Guyana’s distinctive Diwali Motorcade

One of the things that make Guyanese, particularly the Hindu community, distinctive when it comes to celebrating the Festival of Lights is not the brightly illuminated yards and houses or the bursting of elaborate fireworks, rather it is something as simple as the annual Diwali Motorcade.
You can travel the entire world and would never witness such a spectacle as that organised by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha (GHDS) as part of its annual Diwali Motorcade. This year, Diwali will be cele-brated on November 6 and the series of coun-trywide motorcades has already begun.
We can expect to see people of all walks of life as well as different nationalities en-joying the scenes of the brightly lit floats all sending a message that goes hand in hand with the significance of the Diwali festival. Thousands of people would line the streets along the routes the Motorcade would take and also pack the converging sites as they experience the cultural explosion organised by the GHDS.
The Motorcade is now entrenched in our traditions since it has been around for al-most 45 years now. Like the celebration of Diwali, the Motorcade has evolved over the years with more floats taking part, all try-ing to outshine the other. The preparation that goes into hosting the countrywide mo-torcade is nothing short of herculean, since some mandirs and organisations would start making their floats months prior to the date of the Motorcade.
The common theme portrayed is that of the return of Lord Rama along with Ma Sita and Lakshmana to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile or that of Maa Lakshmi seated on the lotus flower showering her blessings on the world. She is the representation of wealth and prosperity, and it is believed that when worshipped on Diwali Day, a prosperous life is guaranteed.