British Columbians gear up for annual Diwali celebration
CBC
British Columbia's sizeable South Asian Canadian population is gearing up to celebrate by sharing good food and lighting lamps ahead of the annual Diwali celebration.
Diwali — also known as Deepavali — is the annual festival of lights, which is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.
Although it is set to start on Nov. 1, according to the Hindu calendar, the five-day-long festival often has weeks of lead-up and occupies many weeks for those celebrating.
While the traditional significance of the festival varies by culture — for instance, Hindus celebrate Diwali as the return of the deity Rama after years of exile — they all share the common theme of good triumphing over evil.
Most who observe the festival share sweets and delicacies with each other, wear new clothes as they celebrate with family, and light up lamps, candles and fireworks.
In Metro Vancouver, sweet shops and South Asian supermarkets were full of people loading up for the holiday on Tuesday.
One of them, Ravi Dhot, travelled to the region all the way from Nelson, B.C., to see his parents for the first time in six years.
"Our parents just came from India. Actually, we just came; we went to the airport just to pick them up," he told CBC News at a supermarket in Surrey, B.C.
"They could have landed in Castlegar. But we thought we need to bring all these things. Why not make it a trip, right?"
Nelson — about 420 kilometres east of Vancouver — doesn't have any Indian sweet shops, according to Dhot, who said his wife asked him to buy a range of items.
"She can't travel. She's seven months pregnant in Nelson," he said, smiling. "Yes, she's waiting ... I think she's got a lot of cravings for this kind of food right now.
"It's going to last me like 15 days for me and my wife, so yeah, that's going to be one of the special trips for me," he said.
Dhot said he was looking to buy diyas, small clay lamps that are traditionally lit with South Asian clarified butter called ghee.
Shiva Reddy, a sommelier with the Michelin-starred Burdock & Co restaurant in Vancouver, said that ghee is often traditionally used in many religious rituals — as well as many of the traditional sweets that are bought around Diwali.
As their role in health care continues to grow, nurse practitioners across Canada are looking to Alberta, where nurse practitioners recently formed their own union — but on P.E.I., the nurses' union that represents them says it's doing its job.
As the fallout over fallen buildings in Gore Park continues, Hamilton officials will be turning their attention to other properties.
Fire crews responded to a transport truck fire on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
When the government touts that its auto insurance reforms might curb premiums by $400 come 2027, the ministers and premier don't readily mention what's to come in the three years leading up to that.
Who poses the greater threat to the free speech of Conservative MPs — the Speaker of the House of Commons or the leader of the Conservative Party?
As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.
A Toronto centre for Black art is hosting an exhibition this weekend that exclusively features work by artists from across the African diaspora.
Click on the video player above on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET to watch the 2024 Vanier Cup.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Some Canadian seniors say they're feeling abandoned by the Liberal government's latest inflation relief measure after learning they don't qualify for it.
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.