The Worcester Art Museum welcomed visitors for a free day of dance, music, art and family activities Sunday, Nov. 1, partnering with the India Society of Worcester to celebrate Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.
Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is one of Hinduism’s most important celebrations, with origins dating back centuries.
Arathi Cowlagi, a member of the society’s Cultural Committee who chaired the event, said the celebration was in its 11th year at the museum. According to the India Society of Worcester, the community day typically draws more than 1,000 visitors annually.
“The audience is always appreciative,” Cowlagi told the Worcester Guardian. “We always are open to learning new things from each other, the different cultures and different places we come from.”
The event ran for more than six hours and included a lamp-lighting ceremony and performances of Indian classical and folk dance and music. Educational programming included a tour of the museum’s Indian art collection and a presentation on the impact of colonization on Indian folk art.
Highlights of the museum’s collection include a Chola-period sculpture of Parvati, the 12th-century bronze Shiva with Uma and Skanda, and early Buddhist sculptures. Illustrated manuscript pages include folios from the Tutinama, or Tales of a Parrot, and the Tarikh-i Alfi, or The History of One Thousand Years.
The museum’s modern Indian holdings also include prints and paintings from the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, featuring works by Maqbool Fida Husain, K. Laxma Goud and Thota Vaikuntam.
The historical research group Bayt al-Asad presented live combat demonstrations featuring historical reenactors, along with an interactive display of Indo-Persian arms and armor. Elsewhere, visitors could receive henna designs, play chess and learn about India.
For Cowlagi, the museum partnership is part of a larger effort to share Indian traditions with the surrounding community.
“Everybody, you know, just puts in their time and effort,” she said of the society’s volunteers.
The India Society of Worcester was founded in 1963 by a group of about two dozen international students at Clark University. Diwali was among the celebrations that brought the small group together in its early years.
Since then, the organization has grown to more than 4,000 members, with volunteers regularly contributing their time to cultural events and community partnerships.
Those partnerships extend beyond the art museum and include collaborations with New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill and the Worcester Red Sox, including a Heritage Night at the ballpark.
The society also holds art and harvest festivals at its India Center in Shrewsbury. In all, the organization estimates it hosts more than 100 events annually.
“We do multiple events. We do festivals of India, we have an art festival, we have a harvest festival,” Cowlagi said. “Right from spring, all the way to the Indian Christmas in December, our calendar is full and anyone who wants to join us is free to come and take part in this wonderful community.”
Sam Bishop is a freelance writer and photojournalist licensed through the National Press Photographers Association. Based in New England, his photo and video work regularly appear on cable television stations throughout the Boston metro area. His writing is primarily published in various local and national news outlets. He can be reached at 3bcontact@protonmail.com
