While people from northern India light lamps to celebrate Diwali, the Tamil community’s celebration – which begins at 3.30 am on the big day – is not complete without firecrackers.
“Back in Tamil Nadu [south Indian state], we wake up to the sounds of non-stop firecrackers early in the morning,” says Melbourne-based Srivatsan.
“Although Deepavali celebrations have expanded a lot over the years in Melbourne, crackers are a big miss as they are what Deepavali is all about.”
Deepavali, also known as the festival of lights, runs for five days and this year begins on October 24.
Srivatsan remembers his first Deepavali in Australia in 2008 as a particularly quiet one, but says the celebrations are always changing with the influx of new immigrants.
Srivatsan Credit: SBS Tamil
Deepavali has even been embraced by Australian workplaces, says Srivatsan.
“Corporate Deepavali is a trend and even Aussies take part in Deepavali celebrations wearing traditional Indian attire in many offices. Deepavali has been recognised as community-specific festival leave in most corporate workplaces, too,” he says.
Numerous Tamil associations in Melbourne conduct events to celebrate Deepavali.
“Sudar Oli conducts Pattimandram (Tamil debate show) every year and this month the team of Melbourne Talkies will be staging a Tamil play, Kalavarathil Oru Kaadhal, in Point Cook for the Tamil community. We make sure that we don’t miss the fun associated with Deepavali,” says Srivatsan.
A unique celebration
Suresh Sampath is a finance professional who has lived in Sydney for more than two decades.
Suresh Sampath with his family Credit: SBS Tamil
“I would watch the Perumal procession that used to take place from Sri Parthasarathy Perumal Temple around the streets of Triplicane in Chennai for two hours on Deepavali, and for the whole two hours people would be bursting crackers. Growing up it was a breathtaking sight to watch this celebration,” Suresh says.
“Even after moving to Sydney, I visited Chennai with my children a couple of times during Deepavali to show them this spectacular sight,” he adds.
Another strong memory he has from his days in Tamil Nadu is catching the opening-day screenings of new films at Deepavali.
To replicate that in Australia, Suresh says one year he invited friends around to his home on the day of Deepavali to watch a new film via an online platform.
“It was just to recreate the first-day show feel here in Sydney,” he says.
Keeping up traditions
Priya Srinivasan, an IT professional from Sydney, says it is challenging to keep up with the Deepavali nonbu procedures just as they are observed in her mother-in-law’s home in Tamil Nadu.
“Even here, we prepare the special nonbu thattu (a plate full of sweets, savoury snacks, flowers and fruits), make adhirasam from scratch at home, decorate the kalasam , take all these to a nearby Amman temple, offer prayers to Lord Amman, tie the nonbu kayiru (a sacred thread) on your wrist and then eat a meal without rice at home,” Priya explains.
“Whenever I visit India, I purchase things for nonbu just to make sure I do it every year here in Australia.”
Priya says that during her first Deepavali in Australia five years ago, she missed home and the way the festival was celebrated there.
“But slowly I explored the ways to celebrate Deepavali in Australia. For the past few years, friends come together to make sweets and savoury snacks during Deepavali. When we cook together for our family it’s fun.”
While Priya never misses nonbu, Padma Rajan is particular about the Deepavali legiyam, a traditional herbal medicine taken before breakfast to aid digestion.
Padma Rajan Credit: SBS Tamil
Padma says that not all ingredients were available when she first arrived in 1992.
Born in Thiruvaroor in Tamil Nadu, and brought up in Neyveli, Padma says she only celebrated Deepavali with her family and friends before she migrated to Australia.
She adds that it took a few years to adapt to the unusually quiet Deepavali in Australia.
“I felt a bit lonely on Deepavali in the initial couple of years as there were hardly any Indians around at that time,” Padma recollects.
“As the years passed with the coming of new immigrants, more Deepavali fairs showed up, Indian stuff became more accessible and for the past few years we could actually feel the festivity here, too.”
Deepavali may be less popular with Sri Lankan Tamils
Ratnambal is a Sri Lankan Tamil dance teacher who has been residing in Sydney for the past 22 years.
Ratnambal Credit: SBS Tamil
“We follow all the traditions like people of Tamil Nadu but on a small scale. After moving to Australia, [the scale of] the Deepavali celebrations depends on whether the festival falls on a weekday or the weekend.”
Mahadeva Iyer Jayaram Sharma, a consultant at a Tamil association Melbourne, argues that Deepavali is not as popular as Chithirai festival or Thai Pongal for Sri Lankan Tamils due to many factors .
Deepavali events set the festive mood
Vinithra Jayaraman has been conducting Deepavali cultural programs in Sydney for several years.
She says the Tamil community in Sydney gears up three months in advance for the occasion.
Vinithra Jayaraman at a Deepavali program Credit: SBS Tamil
“Numerous food stalls during the fair provide aspiring restaurateurs with a chance to reach out to the public with their exciting delicacies.”
“These events are a perfect place for the Indian community to get together, wear traditional clothing, and explore delicacies, which makes it close to the way we celebrate Deepavali back in Tamil Nadu.”
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