Diwali 2013 at the IPB – Indian students of Halle celebrate their Festival of Lights

On November 2nd it is time again for the traditional Festival of Lights (Diwali) that is celebrated for the third time in a row by Indians Student’s Association in the Kurt-Mothes-Saal of the IPB, ensuring a lot of multicultural flair at our institute. The party was planned and organized by the IPB members Dipannita Mitra, Anshu Khatri and Dinesh Dhurvas Chandrasekaran. All three are currently working on their PhD thesis and Masters thesis respectively in the department Molecular Signal Processing.

Everybody, who wants to attend a traditional Indian Festival and is interested in Indian culture and old customs is kindly invited to the party. Aside from traditional candle lightning accompanied by devotional songs one can expect cultural performances á la Bollywood. Furthermore delicious Indian food and interactive games are offered. The musical background during the evening will be provided by a DJ.

You can find further information about the event and the entire programme here.


Diwali – an Indian festival

Diwali is Hindi and means „arrangement of lights“. The Festival is usually held over several days in India and starts on the fifteenth day of the Hindu month Kartik that is at the end of October or at the beginning of November according to our calendar system. Because of its positive character it can be compared to our Christmas. The central message of the Light Festival is the victory of good over evil or in other words light over darkness. Thus, the most important tradition of the Festival is the candle lightning. The lights are thought to guide the ghosts of the departed into the land of eternal happiness according to Hindu faith.