Diwali festival casts a light over Carmel

By WYNNE BRUBAKER
news@readthereporter.com

The lights shining within each of us illuminate our futures and dispel our doubts. Carmel’s third annual Diwali celebration on Oct. 10 honored this inner light while bringing together a multicultural community.

Dr. Anita Joshi, Carmel city councilor and chair of the Diwali committee, spoke to The Reporter about what it means to celebrate Diwali.

“Diwali is a festival of lights,” Dr. Joshi said. “It’s celebrated all over India by multiple religious groups: Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists. It is celebrated usually in the fall, but it is on the lunar calendar, so it changes year to year. It is a celebration of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. The idea is to use the diyas – the little tea lights that you see everywhere – to illuminate the space so that there is no darkness. It is to bring light, bring joy, bring family together to celebrate the holiday.”

Food and dancing were only a part of the allure for those attending the festival.

“The decor is gorgeous and well done,” Dr. Joshi said. “We have over 200 performers, 15 different dance teams, and 12 different restaurants and vendors serving authentic Indian food and drinks. We have wonderful cultural arts and crafts activities for the kids. There’s going to be block printing, flower bracelet making, and so much more.

The details in the decorations and vibrant activities brought the Carmel Diwali Festival to life, with a remarkable addition to this year’s festivities.

“This year for the first time, we [sold] a take-home teacup that is printed with our Diwali logo, and it’ll say ‘Carmel Diwali ‘26.’” Dr. Joshi said. “Every year we hope to bring those back to the Diwali celebration as a memento. I also love the Palladiscope show at the end. It’s so gorgeous to see the colors of Diwali lit up on the Palladiscope itself, and I love that end to the celebration with the cold spark fireworks.”

Dr. Joshi and the Carmel Diwali Committee organized the festival to represent aspects of Indian culture in Hamilton County.

“As an American-born woman of Indian heritage, it was important for me to share my culture,” Dr. Joshi said. “I’ve done that all my life with my friends and people who are close to me, and we found that there was a growing community here in Carmel – the Indian diaspora has grown. We thought it was high time that we brought our neighbors together with us to celebrate joy in different ways. We also enjoy all of the other beautiful celebrations like the Christkindlmarkt, and everything else that happens on Carter Green, so to be able to bring another cultural celebration to this space was just really important to me.”

Dr. Joshi said that bringing Diwali to Carmel provided Indian people with a way to connect with their cultural heritage.

“Anytime a culture comes together to celebrate its heritage, it makes people feel proud,” Dr. Joshi said. “It makes people feel seen. It makes people feel excited that they are really a part of the big Carmel community and that their heritage can be celebrated along with everyone else. It’s a really lovely way to bring the Indian community together, and then share that joy with their neighbors.”

However, the Diwali celebration in Carmel is not just for Indian people. Dr. Joshi told The Reporter that the celebration supplied everyone in the community with an opportunity to learn about their neighbors’ culture and traditions.

“This is not at all just for Indian people,” Dr. Joshi said. “This is a celebration of community. And when I say community, it’s not just the Indian community. It’s the entire community of Carmel because Carmel is a very diverse place. It is a place that has many different languages and ethnicities represented, and there are so many people from all over the world that live here. To share in one another’s festivals on a regular basis is super important to get to know your neighbors. These are things that we share as a community, and it binds us together more strongly.”

Along with the community connection, the Carmel Diwali Festival teaches people about Indian cultures.

“It is an opportunity to learn about Indian culture and about this great holiday,” Dr. Joshi said. “You can see so many similarities in how other holidays are celebrated. We all talk about light and food and festivities and dance and music, and that is part of every celebration in every culture. You start to see the similar threads that all bind us together as a community.

If you did not attend this year’s Diwali in Carmel, it will be back in 2027 and The Reporter will have all the details well in advance.

Reporter photos by Wynne BruBaker