Light over Darkness, Truth over Untruth

The Temple in the Sea lit up like a Deya at sunset on Wednesday.
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Today is the celebration of the Hindu Festival of Divali. I may spend the afternoon by a river with a friend, doing some light yoga/meditation, looking for crystals and relaxing. This way we will be 'lighting up ourselves. When darkness falls we will hopefully be somewhere lighting deyas and eating curry and Indian sweets.

I recently read a newspaper article in which makers of deyas were saying that they produce less and less of these clay vessels every year. This is because people are opting for electric Christmas lights ... I suppose due to modern laziness and the quest for 'convenience'. I'm not fond of electric lights for Divali. They don't have that humble feel and earthy beauty, plus they make the place look like Christmas. A few Divalis ago, I was driving around 'looking at lights' with friends. However, there were no lights to look at and the place was pitch black. There was no electricity that night. So much for light conquering darkness.

For those who want the look of deyas but don't want the 'hard work' of pouring oil and placing wicks into hundreds or thousands of deyas and lighting them after, there are those modern deyas with candle wax and wick. They look okay ... but nothing beats the old time authentic deyas with coconut oil, along with the act of dipping the wicks and lighting up. The smell of the oil is comforting and warm and (I find) also builds up more of an appetite for the Divali delicacies.