Diwali Celebrations at Northampton High School

With the Diwali celebrations now over for 2025, in the Senior School, we rounded off our own observance with an assembly. We were treated to a wonderful overview of the festival from our FemSoc students, from across the year groups, and the girls shared their own experiences of this year’s festivities. We were also delighted by a special performance of Ram Ayenge, by Nirali in Year 11, who played the Harmonia and sang the story to us. Here’s what our students had to say about the celebrations:

Lillia, Year 13

Diwali, often called the Festival of Lights, is a significant yearly celebration that generally takes place around October or November. It primarily symbolises the triumph of good over evil and the transformation of darkness into light. While Diwali is predominantly associated with Hinduism, variations of the festival are also joyously observed in other religions, notably Jainism and Sikhism. While the core message of the victory of light over darkness remains the same, each religion marks the occasion by commemorating different historical events and stories that demonstrate the victory of dharma (religious and moral order) over adharma.

Although Diwali is predominantly associated with Hinduism, variations of the festival are also observed in religions like Jainism (Jay-ni-zm) and Sikhism. Whilst celebrations are shared across these religions, they each mark different historical events and stories demonstrating the victory of light over darkness and dharma (religious and moral order) over adharma (not being in accordance with dharma).

In Jainism, Diwali is celebrated in observance of ‘Mahavira Nirvana Divas’ (Muh-haa-veer Nirvana Dee-vass) which is the physical death of Lord Mahavir and the day he reached Moksha, making a path for others to follow. Jainism celebrates this festival with similar practices to the Hindu Diwali, such as lighting lamps. However the focus remains the dedication to Mahavira.

In Sikhism, Diwali is said to highlight 3 events in Sikh history: 

• The founding of the city of Amritsar (um-rit-zer) in 1577,
•  Guru Hargobind’s (har-go-bin-d) release from prison and arrival at the Golden Temple in Amritsar alongside 52 rajas (ra-jass) or kings that he is believed to have released.
• and the day in 1738 that Bhai Mani Singh (an 18th century Sikh scholar) became a martyr for refusing to convert to Islam.

Miley, Year 13

The country where Diwali is most commonly and widely celebrated is India, where it is one of the largest and most significant national festivals.However, due to a large global Indian diaspora, Diwali is also celebrated with immense enthusiasm and often recognised as an official public holiday in many other countries. We explored a few expected Diwali celebration areas as well as a few you might not have thought of:

• In India, Diwali is the biggest celebration of the year. Homes are decorated with rows of lamps called diyas, colourful rangoli patterns, and strings of lights. Families pray to the goddess Lakshmi for wealth and good fortune, wear new clothes, and enjoy fireworks and sweets together.
• In Nepal, the festival is known as Tihar. It lasts five days, and each day honours something different, even animals like crows, dogs, and cows are worshipped. The final day celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters, when sisters bless their brothers with colourful tikas and gifts.
• In Sri Lanka, mainly the Tamil Hindu community celebrates Diwali. People light lamps, visit temples, prepare traditional sweets, and see it as a time to forgive, renew friendships, and begin again with positivity.

Olivia, Year 13

• In Mauritius, Diwali is a national holiday. Families clean and decorate their homes, light diyas, and share food and sweets with neighbours. The festival brings together people of all religions in a spirit of unity and happiness.
• In Malaysia, Diwali is called Hari Deepavali. It is also a public holiday, and people begin the day with temple prayers before celebrating with family and friends. Homes are lit with oil lamps, and you’ll often hear the greeting, “Selamat Hari Deepavali,” which means “Happy Diwali.”
• In Singapore, the streets of Little India shine with colourful lights and decorations. There are markets, parades, and cultural performances, and families gather to pray, eat, and celebrate together. It’s one of the most vibrant festivals of the year.
• In Fiji, Diwali is a public holiday celebrated by all communities. People decorate their homes with lights and rangoli designs, visit friends and neighbours, and share festive foods. The festival represents peace and togetherness across different cultures.
• In Guyana, Diwali is also a national holiday. Families light diyas, say prayers, and gather for special meals. One of the most exciting traditions is the Diwali Motorcade, where vehicles are decorated with lights and driven through the streets in celebration.
• In Trinidad and Tobago, Diwali was introduced by Indian indentured labourers and has become a major cultural event. Families and communities gather for prayers, lighting ceremonies, and the famous Divali Nagar, a “Village of Lights” filled with music, food, and performances.

Diwali, in all these countries, carries the same message — the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, reminding us to share hope, kindness, and joy wherever we are.

Nirali, Year 11

Diwali in Northampton:

The Diwali lights switch on is organised by IHWO. It is a big celebration where many people from the community come together. One of the key features of the celebration is the stalls where local businesses and charities such as the hope centre come and sell things like food and jewellery on the square. They have food stalls for things like dosa to waffles and they do a free henna stall.

One of the biggest highlights of the Diwali lights switch on is the parade that happens beforehand. Starting the parade is a float where some children get the experience of lifetime dressing up as Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman. The children, all dressed up, lead the parade on a decorated lorry, waving at spectators.  What follows the lorry is truly amazing, there are dancers followed by a massive diya lantern. Lots of schools make lanterns that they hold during the parade. There are huge mechanical puppets in the form of Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Hannumen, Lakshmi and Raven as well as an elephant and a bird. There are dhol players, steel drum players and dancers from Northampton College. They all parade around town centre and end up back at the market square where the kids leading the parade go on stage before the dignitaries speeches and the official lights switch on. 

Throughout the day there are performances on stage, these are made up of various dance schools, local community groups, siblings and individuals all showcasing their dancing, singing and live instruments skills. This year there was even a live band and a dhol drummers group entertaining everyone. The stage show is where there are also cheque presentations to charities, trophy handouts to rangoli competition winners and the night ends with dignitaries speeches and the official countdown to the lights switch on and an announcement of next year’s dates. So if you want to see it for yourself come and join us at Northampton Market Square on 31 October 2026. 

Preschool and Nursery

In the Junior School, our youngest pupils in Preschool and Nursery spent the weeks surround Diwali learning all about Diwali and why it’s celebrated.