By Dustin Brown
The row of cars idled along 133rd Street late Sunday as the falling sun dipped out of view, leaving the roadway lit only by the storefronts of Liberty Avenue and strings of light dangling off the vehicles.
Following a tradition that dates back centuries in the Hindu religion and to 1990 in Richmond Hill, members of the borough’s Indo-Caribbean community were gathered to celebrate Diwali, their festival of lights.
The five-day Diwali festival derives from the Sanskrit “dipavali,” or row of lights. It is celebrated in India and the Indian Diaspora by rich and poor alike, marking the beginning of the Hindu new year.
The tradition is to light small oil lamps and place them in homes, gardens and on rooftops to illuminate the way for visiting gods of good fortune and prosperity. Each day of the holiday carries its own significance, rituals and myths.
But in Richmond Hill the celebration was thrust into the open, taking over the streets with a procession of cars as a means of bringing the holiday out into the community.
“It takes a traditional culture and brings it into the mainstream America so people see us as something in the public domain,” said Vishnu Mahadeo, an immigrant from Guyana who helped organize the parade.
Following a brief religious ceremony, a small crowd gathered along the edges of Liberty Avenue to watch as more than a dozen cars passed on a short route along the streets of Richmond Hill.
In their homes Hindus light small lamps, but on the roadway they festively decked their cars with strings of holiday lights and tinsel.
Some drivers opted to paste pictures of candles onto their windows to join the procession.
Nandkumarie Bembry, a resident of 134th Street originally from Trinidad, watched the parade go by with her grandson.
“It’s the most joyous occasion of all Hindu festivals,” she said. “It’s like inviting God into your house.”
Although pleased to see the holiday observed in the United States, she said it hardly compared to the celebration in her homeland.
“This is just a few cars,” she said. “Back in Trinidad, there’d be hundreds.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
