Singapore. Diwali celebrations have begun in Singapore with colorful decorations, community support and cultural atmosphere. Citizens of Indian origin as well as government officials and multi-cultural groups came together to mark the beginning of the ‘Festival of Lights’ across the country.
The ‘Little India’ area, home to traditional Indian shops and eateries, has now been transformed into a festival area. There are twinkling lights, live cultural programs and lavish decorations that reflect the multi-ethnic culture of Singapore. This happens during Christmas, Chinese New Year and Eid. Diwali this year will be celebrated on 20 October, and is a public holiday in Singapore.
On this occasion, special prayers, community feasts and cultural events will be organized in Hindu and Sikh temples across the country. Leading the festival, Indrani Raja, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, launched a special initiative under which more than 300 sarees were collected from across the island. A community center has been beautifully decorated with these sarees.
Many citizens and organizations including ‘Indian Women’s Association Singapore’ and ‘Bengali Association Singapore’ participated in this initiative. Indrani Raja was quoted by local weekly Tabla as saying, “I simply suggested decorating the community center with sarees, and the ‘Indian Activities Executive Committee’ (IAEC) did it. They prepared the design and decorated the sarees in different ways. The result was amazing.”
“These sarees are not just clothes or apparel, but the fabric of our cultural heritage, which brings the entire community together,” he said. He also appealed to celebrate festivals in a cordial manner and stressed on reusing goods. Saravanan Govindasamy, chairman of the IAEC of ‘Pasir Ris Elias Community Centre’, said that people from the Chinese and Malay communities also participated enthusiastically in the initiative. “When we appealed for sarees, there was tremendous support from minority communities. It was truly a wave of unity,” she said.
Local resident Rangaswami Sajita said that many experiments were done on how to use sarees for decoration. He said, “After a lot of efforts, we came to the conclusion that we should decorate them the way we wear them ourselves.”
This saree decoration will be displayed till 16th November. After this, there is a plan to send these sarees to old age homes, domestic workers organizations and India and Malaysia. “We want everyone to be a part of this celebration — everyone has the opportunity to celebrate Diwali,” Raja said.
Also read: Deepotsav 2025: Ayodhya’s Deep Mahotsav will again witness a world record, two new achievements will be recorded in the Guinness Book
