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Diwali Lights Up Lilburn: Thousands Gather at BAPS Mandir for Festival of Lights
Thousands of families and friends filled the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Lilburn on Sunday for Diwali, celebrating light over darkness with fireworks, prayer, and a call to carry compassion into the community. The festival continues Monday with the Grand Annakut at 1 p.m.
LILBURN, Ga. â Thousands of people gathered at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Lilburn on Sunday to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, filling the grounds with sparkling traditional attire, fireworks, music, and a message of compassion that organizers said resonates far beyond the Indian American community.
Families and friends dressed in bright, glittering clothing for the festivities, which mark the new year and symbolize the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Fireworks lit up the night sky as the celebration carried into the evening.
"I like to think of Diwali as a way in which how can we be the light to uplift the world? How can we go back to our families and communities and bring back that goodness, that compassion, and that joy to others?" said Dr. Umangi Shukla, a BAPS public affairs volunteer.
Shukla said the heart of the holiday is inward as much as outward. "The real celebration comes from lighting the light, the Diyas within ourselves," she said, referring to the small oil lamps that give the festival its name. "We're all coming here for the new year, having blessings for our prosperous future, thinking ahead of how we can not only be better for ourselves, our families, and for our communities as well."
She added that the values Diwali celebrates are not confined to one faith. "I think the values of Diwali are universal. They cross religious backgrounds. There's one for all communities to learn from, and that's what can we bring from the light ourselves to others," Shukla said.
Dr. Jigar Patel, a BAPS media volunteer, described the holiday as a time for reflection and resolve. "Personally I always think about professional and personal goals, relationships with family and our community, and just finding better ways to serve the family and the community," Patel said.
"The ability to get together with family and reflect on the year past and make some promises to ourselves and to our families and community about living a more positive future," he said. "And so these lights represent our putting our best foot forward for the year ahead of us."
The celebration also highlighted an achievement by BAPS children in India, including some young scholars from the United States. In February, the group set a Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous Hindu text recital, chanting 315 verses entirely from memory. Some of those scriptures were read during Sunday's event.
The Diwali festival continues Monday, Nov. 9, with the Grand Annakut at BAPS in Lilburn at 1 p.m. The Annakut, a ceremonial offering of food, is a central tradition of the Diwali season.
For Lilburn and the surrounding metro Atlanta area, the scale of the gathering reflects the growth of one of the region's most vibrant immigrant communities. Gwinnett County has become a hub for South Asian families, and the BAPS mandir â one of the largest Hindu temples in the state â has become a landmark for cultural and spiritual life.
Organizers said the festival's message of service and unity is meant to extend past the temple grounds. "How can we be the light to uplift the world?" Shukla asked. "That's what Diwali is about."