Dev Deepawali: Binding India’s spirituality and divinity
Being presented as the “Festival of Lights for the Gods”, Dev Deepawali is one of the most special events that Varanasi celebrates.
The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) will be held in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath jointly launched a dedicated website for the 21-23 January event here on Saturday.
Swaraj said the event had been postponed by a few days this time around after many non-resident Indians said they wanted it to be held around the Kumbh festival starting 15 January and also because they desired to attend Republic Day celebrations in the country.
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After the main event, participants will be taken to Allahabad for the Kumbh on 24 January and then head to Delhi by a special Pravasi Bharti train for the Republic Day parade.
The UP CM said that efforts were being made to showcase the “Athithi Devo Bhava” culture of Varanasi.
Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth will be chief guest for the main event while Norway leader Himanshu Gulati and New Zealand MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will be special guests for the 21 January Youth PBD event.
The event is being hosted by Uttar Pradesh Government in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs. Its theme will be “Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India”.
PBD is traditionally celebrated every year in India on 9 January. The day also commemorates the return of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in Mumbai (then Bombay) on 9 January 1915.
The day is celebrated to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community to the development of India.
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