With a member of their community missing and the nation still grieving over the Sept. 11 attacks, this year's annual celebration of Diwali Puja, the Hindi New Year, was bittersweet for many.
The event, held in Bodek Lounge at Houston Hall, drew about 200 students, parents and professors.
"This is for the entire community, for everybody to come together," said event co-organizer Gaurav Patel, a College sophomore. "It's learning more about the Hindu faith, if nothing else."
At the beginning and even more so at the end, a sudden silence came over the crowd in remembrance of Anirban Majumdar, who was a last seen on Nov. 2, and all those affected by the terrorist attacks.
College sophomore Unnati Patel appreciated the event, saying, "It was nice to be able to pray on our holiday for all the things that have happened."
Others were impressed with the community appeal of last night's event, which drew different segments of the religion together for prayer and even some networking.
Engineering junior Priya Dasgupta said that the event was a "good way to get connected with the community."
"It's very hard to get a Hindu temple here," Dasgupta added.
Students lent paintings and statues to create a temporary altar in Houston Hall, as they have done in years past, but they reached out to the community even more this time.
"We've learned a lot" since last year, Gaurav Patel said. "This year, we have more volunteers, more organization... and a restaurant is helping us."
Kalind Bakshi, a trustee of the Hindu Samarpam Temple of Philadelphia, performed the rituals of the ceremony in Hindi. During the course of the evening, he recruited students from the audience, explaining and translating what they were doing to the audience.
"When we lose faith, we should repeat shanti [peace] three times," Bakshi said.
South Asia Regional Studies Professor Surendra Gambhir gave his own interpretation of the religion.
"Hinduism is about how to connect to others... how to have respect for human existence," Gambhir said.
The Hindu Students Council and the Young Jains of America organized the event to bring community members together and promote culture on campus.
