Deepavali festival in Kuala Lumpur, 2017

lorisolan
Oct 19, 2017
3 min read

Originally we were meant to be in Jaipur, India for Deepavali however with my partners work commitments in Kuala Lumpur, we were here for it instead. Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere). One of the most celebrated festivals in Hinduism, it spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.

In the lead up to the holiday you could see the preparations for it across shopping malls and temples in Malaysian Indian areas throughout KL. In the malls they have Rangoli displays. Rangoli is an art which originates in India. Patterns are created on the floor using materials such as coloured rice, dry flour, coloured sand or flower petals. It is really something to see. The detail is simply beautiful.

Rangoli display in The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, KL

Rangoli display at Mid Valley Megamall, Wilayah Persekutuan, KL

Rangoli display at Main Place mall, USJ21, Subang Jaya

Rangoli display at KL Sentral Station, KL

There are approximately 2 million Malaysian Indians or Indian Malaysians in all of Malaysia. Due to this high number, there are plenty of sights to see around Diwali/Deepavali. I took a trip to Little India in Brickfield's, KL the day before the holiday and the place was buzzing with people. Everyone was out doing a final shop before the big day. It seems so similar to Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere!

There were stalls set up with all sorts of gadgets, beautiful floral offerings and food. There was music blaring from big speakers set out on the street and the traffic was terrible. I walked around for a while taking it all in, it felt like this was a really tame version of what it would be like in India itself. I have to go one year and witness it.

Stunning textures and colours of offerings for Diwali

I stopped at Restoran Chat Masala for a tosai and a kopi. Then I went across to a stall selling cookies. I needed to get a gift to bring to our friends house so was sold 4 tins by the most charismatic, friendly little boy who was probably about 10 or 11 but had amazing selling skills already.

One of the many stalls lining the streets of Little India, Brickfield's

Deepavali at our friend's house

We were lucky enough to be invited to our Malay Indians friends house for dinner to celebrate with them. On the day of Deepavali, they entertain family and friends from morning to evening with breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a tradition that all households undertake and then at night time one house will host everyone for drinks and snacks. It is lovely to see how important family and friends are to each other throughout this festival. We had a tasty dinner of three different types of curries cooked by our friend Kalai's wife. We had a final drink, gave our good wishes and left the family to change in to their traditional outfits for the next phase of their celebrations. We are so fortunate living in Malaysia and getting to experience the different nationalities, their cultures and festivals. Next up is Chinese New Year in January.