Candles and Marigolds: Hundreds Gather for Harvard Dharma Diwali Celebration

More than 200 Harvard affiliates gathered Sunday night to celebrate Diwali — the Hindu festival of lights — in the Mather House faculty deans’ residence, which was adorned with candles and marigolds for the occasion.

Guests participated in prayers, wore traditional clothing, and celebrated with food cooked by members of Hindu campus group Harvard Dharma, which hosted the annual event. Mather House Faculty Deans Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan and Amala Mahadevan and Dean of Students Thomas Dunne were all in attendance.

The event began with a series of Hindu prayers known as pujas recited by senior members of Harvard Dharma, as attendees gathered to sit on the heated floor of the residence. Following the pujas was an aarti — a ritual in which candles were offered to Hindu deities, including the goddess Lakshmi.

To Hindu affiliates, celebrating Diwali with friends on campus served as a nostalgic reminder of celebration with family — no matter how far they were from home.

​​“I celebrate Diwali every year, so I’ve been really homesick,” Sitara R. Datwani, an international student spending a year abroad at Harvard, said.

“It's nice to be somewhere where there are a bunch of Indian people I can celebrate with,” she added.

For many Hindu students, the Diwali celebrations at Mather House serve as a staple of their campus experiences.

“I love how it’s almost the same every year,” former Dharma co-president Suhanee Mitragotri ’25 said.

“I think that’s what makes it so special — it’s a tradition,” she added.

Since 2017, the Mather House faculty deans have opened their home to serve as a venue for Diwali, which provides far more space than Dharma’s permanent space in the basement of Canaday Hall.

Recently, Dharma has begun efforts to move to a new location to provide more comfort and space for the group’s growing numbers.

Vander O.B. Ritchie ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor who wrote an op-ed in September about disparities between Christian and Hindu prayer spaces on campus, attended the event with his girlfriend, Neha Kalra ’26.

“It’s really night and day from the basement of Canaday,” Ritchie said.

“I would appreciate if Harvard had a little bit more space,” Kalra said. “But I love the effort.”

To Dharma affiliates, spending time with loved ones on campus was central to the meaning of Diwali.

“Diwali represents something deeper and more significant for our community and for Hindus more broadly,” Dharma Co-President Vishnu S. Emani ’26 said to the crowd.

“It’s a time for community, it’s a time for reflection, and it’s a time for celebration of the people and things that we’re most grateful for,” Emani added.

—Staff writer Aisatu J. Nakoulima can be reached at aisatu.nakoulima@thecrimson.com.