Chicago-area Hindus celebrate first day of Diwali Festival of Lights
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- Friday is the first day of the Diwali Festival of Lights. The five-day holiday is celebrated by 1.5 billion Hindus across the world.
Some Hindus in the Chicago-area spent all week to prepare for it.
The festival brings out the best of the best, from the sparkles to the glitter to the hundreds - if not thousands - of different types of foods.
For those celebrating Diwali, this is the biggest time of year
Indiaco, an Indian grocery store in Naperville, has seen sales skyrocket by at least 50% according to the store owner Chintan Patel.
Diwali is about celebrating hope, light and good conquering evil. It's the biggest Hindu festival of the year.
Patel said Hindus will pack their tables will all kinds of food, including a plethora of sweets. He said he has customers traveling all the way from Wisconsin just to get what they need for the holiday.
"In India, each and every house, they keep 15 to 20 Diyas and now people are also starting over here."
The Diyas are little clay pots that are filled with oil and then lit on fire. Each family will have hundreds of these in their homes during the festival.
Krishna Bansal, Chairman of Indian Community Outreach, said after Lord Rama's defeat over evil, he came back to a city full of lit up Diyas. He says that's why hindus dress in their very best every year.
"The symbolic story behind it is, Lord Rama, he scored a victory over the demon's evil Ravna and freed up the entire world," Bansal said.
The more color, the more sparkle, the better.
"Every day they want to wear like the cotton, but this is for the festival, the sparkle dresses," said Rekha Maheshwari with the Meena Bazaar.
The goal is to dress like a goddess. Beyond all the glitter the festival is about opening up your home and enjoying time with family and friends.
"Come up, come out. Meet your neighbors," Bansal said. "This is a festival of love, light, happiness and brightness in life. It's like darkness can go away."
