Next Friday, November 5th, is Deepavali, a national holiday here in Malaysia. Deepavali is the Indian festival of lights. It lasts for five days and is celebrated in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Kalom is a form of sand painting and is drawn using rice powder by female members of the family in front of their home. They take several hours to make and are very beautiful. Kolams are thought to bring prosperity to homes.
While Deepavali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light". Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this inner light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (joy or peace).
Selamat Hari Deepavali (Happy Deepavali Day)!
Click here to link to Deepavali on Wikipedia
Eileen and I saw the Indian woman making this Kolam on Sunday when we went out for breakfast. She was not using any tools, just here hands and a bowl of colored rice powder.
A huge peacock surrounded by roses
Close up of the one below
I should have taken this pic from the other side!
Just starting out
Biking through the jungle along the Klang river
This is a school in Bangsar. It was very neat to see and reminded us of the school that Leah taught at in Honduras. The building in the background is my favorite building in KL. It is a telecom company. It looks like a mainsail on a sailboat. Actually, we can see this building from our apartment and when the sun sets behind it, I think of sailing!
This was also at the school
This is the third Indian temple we visited today
After climbing a huge hill in Bangsar, we were able to see the KL Tower and the Petronas towers in the distance. The KL tower is the one that looks like a speared pineapple and the Petronas (twin) towers are just to the right. The Petronas towers used to be the tallest building in the world, still the tallest twin towers in the world.
This guy spoke like zero English. We bought hand made fans for our grandkids. He kept saying Thailand, but he was speking in Bahasa Malaysia. My guess is that he is Malaysian and he procured his goods from Thailand! Eileen is enjoying a Japanese green tea ice cream sandwich. It sounds really weird, but it is quite good!
We rode by this Islamic Mosque in Bangsar Village. We stopped to listen for a little while. The sound coming from the minaret (the tower on the left, behind the tree) was overwhelming. It was so loud but beautiful. Muslims pray five times per day, every day, and it is amplified through loudspeakers at the top of the minaret. We hear this all the time at our apartment as there are probably five mosques within sight from where we live.
Traversing the walkbridge over the train tracks. About 50 steps up and down! 
Rafiq, Eileen's driver and friend sent this Indian feast for us to enjoy. Rafiq's wife and sister prepared this traditional Indian dish, Biryani (steamed basmati rice with spices, meat and vegetables) and delivered it on their way to Malaka where they will celebrate with 60 relatives. Melaka is a port town on the Strait of Melaka, about two hours South of here. We had Jamie's friend Adam over to help us enjoy the meal and to celebrate. It was an awesome meal and are very thankful to Rafiq and his family. Selamat Hari Deepavali.
