YOUNGSTOWN Diwali festivities Saturday
For the business community, Diwali marks the beginning of the new financial year.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The India Association of Greater Youngstown is having its annual Diwali celebration Saturday at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Festivities begin with a medical lecture at 5:30 p.m., hors d'oeuvres at 6:30, followed by a variety entertainment program with colorful dances and music, catered feast and dancing from 7 to 11:30 p.m.
Ticket prices are: adults, $17 (members, $12); ages 5 to 12, $8.
For reservations and information call (330) 702-1104, 792-3363 or 856-5668.
The event: India is a land of festivals. Diwali is celebrated throughout the country to ward off darkness and welcome light into their lives. Diwali means an "array of lamps."
For the business community, Diwali marks the worship of Goddess Lakshmi and also the beginning of the new financial year.
Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important. As a family festival, it is celebrated 20 days after Dussehra, on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin (October-November).
It is a festival symbolizing the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It celebrates the victory of good over evil, and the glory of light.
This festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom, Ayodhya, after completing his 14-year exile, where his subjects illuminated the kingdom with oil lamps welcoming him home.