Diwali poems and activities

Add to My Folder

By Brenda Williams — children’s author, poet and literacy advisor

Shed some light on this colourful festival with activities and two original poems

The Hindu festival of Diwali (also celebrated by Sikhs and Jains) is a time for celebrating harvest. It is also dedicated to several legendary gods and goddesses. Seen today essentially as a ‘festival of light’, it symbolises the triumph of light over darkness, goodness over evil and ignorance dispelled by knowledge. The word ‘Diwali’ or ‘Divali’ is from the word Deepavali – ‘deepa’ meaning light and ‘avali’ meaning a row (of lights). Some believe this stems from the Hindu legend of Rama, who was welcomed home with a row of lights to show the way.