Hi, today I am going to tell you what I did for Diwali. For us, Diwali started on Friday, November 14th and ended on Monday, November 18th. First Day of Diwali The first day was “Naraka Chathurdasi.” I woke up early and brushed my teeth. My mom put tilak on my forehead. Then, she applied oil to all the family members. After that, I took an oil bath. Then, I prayed to god. Next, my dad, my sister, and I burnt firecrackers. On this day we celebrate Krishna and Satyabhama kill Narakasura. That means we pray to Lord Krishna and Lord Krishna’s third wife. Second Day of Diwali On the second day of Diwali we did the Lakshmi puja. This is the main festival. Goddess Lakshmi is believed to enter homes and bless people with a good fortune. Tiny oil diyas, candles, and electric lights are placed around houses. We woke up early and prayed to Goddess Lakshmi. My mom cooked yummy food. My family and I ate the food. In the evening my dad, my sister, and I burnt firecrackers. Third Day of Diwali We celebrate King Bali’s promise story on the third day of Diwali. Lord Vishnu took the form of Vamana avatar on this day and requested 3 steps of land. Looking at the size of Vamana, he promised. Vaman turned big. The first step covered the whole space. The second step covered the whole universe, including Earth. But, for the third space there was no space. So, King Bali said keep the foot on my head. That’s how King Bali fulfilled his promise. At my home My friend came to my house. His name was Eshan. My mom made delicious food for us. My mom made Puri, Sagu, Gulab Jamun, Rice and Sambar. We also had sajige. After lunch, Eshan, his dad, my sister, my dad, and I went to three different parks. The parks are: Tribeca Park, Lincoln Park, and the Lake Park. In the evening we burnt firecrackers. Eshan and his family went home. Fourth Day of Diwali On this day we do the Govardhan Puja. In my native place on this day we celebrate by worshiping cows. That was a great Diwali, right? We learned facts about Diwali and you got to see how I celebrate Diwali at my house.
family tradition
Flash Contest #26, December 2020: Create a piece of art in any style, inspired by a family tradition – our winners and their work
Our December Flash Contest was based on our weekly creativity prompt #130, a wonderful creative challenge issued by our Stone Soup intern, Anya Geist, asking you to make a piece of art inspired by a family tradition. Needless to say, given the time of year, we received lots of entries based on holidays, including Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Navratri, plus some regular family traditions that go on all the year round. As well as encountering a diverse range of traditions, we also received works of art in many, many styles and media: collage, drawing, oil on canvas, knitting, models made in paper and clay, paper cut outs and digital art. It was really exciting to see the range of materials and cultures represented in these stories from your families. Well done to everyone who entered, and thank you for bringing us so much holiday cheer! And thank you Anya, for a great seasonal prompt! In particular, we congratulate our Honorable Mentions and our Winners, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners Rangoli by Prisha Aswal, 8, Portland, OR Family of Pirates by Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7, Nicosia, Cyprus Knitting up Memories by Audrey Hou, 11, Portland, OR Chinese New Year Windmill by Sophia Li, 9, Redwood City, CA A Paper Chinese New Year by Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY Honorable Mentions Chinese New Year by Yuxuan Jiang, 11, Portland, OR Secret Santa with my Sisters by Lucinda Mancini, 8, Glenside, PA Soaring in the Sky by Jessie Zhang, 9, Portland, OR Christmas Chaos by Joycelyn Zhang, 10, San Diego, CA Paper Art by Alexis Zou, 13, Lake Oswego, OR Prisha Aswal, 8Portland, OR Rangoli Prisha Aswal, 8 In our family, we celebrate a lot of traditions from all the cultures. One of my favorite festivals is Navratri, and during this festival we have a tradition of making Rangoli. Navratri occurs just before Diwali (the festival of Lights) and is celebrated to mark the victory of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. A Rangoli is a colourful design, made on the floor near the entrance of the house, to welcome guests. Usually people make it with powder colors or colored chalks. It is usually made in a circle and then a pattern is repeated to complete the circle using bright colors. I love making Rangoli with my parents. For this project, I chose to make a Rangoli on canvas. Since Rangolis are usually round, I really wanted to use Earth as my design . It was not easy for me to make it perfectly, so I decided to go with an outline and chose red color to fill the land because red is the color of Love. I also put an oil lamp in the center as Light means knowledge and drives away darkness. I added Namaste, Hola, Bonjour, Ni Hao and Hello, to show that even though people speak different languages , their feelings are the same. Around my Earth, I used bright and colorful patterns and then colored the rest of the canvas in midnight blue to show the universe. Rangoli for Navratri by Prisha Aswal, 8, Portland, OR Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7Nicosia, Cyprus Family of Pirates Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7 Due to quarantine we have developed a family tradition of dress up. In this one we are dressing up as pirates, to hunt for treasure and explore the seas. . . Family of Pirates by Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7, Nicosia, Cyprus Audrey Hou, 11Portland, OR Knitting up Memories Audrey Hou, 11 Knitting up Memories by Audrey Hou, 11, Portland, OR Sophia Li, 9Redwood City, CA Chinese New Year Windmill Sophia Li, 9 I made this for fun and gave it to my mom. It’s a Chinese New Year windmill that means good luck and health. I wrote thank you in Chinese on it and drew a dragon. Chinese New Year Windmill by Sophia Li, 9, Redwood City, CA Serena Lin, 10Scarsdale, NY A Paper Chinese New Year Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY My family is Chinese and we celebrate Chinese New Year every year. My artwork is made by hand with paper and clay, representing Chinese New Year. A Paper Chinese New Year by Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY
