Celebrating Deepavali in Penang

Worshiper at an Indian temple in Batu Ferringhi

After getting curried away with Annie (and scoring a couple of family recipes) I was more than ready to walked down to Annie’s Homestay to celebrate Deepavali, the Indian Festival of Lights. Have I mentioned that I love festivals? No? Not yet? Well….I do! Festivals are a great way to learn about another culture and although I was in Penang for Deepavali last year, this year I have the opportunity to spend the holiday with a local family and some good friends.

A Little History

When I tweeted, and updated the SpunkyGirl Monologues Facebook page about celebrating Deepavali, I received a few messages about the name of the festival -correcting me by saying the festival is called Diwali. Naturally, I was curious, and thanks to Tracy and Google, I learned a little about the differences between Deepavali and Diwali.

Deepavali/Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year (based on the Lunar calendar), and celebrates the victory of goodness over evil and light over darkness. During Deepavali, hindus pray to Lakshmi, ‘Goddess of light, wealthy, prosperity and wisdom’, as well as Ganesha, ‘Remover of Obstacles’ and ‘Lord of Beginnings’, houses are cleaned and new clothes are worn.

Deepavali, Diwali, same thing. Right? Wrong! Believe it or not, there are differences between the two. Shocking, huh. Knowing the difference between Deepavali and Diwali made it a little easier for me when I went to Annie’s Homestay on the evening of Deepavali. I was able to ask questions that were relevant and didn’t make me look like a complete noob. Here are some of the differences between Deepavali and Diwali.

Deepavali

• Deepavali is the original name of the festival meaning ‘Row of Lights’ or ‘Spreading of Light’.
• Deepavali is celebrated in the southern Indian states: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra, and Pradesh.
• Malaysia, SIngapore, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Mauritius, Martinique, Réunion and Guadeloupe have large populations of Indians from the southern states.
• Deepavali falls on Ashvina Krishna Chaturdasi (lunar day before the new moon).
• Involves bathing before sunrise.
• Deepavali is a 4 day festival.

Diwali

• Diwali is taken from the word Deepavali.
  
• Diwali is celebrated in the northern indian states: Gujarat,Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
• Diwali falls on the day after Ashvina Krishna Chaturdasi.
• Diwali is a 5 day festival.

It's almost Deepavali, anyone need rice?!

It was late morning when we arrived in Little India, which made it easy to walk around slowly and look at the various markets and shops. The streets were lined with stalls. Bakeries had tables adorned with containers of homemade cookies. Jewelry stores were selling colourful bangles for half price. Food shops were selling Deepavali decorations and pallets stacked with every variety of rice imaginable.

A man making fresh vegetarian samosa.

Wandering the streets of Little India always makes me hungry. It smells so good down there! As we walked, and snapped photos, I found a man selling freshly made vegetarian samosa for 50 sen (that’s like $0.15 Cnd!), so I just had to try some. They were amazing. So amazing that I think his surpassed those of the samosa lady in Chiang Mai. In fact, I’m thinking of taking the bus to Georgetown this weekend to see if I can find him and buy more!!

Chicken Curry

The night before Deepavali I walked down to Annie’s Homestay and got curried away as we made chicken and mutton curry for Deepavli. Annie’s guesthouse is full, and although her family is not suppose to celebrate Deepavali this year (there was a death in their family and tradition states that Deepavali should be skipped for 1 year), they’ve decided to cook curry, bake cookies and host a BBQ to appease their guests.

On the day of Deepavali I attempted to ‘dress up’ using my limited backpacking wardrobe. Unfortunately after 45 days overlanding in Africa and almost two months in Penang, my clothes have started to disintegrate and finding something ‘nice’ to wear was a tad challenging. So, I opted for the only capri pants that I own, and my black Bootsnall t-shirt which I have traveled with for the last two years. I decided that some bright pink bangles, semi-decent hair and some make-up would possibly make-up for the my ratty attire and hoped that nobody would care. Thankfully, nobody did.

Raj maning the BBQn-which was perched on top of an unused toilet bowl!

The evening was lovely. Sure, I could have been more sociable with the backpackers that were staying at Annie’s, but I was more interested in Annie and her family. Going to Annie’s is like going to a favourite Aunt’s house. 

As I helped Annie re-fill and display the cookies, I made a mental note of their location in her kitchen. Ghee Biscuits and Biscuit Kachang are too hard to resist and I knew I would need to eat more throughout the evening. While Raj was busy BBQ-ing chicken outside, and Annie was mingling with her guests, I was inside chatting with Annie’s kids. 

Dinner was delicious. The curry wasn’t as spicy as normal due to the guests staying with Annie, but it was still good. Add some roti canai, red wine and BBQ chicken to the mix and I was stuffed in no time.

The conversation was easy and in time I was sitting around the dinning table inside the house with Annie, Raj, Colin and two of Annie’s guests. Red wine was being sipped, and cookies were on offer as I sat back and looked around the room. One of Annie’s daughters was on the floor playing with the little kids, while the other was busy taking dirty dishes into the kitchen and helping to clean. Annie’s youngest boy (also known as Cheeky Monkey as he is a rascal) was running around, laughing and being a complete goof, and her oldest boy was entertaining some friends in a corner of the house.

Spending an evening, eating and chatting with Annie and her family was probably one of the best travel experiences. It was a great way for me to ask questions about their family and culture and to learn more about them. I was relaxed and felt very at home. If I didn’t feel at home, I wouldn’t have been sneaking into Annie’s kitchen to sneak more cookies! As everyone finished eating, it was time to start the loudest part of the evening. Fireworks.

A little boy staying with his parents at Annie's plays with a sparkler.

The kids started off the fireworks, with sparklers (so everyone had something shiny and sparkly to play with), then we progressed from there. In no time most of the party had moved from Annie’s place, to the street, where Annie was handing out cherry bombs, spinners (not sure if that is the real name) and firecrackers. Shina (Annie’s eldest) and his friends used 3 bricks to set-up a pack of fireworks down the street and then ran for cover as the fire as the lit up the sky.

We were definitely not professionals as more than one of the fireworks ended up in someones yard or tree. But, nobody was hurt and there were no fires, so all was good. I’m a huge fan of fireworks, but I’m still trying t figure out the draw of large cherry bombs. Those buggers are damn loud and sound more like a gunshot than a firecracker. The funniest part though was watching Col & Tracy’s kids go mental when the smoke appeared after the firecracker had gone off. I have no clue why those kids love smoke so much, but they do! haha

Raj, Annie and their kids.

A big thank-you to Annie and her family for inviting me to their Deepavali/BBQ. It was a lovely night. I’d also like to thank Colin & Tracy for introducing me to Annie and her family.

If you’re thinking of celebrating Deepavali/Diwali next year, here are some tips to make the most of the festival.

• Find and visit Little India in the city you’re traveling in. Go during the day and look for sparkly bangles, each cheap and yummy Indian food and take in the excitement leading up to Deepavali/Diwali.
• Return to Little India at night to watch the parades and listen to the Bollywood tunes blasting from the various stores in the area. Seriously, it’s totally worth it.
• If you meet a local family and get invited to their home for Deepavali/Diwali, go!
• Tradition is that each child is given an envelope with cash inside. If you’re invited to a local’s home, find out how many children they have and what the appropriate amount is per child. Be sure to bring this with you when you arrive at their home. 
• Visit a Hindu temple during the festival. Most of the attendees will be friendly and excited to se you. This is a great way to immerse yourself in the culture, ask questions and take photos (after you’ve asked their permission of course). Just be sure to avoid snapping photos of worshippers praying.

Did you celebrate Deepavali/Diwali? What did you do?