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| Sunday, 3 November 2002 |
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Deepavali in Malaysia : Concept of 'open house' celebration In Malaysian Hindu homes, the spring cleaning has been already done with new clothes for the family members made ready the aroma of Indian delicacies, especially 'murukku', a traditional must for the festival of Deepavali drifts in and out. With Deepavali, the festive mood is everywhere in the country where the three major races of Malays, Chinese and Indians along with other minority races live in perfect harmony and rapport. Unlike Sri Lanka, where the New Year or 'Auvrudu' is celebrated in grandeur by the Sinhalese and Tamils in the month of April, in Malaysia it is moderately enjoyed by Hindus of Malaysian Tamils, Telugus, Malayalees, Punjabis and Sri Lankans. But Deepavali takes the lead among the major Hindu festivals. Along with other major festivals like Hari Raya Puasa (Ramlan festival), Hari Raya Haji, Chinese New Year, Christmas and Wesak, Deepavali is considered a major festival and is declared a public holiday. Like all over the world, in Malaysia too Deepavali celebrated similarly with the traditional bath oil at dawn followed by the lighting of the lamps. After receiving blessings from the elders, it is visiting the temples to attend special poojas by family members. Back in Sri Lanka, it is a family affair with all the relatives visiting each other and close friends too join in the celebration. But in Malaysia, the main aspect of the celebration itself is the concept of "Open House". When the non-Hindu friends phone to wish their Hindu friends "Happy Deepavali", it is the norm to invite them to the festival home to join in. In other words it is saying "Do not wait for us to call you. Do come to our house and let us enjoy our celebration together". Usually the first day of the festival is reserved to receive friends of all races and religions and the Hindus exchanged visits with their relatives on the second day of the festival. In some homes, the visiting hours are specified for the sake of convenience, like 10 am to 2 pm or 4 pm to 8 pm when lunch or dinner is served with the traditional ghee rice and mutton curry. Or for a more relaxed atmosphere, informal barbecue parties went on till the wee hours of the morning with lots of merry-making. Likewise the Malays, Chinese, Christians and the Buddhists invited friends of all other races and religions for their festivals accordingly on the first day of the festival. Festivals are considered a time when people of all races came together in close unity to foster goodwill and this very bond further seals the racial harmony and promotes national integration. Festivals in Malaysia are a season for celebration but it could also mean truly a dieter's nightmare. 'With so many festivals coming one after the other from November to May, how could one think of dieting?" moan the obese with weight problems, "How could one resist such delicious great variety of fantastic food? It is simply not fair!" Perhaps this is the only drawback here. Vasundra Devi , Selvaratnam, Malaysia. |
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