Source: The Boston Globe

On November 19, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that the Somerville, MA South Asian Center hosted a Diwali celebration "inside a tent at the Assembly Square Mall parking lot...Though the event is a Hindu holiday commemorating the epic hero Ramas's victorious return from exile, its organizers hope it sent a message of unity...The South Asian Center, a volunteer organization founded last December, is hosting a similar festival next month for the Muslim holiday Eid." Somerville is home to a large South Asian community; "a recent survey by the South Asian Center showed 3,000-4,000 South Asians live in Somerville...The center also plans to purchase a building in the next two years for use as a South Asian community center, which would house offices for many ethnic organizations."