Diwali Celebrations!

Diwali celebrations are an occasion not to be missed! You will also see Diwali written as Divali or Deepavali and it translates to The Festival of Lights.

This is a Hindu festival and is celebrated across the whole island. It is truly the prettiest of all celebrations and decorations for Diwali involve every house and every business lighting Diwali diya (oil lamps) candles and fairy lights.

What is the history of Diwali?

The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil when Lord Rama won victory over Ravan and the twinkling lights symbolize the rows of light that were lit along the streets upon Rama’s return to his home city of Ayodhya.

For the full story of one legend of Diwali click here.

The festival is the symbol of a new beginning and of exorcising the darkness of evil from people’s lives.

After the Hindu ceremonial part of the day is finished, people visit their relatives and friends to share sweets and small cakes. Our daughter is always really sad to miss out on the cakes if she is not in Mauritius for Divali, particularly her aunty Shyama’s barphi!!

There is a tradition of fireworks on Diwali and most towns and villages have official celebrations.

When is Diwali?

The festival occurs in October or November each year on the darkest night of the year. If you are in Mauritius at this time ask the tour desk at your resort if there are local celebrations that you can attend.

Diwali started as a festival in India only but is now celebrated all over the world. It is traditional to give Diwali gifts to family and friends. This has become a worldwide business as you can now buy Diwali gifts online have them sent to family all over the world! There is even a Diwali Barbie for little girls.

Visit the All About Mauritius Gift Shop if you would like to see more Diwali Gifts and books. **Hint** You will need to scroll to the right and choose Mauritius Festivals - Diwali.

Another wonderful tradition is that of giving special Diwali sweets.

Free recipes for Diwali

Gato Diwali is the creole name of the box of sweets that are given from friend to friend.

The most popular Diwali sweets are:

Rasgulla

Gato patate

If you would like the recipes for Diwali sweets, click on each of the names!