
DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711090057

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   87 lines

HINDUS CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR

It's not easy playing God.

Little Ankit Gupta had a simple, but central, role in the Diwali celebrations at the Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads Saturday night: portraying Lord Krishna, the child god.

Dressed in shimmering copper-colored pants and a gold crown, Gupta rocked back and forth while four girls and two boys danced beside him on stage. Gupta's role didn't require him to memorize any long speeches or complicated dance steps. But for a 4-year-old, just keeping his composure during a 10-minute dance number was a challenge.

Children took center stage during the temple's celebration of Diwali, India's most important holiday.

More than 40 children - from tots to teen-agers - performed traditional dances and pantomimes for the 600 worshipers in attendance. The festivities included traditional dances, a fashion show, sparklers and fireworks.

It all ended with food - lots of food.

For Hampton Roads' Hindu community, the holiday season starts early. Last month the temple celebrated Garba, which honors the goddess Durga. Diwali (pronounced di-VA-li) is the festival of lights, a holiday celebrated in all regions of India. Today marks the beginning of the Hindu new year in many regions of India.

``This is like our Christmas,'' said Chandra Dahiya, who served as the evening's master of ceremonies.

In some ways, Diwali combines elements of Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's Day. Diwali celebrates the coming of a king and god, as well as the commemoration of the triumph of good over evil.

``It celebrates when King Rama went to Sri Lanka and defeated the demon Ravana and killed him,'' Dahiya said. ``People celebrated when he came back. They lit the lamps with oil. As a king, he had been banished for 14 years in the wilderness.''

In India, homes and villages are illuminated with flickering oil lamps, Dahiya said.

Saturday's festivities were the first Diwali celebrations in the community's new temple, which was dedicated in an elaborate, week-long ceremony in June. The original temple burned to the ground in September 1994. It took the congregation's 2,000 members 2 1/2 years to raise enough money to rebuild a second temple at the same location, off South Dominion Boulevard.

The Diwali festivities were steeped in tradition. Girls wore ankle bracelets that jingled with silver bells. They wore flowing saris of raw silk drenched in the colors of tropical flowers and embroidered in silver and gold.

And in Chesapeake, Diwali also is celebrated with the resources available in America.

In India, classical dancers paint their hands and feet with dye squeezed from crimson leaves. Such leaves are hard to come by in Virginia.

So Praveena Ganni improvised. She used red magic markers instead.

``The dye stays on your hands for about three months,'' said Ganni, a senior at Old Dominion University. ``I'll probably scrub off the magic marker tomorrow.''

For her candle dance, Ganni wore orange and white flowers in her hair, a sari of brilliant fuchsia and green, gold necklaces and spangles above her forehead. Her mother, Vijaya Ganni, helped Praveena fasten gold butterflies to her long braid that extended almost to her knees.

Dressing a college student is easy. Dressing three young daughters took Renuka Verma more than two hours.

Nine-year-old Jiyati Verma said she liked her costume, hand-made by her mother.

``It's fun, but it sort of itches,'' Jiyati said. ``I like dancing. My mom passed on to me what she learned when she was little.''

Chandra Dahiya's role was time-consuming as well, said her husband, Ram, who is temple chairman.

``She's put in so much work, I've been without food a couple times,'' Ram Dahiya joked.

For the grand finale, girls paraded on stage bearing lights called diyas.

``In olden times, they were earthen-ware jars of oil; now we use clay bowls and candles,'' Chandra Dahiya said. ``It's like when the fat lady sings. When the diyas come in, it's all over.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

At the Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads, Jitna Rana, 10, right, and

Sohini Sengupta, 6, both of Elizabeth City, celebrate Diwali.

Photo

IAN MARTIN/ The Virginian-Pilot

Backstage at the Hindu Temple, Puspita Panigrahi helps her daughter

Babita, 11, of Virginia Beach with her costume before her

performance in the Diwali celebration. The holiday celebrates the

coming of a king and god, as well as the commemoration of the

triumph of good over evil.