दीवाली(Diwali) in 🇸🇬 Singapur

Diwali in Singapore, known locally as Deepavali, is a gazetted public holiday and one of the most visually stunning celebrations in this multiethnic city-state. The heart of the festivities is Little India, where Serangoon Road and its surrounding streets are transformed by a spectacular light-up display weeks before the festival.

The light-up, organized by the Hindu Endowments Board, features towering illuminated arches and decorative motifs that stretch for nearly two kilometers, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors of all ethnicities. The Little India Deepavali Festival Village offers street bazaars selling saris, gold jewelry, garlands, kolam stencils, and traditional sweets.

Singaporean Hindu families celebrate by waking before dawn for an oil bath, a purification ritual, before visiting the temple. Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple hold special pujas. Families then open their homes for visiting, serving murukku, ladoo, payasam, and other traditional sweets and savory snacks. Oil lamps and rangoli decorate doorsteps.

Singapore's multicultural character shines during Deepavali. Chinese, Malay, and Eurasian friends and colleagues visit Hindu homes, and the celebration reinforces the nation's commitment to racial harmony. The government and community organizations host cultural events showcasing classical Indian dance, music, and arts.

The Hindu Festival of Lights celebrating the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, observed with oil lamps, fireworks, sweets, and prayers to Goddess Lakshmi.