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Diwali: Sweets, lights and celebrations at Neasden Temple

Ruth ComerfordLondon
BBC Diwali celebrations at Brent TempleBBC
Celebrations got under way this weekend at the Brent temple - the largest Hindu temple in the capital

More than half a million people living in London will be celebrating Diwali and the Hindu new year in the next few days.

BBC London visited Neasden Temple - the largest Hindu temple in the capital - as celebrations got under way this weekend.

Prayers were offered, music was played and a fireworks display rounded out Sunday at the temple also known as BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Brent, north-west London.

Known as the festival of lights, Diwali is a celebration of the spiritual triumph of light over darkness, and good over evil. It lasts for five days and is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

The Hindu new year falls on Tuesday, so the celebrations are only just beginning.

An array of traditional sweets sit on gold platters in among small pink and white lights.
Offering sweets to the gods invites good luck and blessings to families and friends
A blue and yellow sign reads Happy New Year and Happy Diwali
Neasden Temple is celebrating the five days of Diwali, culminating in new year
A woman in a pink and gold sari sits in front of a shrine to Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god.
Diwali lasts for five days and is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains
A Hindu deity is at the centre of a gold shrine.
Diwali is a celebration of the spiritual triumph of light over darkness, and good over evil

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