Raj Iyer
ST LOUIS: Bal Vihar of St. Louis, a nonprofit organization seeking to promote Indian culture among children, celebrated the Diwali knows alsoas Deepavalior Festival of Light, with pujas, diyas, and fireworks.
Given the current pandemic environment, Bal Vihar school held a virtual Diwali celebration keeping in mind the safety and well-being of r= families and students. The start was by a youth group students summarizing the significance of Diwali. The event continued with religious ceremony facilitated by a Hindu priest in St. Louis. Many students and their families joined the ceremony from the comfort of their homes via Zoom.
The children followed the priest in performing puja at their home using clay diyas they made in their previous class. The puja started with short prayers, followed by an arti. Even though we all missed being around other families/students, the ability to see others dressed up in their beautiful culture attire made up for some of that. It was probably the next best thing we could do besides being together in person. At the end of puja when doing Aarti, everyone joined together to sing making the chorus fill our homely atmosphere will lots of positive vibes.
The Year 2020 has been unlike any other that was witnessed. All prayed collectively for the situation all over the world to return to some semblance of normalcy. There are so many lessons learnt this year. One of them on the biggest festival for Bal Viharfamilies being together virtually and participating in one grand ceremony feeling the presence of each other Keep COVID-19 at arm’s length was the lesson
On behalf Center for Indian Cultural Education – Bal Vihar of St. Louis greets everyone in US, India and the rest of the world entering the Hindu Calendar Samvat Year 2077.
