Hindus in Dayton Celebrate Diwali

October 29, 2005

Source: Dayton Daily News

http://www.daytondailynews.com/life/content/life/daily/1029faith.html

On October 29, 2005 the Dayton Daily News reported, "The pearl-white Hindu Temple of Dayton... looks like a scaled-down Taj Mahal. It stands in stark contrast to the modern, luxury condos stacked like children's blocks inside the Brookstone Hills housing complex in Beavercreek. Prior to entering the temple, visitors are urged to pass under the elaborately engraved rajagopuram, a 40-foot alabaster obelisk with a tall, arched portal. Members of Dayton's Hindu community say passing through the rajagopuram lifts all material burdens and clears a path for spiritual enlightenment. Inside the compact, rectangular shrine, priest Ashwani Kumar, assistant priest Ramesh Rajamani and others dart back and forth in stocking feet, polishing and decorating the temple for Diwali... Diwali — often referred to as the 'festival of lights' — is a deeply symbolic Hindu observance and one of the most jubilant holidays for people of India and the Hindu faith... Membership at the temple has grown dramatically since it opened in 1985, and Kumar said the season of Diwali is, by far, the busiest time of year."