{"id":32997,"date":"2026-11-09T17:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T21:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=32997"},"modified":"2026-11-09T17:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T21:15:37","slug":"diwali-celebrated-across-guyana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/diwali-celebrated-across-guyana\/","title":{"rendered":"Diwali celebrated across Guyana"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n\n

As Guyanese across the country celebrated Diwali, the Festival of Lights, families gathered to observe the occasion through prayer, traditional food, the lighting of diyas and the sharing of goodwill, while reflecting on the deeper meaning of the Hindu festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, Diwali is more than an annual religious celebration. It is an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones, preserve cultural traditions and strengthen the bonds that bring families and communities together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


One celebrant, reflecting on life in a large and busy family, said Diwali offers a special opportunity to put everyday responsibilities aside and simply enjoy being together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali is essentially that time together where you get to spend that time with each other, that special bond, and you get to really connect with them. I remember me and my brother having rangoli competition<\/strong>,\u201d he said.

And while the lights bring beauty to the occasion, it is often the familiar sights, sounds and\u00a0flavours\u00a0of Diwali that make the celebration feel like home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Rama Persaud, preparing traditional foods remains a cherished part of the festivities, with recipes and\u00a0customs helping to keep family traditions alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as you get up, you start grinding dhal to make the\u00a0phlourie, the bara, the\u00a0baiganee. All the sweet meats are prepared.\u00a0Everything is prepared freshly<\/strong>,\u201d she said.

But the spirit of Diwali extends well beyond individual households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Across communities, neighbours, friends and families of different backgrounds share in the warmth of the occasion, reflecting the cultural harmony that has long been part of Guyana’s identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Hardeen said this sense of togetherness is among the festival’s most meaningful traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali\u00a0unites people, it brings people together, you share\u00a0parasads, sweet meats and obviously you don\u2019t use alcohol and no meat today, so\u00a0its\u00a0really a religious celebration for Hindus but all other races if you look around you see them, it\u2019s a universal crowd<\/strong>,\u201d Hardeen said.

Meanwhile, Vishnu Prasad, who celebrated the occasion alongside his family, described Diwali as a tradition with deep historical and religious roots\u00a0that continues to evolve with each generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, Diwali\u00a0was being celebrated for me since I was a\u00a0child\u00a0and we are still joyfully performing that and we are imparting that to the newer generation and kids also<\/strong>,\u201d he explained.

As families across Guyana lit their\u00a0deyasand shared traditional meals on Diwali night, the reflections of the celebrants pointed to a common message,\u00a0the festival is not only about the lights that illuminate homes and communities, but also about the values of love, togetherness, devotion, peace and the preservation of cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, the greatest significance of Diwali lies in bringing people closer, strengthening family bonds and reminding society of the enduring triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Guyanese across the country celebrated Diwali, the Festival of Lights, families gathered to observe the occasion through prayer, traditional food, the lighting of diyas and the sharing of goodwill,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[917,350],"tags":[488,404,448,412,405],"class_list":["post-32997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news","tag-488","tag-diwali","tag-ncn","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-ncn-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33001,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32997\/revisions\/33001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}