British Columbians gear up for annual Diwali celebration

British Columbia's vibrant South Asian Canadian community is preparing for the upcoming Diwali celebration by sharing delicious food and lighting lamps.

Diwali, also referred to as Deepavali, is an annual festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains around the globe. Although the festival officially begins on November 1 according to the Hindu calendar, the five-day event often involves weeks of preparations and festivities for those involved.

The traditional significance of Diwali varies among cultures; for instance, Hindus observe it as the return of the deity Rama after his long exile. However, a common theme across all celebrations is the victory of good over evil.

Participants typically share sweets and delicacies, wear new clothes while celebrating with family, and illuminate their homes with lamps, candles, and fireworks.

In Metro Vancouver, sweet shops and South Asian supermarkets were bustling with customers preparing for the holiday on Tuesday. Among them was Ravi Dhot, who traveled from Nelson, B.C., to visit his parents for the first time in six years.

"Our parents just came from India. Actually, we just came; we went to the airport just to pick them up," he told CBC News at a Surrey supermarket. "They could have landed in Castlegar. But we thought we need to bring all these things. Why not make it a trip, right?"

Nelson, located about 420 kilometers east of Vancouver, lacks any Indian sweet shops, according to Dhot, who mentioned that his wife requested a variety of items.

"She can't travel. She's seven months pregnant in Nelson," he said, smiling. "Yes, she's waiting ... I think she's got a lot of cravings for this kind of food right now. It's going to last me like 15 days for me and my wife, so yeah, that's going to be one of the special trips for me." He added that he was also looking to purchase diyas, small clay lamps traditionally lit with ghee, a South Asian clarified butter.

Shiva Reddy, a sommelier at the Michelin-starred Burdock & Co restaurant in Vancouver, explained that ghee is commonly used in various religious rituals as well as in many traditional sweets purchased during Diwali.

"You'll see it in so many of the beautiful traditional foods that we have, as well as the candies that you'll see," Reddy shared with Amy Bell, the guest host of CBC's On The Coast. "I grew up with it. It was a very fundamental part of my mom's cooking and festivities as well."

Deepak Aggarwal, manager of Aggarwal Sweets in Surrey, noted that Diwali represents the busiest time of year for his business.

Most of his customers purchase delicacies like gulab jamun, kaju barfi, and milk cake, but Aggarwal mentioned that there has been an increase in sales of dry nuts like cashews and almonds as well.

"People consider nuts healthier and more nutritious, so they're buying sweets plus nuts to distribute to some other communities who don't eat sweets or they don't know much about it," he explained.