How we celebrate the Indian Festival Diwali at Monsoon
How we celebrate the Indian Festival Diwali at Monsoon
Indian festival Diwali has something magical about it. It’s a celebration of love, peace and the triumph of good over evil and marks the start of the Hindu New Year. It invokes charming childhood memories of dressing up, looking forward to meeting friends and family and that excitement about buying sweets and decorations. It’s one of the most important holidays for Hindus across the world, which starts with a 5-day celebration, each day marking the path to a new beginning.
What is the Indian festival Diwali about?
The name of this Indian festival takes inspiration from the row of clay lamps (Deepa) that are light outside Indian homes, symbolizing the protection of inner light against the spiritual darkness. For a person celebrating Diwali, this isn’t just an occasion to get united with the community, but a chance to renew and refocus the energy towards positivity.
In Northern India, Diwali is the reminder of the story of King Rama’s return to Ayodhya, after gaining victory over Ravana by lightening rows of clay lamps. In the south, a relatively similar but different narrative is talked about which says that this is when Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura.
In western India, Diwali marks the period when Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods of the Hindu trinity) sent the demon King Bali to rule the lower world. In all cases, Diwali means the end of shadows of the evil, a fresh start for those who want to inspire a change and walk the path of light.
Beginning of Celebrations at Monsoon
At Monsoon, like every other important Indian festival, Diwali holds a special place in our hearts. It’s not just the day of Diwali but the days following this occasion. As per Hindu tradition, we celebrate it home style in Ireland with our Monsoon family and customers by offering them traditional sweets and dishes to commemorate the occasion.
For the festival of Dussehra, which marks the end of Navratri and the beginning of Diwali, our sweet surprise for the guests was a free Jalebi this year. Jalebi is a hugely popular, traditional Indian dessert made with all-purpose flour, saffron, ghee and unique aromatic flavourings. This mixture is swirled from a pipping bag in hot oil, creating a crunchy and crispy dessert that is dunked in fragrant sugar syrup for a few seconds. This was available on the day of Dussehra and well-received by all who tried it.
The Ultimate Diwali Platter
For this year, we went for an ALL-OUT meal with rich, decadent dishes and bright colours by introducing a Shubh Diwali Platter for the entire month. Because many Hindus migrated to Ireland for work or study, we could completely relate to those feelings of missing Diwali meals from home. At the same time, for the native Irish, we wanted to share a part of our culture of traditional cuisine.
We recreated that same Diwali nostalgia with our unique yet colourful thali (combination) comprising some scrumptious bowls of tasty vegetarian curries Like: Gutta curry, Dal Amritsari, muttar Paneer & Saag aloo aloing with condiments. The Shubh Diwali Thali, not just looked like an eye-pleaser but had a little of everything.
Another Free Diwali Treat
How could Diwali go without a free treat from Monsoon? It’s a matter of tradition for us. Last year we gave away these delicate Diwali Pouches with every meal with a sweet and a Diwali Diya.
This year we shared the sweetness of some very delicious, house-made Gajar ka Halwa (Carrot Pudding), made with Milk, almonds and cashews. This was greatly enjoyed by the diners, some of them who tried Gajar ka halwa for the first time swore by it.
For the team Monsoon, this Diwali ended with tons of love from happy foodies. The Traditional Diwali Thali will be available throughout October so you can always have a taste of it. For those customers who couldn’t be with us, we will be back soon with another tasty treat this Halloween and of course, Christmas!
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