembourg, with others travelling from sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe (HFE), presented a brief history of HFE and showed a series of photographs chronicling the activities of the HFE over the past few years since its formation in 2006.
Ambi Venkataraman talked about the HFL and its activities, explaining the link the venue (the Lycée Michel Rodange in Luxembourg-Merl) has had with the HFL - based on student exchanges. The HFL was formed in 2017 with the ultimate vision to erect a Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple (mandir, kovil) in Luxembourg, or in Germany, bordering Luxembourg. This project was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but is now back on track. Its mission is to create a pooja centre for the Hindu community, a place for dance, slokhas, story-telling and language classes, in addition to having a place to welcome Hindu scholars and artists. He mentioned that there are now close to 5,000 Indian nationals living in the Grand Duchy. The HFL use to have the use of a facility in Beggen; however, it was confirmed during the evening that this is no longer available, hence the renewed emphasis on progressing towards the Hindu temple.
Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy, wished everyone present a happy Diwali and said how he regarded everyone attending as ambassadors, bringing Diwali across Europe.
India has many festivals, with Diwali - a five-day festival of Lights - being the one celebrated by all religions in the country and considered by many to be the country's most important holiday. In northern India, they celebrate the story of King Rama's return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana by lighting rows of clay lamps. Southern India celebrates it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. It is a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil. In Luxembourg, another two Diwali celebrations will be held shortly, one by a Tamil group and the other by the Indian Association Luxembourg.
The formal part of the evening was followed by a cultural programme of dance, with Arsha performing a Kathak dance, Ragasudha performing a Bharatnatyan dance, and Nishi Joshi-Bhatt performing a semi-classical dance, all accompanied by appropriate music. This was followed by a classical Tamil song performance by Smt. Uma Rangarajan. Youngsters Om Sankar and Diya Ganesh also sang and Ms Vedhikha (Bharatanatyam dance) and a young troupe (Bollywood semi-classical dance) also performed that reflected the family and community spirit of the event.
Tharsiga Ledsumanan, based in Sandweiler, then made a presentation on Ayurvedic massage, describing the different techniques and benefits. Also, a number of gifts were presented in recognition of contributions made towards the mission and goals of the Hindu Forum in Luxembourg.
Those attending then partook in a wonderful Indian meal provided by the Indian restaurant Kripa, with dancing to round off the celebration.
