Smithsonian To Host Diwali Night

Photo Credit National Museum of … oto by Sonya Pencheva

India-West Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON, DC –The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art will host an evening program on October 24, to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

The “Asia After Dark” event will run from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the museum’s Freer Plaza and is free to the public, the museum said.

The program will feature dance performances, food, curator-led tours, crafts, and a DJ-led dance party to close the night. Last year’s Diwali event at the museum drew more than 5,000 attendees.

Diwali, which spans five days, marks the Hindu new year and is traditionally celebrated after the final harvest of the season. Worshippers honor Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, by lighting homes, temples, and public spaces, as Hindu belief holds that she cannot enter darkness, it noted in a press release.

The National Museum of Asian Art, located on the National Mall, opened in 1923 as the first national art museum in the United States dedicated to Asian art. Its collection includes works from South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the Islamic world, and 19th- and early 20th-century American art. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution, which welcomes 20–30 million visitors annually.