A large crowd stood outside Stamp Student Union’s Grand Ballroom Tuesday night for the beginning of an annual Diwali celebration held by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Campus Fellowship at the University of Maryland.
The student-run group is a chapter of the Hindu socio-spiritual organization. Students and volunteers have held an annual Diwali festival at this university for more than 10 years, inviting anyone to join in the celebration.
Shruti Bhatt, an alum of this university, helped organize the annual celebration when she was a student. After graduating in 2019, she continued supporting the festival’s preparations as a volunteer.
“[Diwali] is commonly known as the Festival of Lights, and it signifies the triumph of good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over ignorance,” Bhatt said. “But if we look a little bit deeper than that, it’s also about taking a moment to pause and to reflect and to introspect.”
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As they walked into the Grand Ballroom, students and visitors were guided through a series of educational exhibits highlighting different aspects of Diwali. The theme of this year’s holiday was forgiveness.
“A lot of stuff happens throughout your life,” said Khushi Patel, who graduated from this university last spring. “You don’t know how to deal with it, but forgiving yourself and forgiving your past is sometimes the only way you can move forward.”
The evening’s stations ranged from explanatory to interactive. The first part of the walkthrough offered information on each of the five days of Diwali. Other posters described the teachings of religious leader Mahant Swami Maharaj.
Visitors also used colored rice to create Rangoli, which Bhatt described as a “traditional Indian art form of different geometric shapes.”
After making their way through the walkthrough, visitors filed into chairs to watch the night’s program. On stage in front of the audience was an elaborate shrine filled with offerings as part of a tradition called annakut. Projectors played videos of worshipers and community members at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple in Beltsville.
Co-president of the campus fellowship group and freshman aerospace engineering major Nidhi Brahmbhatt said teamwork was pivotal in creating this festival and everything the organization does.
“Everyone always shows up, and they do everything together,” Brahmbhatt said.
The night’s presentation centered on spiritual reflection, music and community. Speakers emphasized the importance of forgiving one another and developing unity.
Student performers led the crowd in prayer hymns, singing with one another and playing musical instruments like the sārangī, a stringed instrument that mimics the sound of a human voice.
After the hour-long program came to a close, visitors lined up for dishes such as paneer, jeera rice and boondi ladoo.
“It seems like it’s a very loving and joyful celebration,” Antonia Swad, a student at George Washington University, said after the event.
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Swad, who was invited by her friend and fellow George Washington student Stuti Rao, said Tuesday’s event was her first Diwali festival.
Rao, who has been involved with the Beltsville temple, helps organize the Diwali event every year. For her, this year’s theme of forgiveness is timely.
“That’s a really important thing to have in this day and age, especially because we’re going through a lot right now,” Rao said. “Forgiving yourself, forgiving others, forgiving your community, I think that’s a really important theme to have.”
