Diwali celebration lights up Concord church

A celebration of Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – drew more than 100 people to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord on Sunday evening.

In a packed hall, people dug into trays of Nepali food, clapped along to songs and danced to traditional music from the band Himalayan Dreams.

Obhed Giri of Manchester was there with his kids. He was born in Bhutan but came to the U.S. as a child. He has few memories of Diwali from before that time, and wants to make sure his children can experience it. His daughter, Srisha, was one of three school-aged girls emceeing the festivities.

“I want them to learn the culture, background, where their dad and mom were from,” he said.

Suraj Budathoki of Manchester, who helped organize the event, described Diwali as a time when faraway family members come together, bless one another and celebrate with food, music and dance.

He said organizers made a point of involving young people in the event, to make sure these traditions pass on to children growing up in the U.S.

“When we do not preserve it, our kids, they don’t know it,” he said. “So we feel like it’s important to celebrate this, and also teach our kids, the younger generation, what it is about.”

Budathoki, who is running for a State House seat in Manchester, said he came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2009. Originally from Bhutan, his family was among the tens of thousands of ethnically Nepali citizens expelled by the Bhutanese government in the early 1990s. Aged 9 at the time, he spent the next 19 years in a refugee camp in Nepal.

“They thought that we are different and felt a threat from this, you know, different culture,” he said. That included their Nepali language and Hindu traditions. “And now when we get this opportunity to celebrate, we love to do this and we want to continue to celebrate this Diwali.”

The emcees began the festivities by describing Diwali as symbolizing “the triumph of light over darkness” and inviting Concord Mayor Byron Champlin and a minister from the church to light a pair of traditional oil lamps, or panas.

That was followed with a performance by Harimaya Adhikari and Sagar Khatiwada, two classically trained musicians from Nepal who are on the faculty of the Concord Community Music School; a dance performance by Bipana Begha; and traditional music from the New England-based band Himalayan Dreams.

Thursday officially marks Diwali.

Vijay Bhujel said that in Nepal, it’s a multi-day festival, with houses decked out in lights and flowers.

Bhujel is from Bhutan and lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for two decades before settling in Concord in 2012. He said Concord’s been very welcoming, including the community’s support for events like this.

“When we celebrate, they come together,” he said.