The New Year in Indian style was celebrated at KBSU

On October 24, 2022, more than 500 students from India celebrated Diwali, the main Indian and Hindu holiday, which is considered an analogue of the European New Year and has become traditional at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov, where the Indus people have been studying en masse since 2017.

«Diwali or Deepavali (Skt. «fiery cluster») is held in the format of a multi-day colorful «fiery» festival for five days. It marks the victory of the forces of light, creation and knowledge over chaos, destruction and ignorance. Hindus believe that on this day Prince Rama defeated the evil demon Ravana and took back his kidnapped wife Sita. In honor of the victory of light over darkness, people light thousands of lamps. And the day after Diwali comes the New Year.

For the holiday, Indians put on new clothes, tidy up the house, decorate the entrance with flower garlands, and install lamps at the doors.

In addition to physical purity, spiritual purity is required, the rejection of vices and passions. Lust, greed, anger, self-centeredness, excessive love for the delights of the material world are not appropriate these days. To harmonize all levels of consciousness, meditation is carried out,” — Elena Sherieva, assistant director of the campus for work with foreign students, curator of the “India” community, assistant of the department of Russian language and general education disciplines for foreign students, told about the holiday.

And, of course, what is Diwali without incendiary Indian dances and songs? The students had a lot of fun, dressed in their national clothes, danced a lot to Indian music, which has long become a favorite in our country. Not without the traditional fireworks at this holiday, which was launched within the campus of the university under the strictest security measures and with the general rejoicing of Indian students.

The head of the Indian diaspora of the university, a 6th year student of the Faculty of Medicine of the KBSU, Srivastava Harsh Vatsal, thanked the leadership of the university and the Higher School of International Education for their attention and responsiveness towards all foreign students and for respect for the traditions of other peoples whose representatives study at the university.