Vibrant orange, red and white flowers floated in LMC’s fountain in front of the core building for the festival of lights, Diwali, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The area was decorated with orange flower wreaths and intricate chalk art designs created by students on the ground. Students sat patiently as henna artists decorated their hands and arms.
Co-President of Puente Club, Alex Montalvan was one of the volunteers doing the henna.
“I’m volunteering to help with the henna designs and to help out with the event, and kind of just set things up for Honors,” said Montalvan.
Henna symbolizes good health, prosperity, love, joy and protection; it is also a rite of passage representing a girl’s journey into womanhood. Darker henna stains symbolizes deep love, so Indian brides wear intricate henna symbols on their arms.
Student Mali Wyatt painted and decorated clay pots holding candles, known as diyas which represent good over evil, hope for the future, and renewal.
“It’s really cool painting the Diya,” said Wyatt. “There’s a lot of vibrant colors that can help with creativity [and] just very engaging for me because I can just focus on it.”
Student Life Ambassador and Honors Vice President, Tenisha Manoharan spoke of the meaning behind the celebration.
“Diwali is a celebration for a lot of people around the world, predominantly South Asians and Indians,” said Manoharan. “It has a religious significance to Hinduism, but it also is celebrated by multiple groups around the world.”
Manoharan expressed how Diwali is a cheerful celebration.
“Essentially just to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and to be positive, to always embrace the light and spread positivity in this celebration,” said Manoharan.
The celebration on campus came about when Student Life associates were tasked with choosing an event.
“We got to decide what events we wanted to coordinate and be in charge of and I noticed Diwali was on the list, and we’ve never done Diwali before,” Manoharan said. “So being Indian and being South Asian, and having celebrated Diwali my whole life, I decided, why not take part in the event that is part of my culture?”
The flower decorations had cultural significance with the orange, yellow, and red colors.
“Those colors are very symbolic for Bali, and just really represent the overall aesthetic of the celebration,” Manoharan said. “The celebration definitely has a lot of yellows, a lot of orange, a lot of reds, and it’s just very colorful as a festival of light.”
The Diwali activities also hold cultural significance to the Hindu faith, especially the flowers in the water. Students had a flower to lay in the water and make a wish.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done this, so we would love to kind of spread culture around campus and spread positivity,” Manoharan said.