Happy Deepvali - The Festival of Lights
I took girls to "Little India" to learn more about Deepvali.
Technically this holiday doesn't occur until Sunday, with the Stat. on Monday here in Singapore, but being the largest Indian holiday of the year, preparations are well underway. This "Festival of Lights" is the Hindu holiday meant to represent light conquering darkness with various legends symbolizing the struggle.
We noticed that even the MRT station had Deepvali decorations. The busy main street of Little India - Serangoon Road - had a large decorative arch over the road and smaller bright arches down the road as far as we could see, and we walked about 15 minutes down the road from the first arch.
After noting that the Hawker Centre is right beside the MRT, we proceeded to the Deepvali Festival Village for a little souvenir shopping. We were awed by the hanging garlands - flowers or bead or animals with their little bells.
Even MsI was completely captivated by the overload of senses: Bright colours and different textures everywhere you looked - from the floor we were walking down - to the ceiling overhead. There were flashing lights and glowing neon. New smells for us too.
We made very slow progress through the market. MsI was in the stroller and the other 2 kids were stopping to see something every few steps. I vowed never to take a stroller here again, then I noticed on the way out the "No Prams" sign. Oops - if someone had pointed that out I would have gladly carried MsI. It's definitely too crowded for strollers even on a weekday morning.
MsE and MsC each got henna done on one hand. They sat so still and then had to make sure not to bump their hands until the henna was dry. They made it about 20 minutes before they asked me to wipe it off. It's not as dark as it could be, but they marvelled over the fact that the designs didn't wipe off like face paint does.
We bought a few snack bags on our way out of the Market. The "chip" bags all appeared to be gluten and dairy free. My favorite were the "Chataka Pataka" (rice and corn sticks). They were the same texture as Cheesies. There were spicy enough that the kids kept fighting for the water bottles, but mild enough that they kept snacking on them.
After the Market, we strolled down the street to visit the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. It was built in 1855 and is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. The temple stands out with the gods all over it's roof, sandwiched between the corner of the busy road and the modern Hilton Hotel. Even the baby took her shoes off to enter the temple. I made sure all our shoulders and knees were covered even though I saw a number of people leaving in shorts and tank-tops.
MsI found the temple "a little scary" at first. MsE was eyes wide with her fingers in her mouth. The kids were quiet and we tried to stay out of the way as we wandered through. It was pretty crowded both with tourists and devotees.
We saw monks giving devotees handfuls of rice. We passed by the various alters with offering of food and flowers in front of them. We saw the Sesame Lamp Preparation Area. MsI called them "fireworks;" I told her this was more like candles.
After about 20 minutes we had to leave because the temple was closing viewings until later in the day. MsC was upset that we had to leave already. I was surprised that she hadn't seen enough. We had walked leisurely though all the areas, but we hadn't stopped to study anything in great detail. It was more of an experience of just being in the temple. There is so much detail in the architecture and designs you could spend a long time here.
We got caught in the rain after that and headed to the Hawker Centre for lunch. I don't do hawker centres alone with the kids very often. Buying food from separate stalls, pushing a huge stroller, carrying trays of boiling hot food, trying to snag a table for 4, people everywhere, keeping track of the 3 kids, one of mine begging for a treat while the other is crying they're hungry and don't know what to eat - and just me.
About one minute into the Hawker Centre, I bought one order of chicken rice for 2 of the girls to share. When the order came up I realized MsC couldn't carry the tray, because it came with a bowl of hot broth. Now we needed a table fast. We grabbed the first one we could find and plunked ourselves down. It was in a bit of an odd spot on a corner, with mostly drink stalls. I couldn't leave the kids to go find food for myself now. Juice stalls sell fruit though, so the kids added to lunch with a bunch of watermelon. I spotted a soup stall within sight that was bringing the soup out to the tables. Usually you need to stand there and wait for your order to be cooked and served up. I was able to pop there, pay and plop back down at our table. I didn't get what I really wanted to eat, but I did get to eat.
If I had been thinking I would have ordered 2 or 3 orders of chicken rice, rather than letting everyone pick from different stalls. A few bites into my soup, someone requested the bathroom, so we ate fast, dug out our change ($0.60 total) to pay for entrance to the toilets and buy a pack of the tissues to use as toilet paper. On our way out we spotted all the amazing Indian food stalls. I messaged Jonathan at work to say we really need to come here to eat again. He hasn't been to Little India yet, and Indian food is our favorite!
Leaving Little India MsC wondered about the writing we had seen everywhere. It's very beautiful in appearance. It was obviously not English. She asked was it "Mandarin?" "Malay?" "Japanese?" I told her I was pretty sure it was the same language that her best friend's Mom speaks. "Oh, Hindi," she replied.