By Brajendra Nath Singh
St. Denis (Reunion Island), Oct 31 (IANS) Week-long celebrations of Deepavali in Reunion Island culminated with a splash of Holi colours, lighting up of the entire Indian Ocean island with pretty lights and a scintillating fireworks show -- as the Indian Diaspora celebrated its roots.
The presence of Miss India World Priyadarshini Chattejee in the French island and joining the Indian Diaspora in the celebrations of Deepavali, as Diwali is known here, added more colour to the event.
Deepavali celebrations in Reunion Island is an occasion for the Indian Diaspora to preserve their cultural heritage. They use this occasion to show to the world that despite their foreign nationality they have not forgotten their Indian roots.
"It's a great show of strength by the Indian community here that despite being out of the country for so many decades they have not forgotten their culture," Chatterjee told this visiting IANS journalist.
"The most amazing thing is that they celebrate Deepavali and Holi together, which is rare in the world," she added.
The entire Reunion Island celebrated the 27th edition of Deepavali, the festival of lights, organised by the Reunion Island Tourism (IRT).
This French island in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar is home to nearly 2.5 lakh people of Indian origin -- nearly a quarter to a third of the total population.
Most of the Indian origin population is concentrated in St. Andre, St. Pierre, St. Leu and St. Louis.
Although Deepavali is celebrated in most of these areas, the centre of attraction is the celebrations in Colossus Park, where every person of Indian origin gathers to celebrate the festival together.
On Sunday, the day of Deepavali, people of the region gathered in Colossus Park of St. Andre and played Holi with each other.
The well-known Bollywood Holi song "Rang barse bhige chunar wali", sung by Amitabh Bachchan, was played and people were dancing in artificial rain and splashing colour at each other.
The park, on the east coast of Reunion Island, is also a favourite tourist destination and picnic spot for locals.
An exclusive cultural event was organised at Colossus Park with people of Indian origin performing Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak classical Indian dances.
On Sunday evening the temples and the houses were adorned with thousands of small lamps, fairy lights, and candles to commemorate the victory of light over darkness, good over evil.
On the eve of Deepavali, a procession began in St. Andre from the municipality office and wended its way to Sarda Garriga Stadium.
The procession looked like a "mini kumbh" of Indian culture where Bharatnatyam dance, as well as dances performed during South Indian festivals of Pongal and Thaipusam, mingled with the Dandia of Gujarat and folk dances during Basant Panchami of North India -- on the streets.
Young men and women were dressed as grooms and brides during the march. The brides were dressed in lehanga choli while the grooms were dressed in ethnic kurta pyjama.
Some were dressed as Hindu gods, Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman.
The procession gathered in a stadium where a cultural event was organised with various forms of Indian dance and songs.
The programme finally ended with the lightning of lamps and candles and a crackling fireworks show.
Reunion Island Tourism (IRT), a partner of the 27th edition of Deepavali, organises cultural events to safeguard the memories of the origin of the Indian settlers.
An IRT official told IANS that the mela, the Holi and the Deepavali celebrations at Colossus Park were organised by the St. Andre Municipality. Jean Paul Virapoulle of Indian origin is mayor of the area.
On Sunday, the Indian Diaspora also gathered at Media Library of St. Andre, where an exhibition was organised to awaken the new generation about the rich Indian traditions and culture.
(Brajendra Nath Singh's visit is at the invitation of the Deepavali celebration's organisers. He can be reached at brajendra.n@ians.in)
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