United States : San Diego Diwali celebration far from the roots of Diwali

Letter from Forum for Hindu Awakening

To whom it may concern,
     We, at Forum for Hindu Awakening, are writing to you in reference to the Diwali celebration held by the San Diego Shri Mandir. Forum for Hindu Awakening is a non-profit organization that strives to awaken society to the unique spiritual science behind Hindu Dharma concepts and practices, to motivate people to live and preserve Hinduism, and to facilitate the spiritual progress of humanity. One of the ways we do this is by addressing misrepresentations of Hinduism.
     We are emailing you today because it was brought to our attention by some Hindus that the Diwali celebrations held by your Mandir each year feature Bollywood dance shows that children participate in. While it is very nice that you take the effort to bring Indians together each year to celebrate Diwali, the true essence of the festival is lost by featuring Bollywood dance shows. Diwali is a Dharmik festival that is sacred to Hindus. It is primarily meant to celebrate the principle of progressing from spiritual darkness or ignorance to the spiritual light or knowledge. Playing Bollywood music mars the sanctity of Diwali. Diwali celebrations should be comprised of at least some traditional elements so that the Hindus here can get the proper experience of it. Some ways this can be done are
1.   Featuring more traditional, devotional music about Deities and Hindu or Indian classical music
2.   Educating the participating Hindus about the spiritual roots of Diwali
3.   Encouraging Hindus to celebrate Diwali and other Indian festivals in a traditional manner  
4.  Having children participate in traditional Diwali festivities such as plays about Deities and classical Indian dance instead of Bollywood dance shows to help them learn about Hindu Dharma and develop pride for it.

     We are willing to help your Mandir to implement the above points by sharing our educational materials such as videos and posters on Diwali and Hinduism. We have experienced that many Hindus are tired of the trend of abandoning Hindu culture and replacing it with Bollywood stereotypes. Younger Hindus often show genuine interest when they are exposed to Hindu traditions and older Hindus also feel relieved. We have lost the depth and meaning that Hinduism naturally offers by diluting it with Bollywood culture, and many are looking for this depth and meaning somewhere. Diwali celebrations are widely attended by non-Hindus; hence it becomes even more important to present Diwali in a way that will reflect Hinduism in a correct way so the non-Hindus will understand the greatness of Hinduism. Otherwise, they will be left with an understanding that Bollywood represents Hinduism.

     We urge you to consider the above and make changes to your Diwali celebration. This way you would adhere to the true spirit of Diwali and help all Hindus to share and experience Hindu traditions as they were meant to be experienced. We stress that our aim in bringing this up is to educate and ensure that Hinduism gets accurately represented in society. Hinduism has been misrepresented at many levels from the level of school textbooks to popular media. Though it is an ancient tradition, Hinduism has a lot to offer the modern world and we want children and adults alike to be able to understand and live it without it being misrepresented. You can take one step towards ensuring that Hinduism gets represented accurately by making changes to your future Diwali celebrations as we have requested.

    If you would like to learn more about the spiritual principles of Diwali, we do encourage you to visit our page on it here:

http://www.forumforhinduawakening.org/festivals/diwali

Sincerely,
Forum for Hindu Awakening