Diwali 2025

Diwali – meaning “a row of lights” – which will be celebrated tomorrow evening, has grown to become a truly national festival. For the past eleven years, one group has erected a “National Diya” at Rahaman Park – at the confluence of roads leading to all the regions of Guyana. This year, they focused on the “One Guyana” aspiration of our multi-religious and multi-ethnic people. Many schools now routinely have their students create intricate, multicoloured displays of “Rangolis”, which are associated with Diwali. Most corporate businesses have followed suit. Various “motorcades”, with spectacularly decorated and illuminated vehicles and tableaux, would have culminated last night on the East Coast of Demerara, after the regional variants during the last week.
Tomorrow, Hindu families will meticulously clean their homes; befitting the welcoming of the Goddess Lakshmi in the evening. Sumptuous vegetarian dishes would have been prepared with the emphasis of traditional sweets. “Diwali night” in Guyana, is actually the third and darkest night of the observation of a five-day festival, but has come to symbolise the entire observance for many. Mother Lakshmi represents that aspect of God who bestows wealth on humanity and it is not a coincidence that this is a female aspect, also associated with Earth and is the consort of Lord Vishnu, the aspect that preserves all creation.
But as with all Hindu commemorations, Diwali is intended to remind humanity of one or another of the fundamental lessons for mankind living successfully together in society. It would be a rarity for Guyanese not to know that the festival celebrates “the victory of light over darkness” signifying respectively positives over the negatives in all aspects of our lives, personal, social, and national. Much of Hindu teachings are in the form of narratives and there are several that have become associated with Diwali and which may be useful to the nation.
The major story is of Prince Ram and his wife Mother Sita, returning to their Kingdom of Ayodhya on Diwali night after a 14-year banishment. They are also the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and Mother Lakshmi whose sojourn on earth are meant as guides for humanity. The story emphasises that there are challenges in all societies, but a ruler must be guided by the welfare of his people in his actions and if necessary, make the ultimate sacrifice for their benefit. One other lesson is that evil must be actively confronted as Lord Ram did against his nemesis Ravan, and that each citizen can and must play a part in this battle.
The victory of knowledge against ignorance is key for all mankind in every aspect of their lives since it precedes any other victories that are necessary to live the “good life”. It is because of ignorance, for instance, that most of us follow some leaders who have acted reprehensibly in their private and public lives. Lord Ram’s life, as with all of God’s incarnations, can give us the knowledge of how a person should only act as a leader of the people or nation, but also as a brother, a husband, a son, a teacher and a friend. Lord Ram himself had been taught not just the art of warfare, but about values by his teacher who exemplified those values in his own life.
And perchance this might be the message of Diwali 2025: since we will be working with leaders we have just chosen and who need to go beyond the rhetoric they spouted on platforms to Sept 1. We have a duty to remind them that their actions must be directed towards the betterment of all in the society and reject those whose actions divide us. We have experienced decades of darkness under the PNC during the twenty-eight years between 1964 and1992 when our right to choose our government was denied. Unfortunately, after being returned to government between 2015 to 2020 they once again attempted subvert the system. Meanwhile, new leaders have presented themselves and they must also be evaluated on consistency between words and deeds.
Happy Diwali Guyana!