Over 400 Yale students gathered in the Omni Hotel on Sunday to celebrate Diwali, or the festival of lights, a holiday of deep importance to the Hindu community around the world and at Yale.
This year at Yale, predominantly South Asian students have worked in or alongside the Hindu Students Organization and the Chaplain’s office to formalize the celebration of this five-day holiday, which was primarily celebrated on Nov. 12. The celebrations of Diwali involved the Hindu and wider Yale community, including a community puja — or prayer — held at the Omni Hotel. Every year, around 400 to 500 guests attend the function, including both Hindu and non-Hindu members of the Yale community.
“In my experience, and something that the Yale Hindu Students Organization really tried to emphasize this year, Diwali is more than just a religious celebration of light, but a cultural bonding event for friends and family to get together and celebrate and have fun,” Dinesh Bojja ’25, the treasurer for the Yale Hindu Students Organization and India@Yale, wrote to the News.
Diwali, also called “Deepāvali,” derives its name from the clay oil lamp called a diya, Hindu Chaplain Asha Shipman wrote. The diyas are brightly colored handmade cups with flattened rims that are filled with oil and a wick then lit — symbolizing “the awakening of Divine Knowledge” and the “destruction of negative binding forces,” per Shipman.
These lamps are also meant to entreat Maha Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and well-being who represents the feminine energy of the divine, into the home.
At Yale, the puja was organized by the Hindu Chaplain’s office and the Hindu Students Organization and included a vegetarian Indian dinner. Organizers worked with other organizations and funding sources, such as the Asian American Cultural Center and alumni networks through YaleSOAR, an organization that coordinates alumni funding for student organizations, to make the celebration possible.
Members of the HSO board led the puja on a raised platform, and this year, the festivities also included a live musical performance by Yale Dhvani, a student group dedicated to classical Indian music.
At Yale, the Diwali puja focuses on worshiping Lakshmi and also includes a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
Hindus pray to Ganesha when starting ceremonies like a puja, and the god is considered the “remover of all obstacles,” per Shipman.
Shipman added that she made sure that the attendees could participate in the ceremony “regardless of their familiarity with the festival.”
In this year’s celebration, mantras were projected on the screen, and a printed program was provided.
“We provide a printed program with explanations for what we do, the transliterated mantras and translations so that all can follow and chant with us if they choose,” Shipman wrote to the News, “Usually there are no easy ways for devotees at Temples to follow the priests' chanting but as we are an educational institution, I believe that offering an educational and inclusive experience is part of my service as the Hindu chaplain here at Yale.”
Other student organizations also hosted their own Diwali celebrations. For example, India@Yale organized a smaller community gathering where attendees enjoyed mango lassis and samosas.
Tushar Patel ’25, a former HSO board member, attended the puja. As a board member during last year’s Diwali celebration at Yale, he recalled some of the work that went into organizing the puja, food and following festivities.
“I spent a lot of time along with the other students involved in setting up the materials. organizing the food, figuring out how to reserve the hotel,” Patel told the News.
Patel told the News that Diwali as a cultural festivity has always been an “assumed” part of his life. Patel said he was initially surprised that there were such festivities on offer during the Diwali period when he came to Yale.
Outside of celebrating with his family, the festivities of Diwali were not that well-known in his high school community.
“Coming to Yale has definitely made me realize that this holiday is way more well known, at least at Yale,” Patel said.
More than 1 billion people around the world observe Diwali.
Contact Nora Moses at nora.moses@yale.edu and Andre Fa'aoso at andre.faaoso@yale.edu.