From traditional Indian folk dances to the more widely known Bollywood, Diwali 2010 was a snapshot of Indian culture.
"It's the Indian equivalent of Christmas," said Arjun Angral, graduate student in mechanical engineering and president of the Indian Student Association. "It's the biggest festival we Indians celebrate."
Diwali was co-presented by the ISA and the Indian Cultural Association of East Alabama.
Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, the celebration of the victory of good over evil.
"What we normally do at Diwali is people light up their homes with oil lamps, and they enjoy fireworks," Angral said. "They make sweets. They go to each other's homes."
The Diwali celebration in Foy ballroom Oct. 30 showcased Indian music and dance, with performances by members of the ISA and the ICAEA.
It also featured a guest speaker, K.M. Venkat Narayan, professor at Emory University.
"We do about 10 events a year, and this is the biggest," said Sushil Bhavnani, professor of engineering and faculty adviser for the ISA. "I think they put a lot of hard work into this."
Bhavnani said it takes about a month of planning to pull everything together for the Diwali celebration each year.
This was the 25th time the event has been held on Auburn's campus.
Lela Anderson from Montgomery attended Diwali with her brother Richard, who was adopted from India.
"I liked the skit about the parents and the kids," Anderson said of a comedic skit called "My Life is Desi," which highlighted the fusion of American and Indian culture. "That just totally cracked me up."
About 500 people attended the entertainment portion of the Diwali celebration, which was followed by a buffet dinner in the Student Center, featuring many Indian dishes.
"It's equal measure--the entertainment program and the dinner," Bhavnani said. "The entertainment program, of course, is a lot of people that aren't trained necessarily, but are enthusiastic and do share their talents well. I think everybody had a good time."
Diwali is Nov. 5 this year.
"It's based on a lunar calendar," Angral said. "But we did it today because this was an away- game weekend, and this is the only time we could have done it."
Angral said his favorite part of Diwali is puja, an event he hasn't experienced in the past two years because of being away at college.
"It's a special ceremony where you worship God," Angral said. "I'm a Hindu--a lot of Indians are. So in Hinduism you have a lot of different incarnations of the same God that everyone believes in. So it's just a ceremony where you worship God, thank him for all he's given you, ask him for his blessings."
Angral said another Diwali tradition he misses is the fireworks, which weren't featured this year.
"You cannot just do fireworks anywhere here," Angral said.
Angral and his friends usually have a potluck dinner and enjoy good times together to celebrate Diwali.
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