Diwali

I'm a little late on this one but I just love these pictures from this year's Diwali festival which took place in early November. You may remember a post I did last year showing a satellite picture of the earth during Diwali, if not check it out.

Diwali- the festival of lights- is a five day festival celebrating the conquering of good over evil. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains light candles, oil lamps and pretty much any light source they can get their hands on as well a light fireworks and pray to honor and thank their gods of prosperity and wealth.

Lanterns for sale on the roadside

A group of widows gather to light oil lamps in celebration of Diwali.

A big part of the Diwali festival is to light earthenware lamps to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and to honor their gods.

The lights spell out "Happy Diwali" and the symbol above is for the Hindu god of prosperity, Genesh.

No idea what this one says- anyone?

A priest performs rituals over the monkey god Hanuman as devotees look on.

A vendor sells colored powder in Nepal- gorgeous.

The Nepalese people offer blessing to dogs, smearing vermillion on their heads and adorning them with garlands of marigolds.

Poor guy, looks like he'd rather do without the blessings. :)

Cows are considered sacred by Hindus and worshiped during Diwali.

Local traders celebrate Diwali by worshiping electronics- literally chanting to their laptops, iPads and cell phones. It's a time honored tradition for the business community to worship their account books (before the days of Apple) to promote prosperity.