Firecrackers, earthen lamps and sweets — Hindu community shares colours of Diwali

KARACHI: Firecrackers went off, sparks flew, and earthen lamps glowed as the Hindu community in Pakistan celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, on Sunday.

Diwali is celebrated on the new-moon night, known as Amavas during the Hindu month of Kartika. Since the sky is dark at the time, the fireworks triumph over the darkness.

The festival also serves as a remembrance of other triumphs such as of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair.

It is a celebration of the victorious return of Shri Rama Chandra to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. According to Hindu scriptures, Rama and his wife Sita, along with younger brother Lakshmana, took refuge in the forest after their kingdom was taken from them.

Later, Ravana, a demon king from Sri Lanka, abducted Sita and took her to his kingdom.

Rama and Lakshmana, with the help of Hanuman, raise an army that builds a bridge from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka to reach Ravana’s kingdom and rescue Sita. They return triumphant after killing Ravana and are welcomed home by their people who lit clay lamps along their path.

While commemorating the happy occasion, the Hindu community also decorates their home entrances, especially the floor there with pretty colourful designs known as rangoli. This ritual is associated with Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth and prosperity, who is believed to visit clean and brightly lit homes on the day.

Muslims also join festivities to promote interfaith harmony, pluralism

So even though the main focus remains on lighting up the skies and one’s surroundings, there are also many preparations underway in the days leading up to Diwali. These include house cleaning and decorating, preparing sweetmeats, putting together new outfits and buying jewellery and gifts. These preparations are also important but should not tire you so much that you are unable to enjoy the festival itself. Therefore, it is always better to prepare in advance.

This year, there were many Diwali markets all over Karachi to help people prepare for the festival in advance. There was the biggest-ever Diwali Bazar at the Faizy Rameen Auditorium along with the one at the ground behind the Shri Swami Narayan Temple, at the Shri Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple in Clifton and also at the Port Grand where entrance was free for the Hindu community.

As a good show of harmony and pluralism, many Muslims also enjoyed the festival of lights with their Hindu friends by lighting diyas and sharing sweets.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2026