Diwali Marked in Asia with Celebrations, Prayers
November 4, 2021
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of people across Asia are celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, which symbolizes new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.
The festival is celebrated mainly in India, but Hindus across the world, particularly in other parts of Asia, also gather with family members and friends to socialize, visit temples and decorate houses with small oil lamps made from clay. The festival is also marked by raucous parties and fireworks displays, often throughout the night.
People light lamps on the banks of the river Saryu in Ayodhya, India, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. Millions of people across Asia are celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, which symbolizes new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The celebrations were especially spectacular in Ayodhya city in northern Uttar Pradesh state, where over 900,000 earthen lamps were lit at the banks of the Saryu River as desk fell Wednesday. Hindus believe the city is the birthplace of god Ram. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Hindu devotees ring a bell as they pray at a temple during Diwali, the festival of lights, in Hong Kong, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Hindu devotees climb the colored stairs to pray at the Batu Caves temple during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Diwali is one of Hinduism’s most important festivals, dedicated to the worship of the goddess of wealth Lakshmi. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
A Nepalese woman puts marigold petals on a police dog during Tihar festival celebrations at a kennel division in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. The festival is marked as Tihar, also known as Deepawali, in neighboring Nepal. There, the five-day celebrations began Tuesday and people thronged markets and shopped for marigold flowers, which hold huge cultural significance during the festival. On Wednesday, devotees celebrated dogs that are regarded as the guardian of the Hindu death god Yama. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Pathik Bhalodiya, 4, gets help from his mother Shital, members of an Indian family living in Japan, to hold a piece of firework as they celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, at a park in Tokyo, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. The festival is celebrated mainly in India but Hindus across the world, particularly in other parts of Asia, also gather with family members and friends to socialize, visit temples and decorate houses with small oil lamps made from clay. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A devotee prepares fruits and flower offerings to Hindu Goddess Lakshmi during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali at Vishnu temple in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
