Biden to host Diwali reception at White House

US President Joe Biden on Monday welcomed the start of the five-day Diwali festival – the celebration that symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world, especially in India.

Biden kicked off the celebrations at the White House by lighting a small prayer lamp called a diya. Several hundred guests — including South Asian administrators, elected officials, prominent community members and others — wore silk gowns and embroidered gowns and crowded the vast and chandelier-filled East Room of the White House for the occasion.

But Biden took the opportunity to shine a light on someone who wasn't in the crowd: Vice President Kamala Harris, the most prominent South Asian American who was busy campaigning as the election quickly approached. Her late mother emigrated to the United States from what was then the Indian city of Madras, now Chennai.

“One of the things that connected us was the role each of our mothers played in our lives,” Biden said. “They came from different places, different generations, different lives, but they shared one core belief about America: Only in America is everything possible. Only in America.”

And, he said, after hundreds of years of struggle, South Asian Americans have made the United States their home.

“Diwali is celebrated openly and proudly here at the White House,” he said. “And by the way, this isn’t my house. This is your house.”

According to the Indian government, the festival begins on the darkest night of the year, October 31, according to the Hindu lunar calendar. The day is a national holiday.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, visibly moved by the occasion, spoke about how his parents' faith brightened their path after they immigrated to the United States from India.

“This is the message of Diwali,” he said. “Always choose light, whatever the future may bring. Whatever the future holds, it is our light and our passionate commitment to one another that will lead us to a better day.”

And from afar, International Space Station Commander Sunita Williams also joined in on the celebrations. Her father emigrated to the United States from India; her mother, from Slovenia. She spoke to the crowd at the White House via a recorded message from 260 miles above the Earth.

“On this day, I especially think of my father, who immigrated to the United States from India,” she said. “He preserved and shared his cultural roots by telling us about Diwali and other Indian festivals. Diwali is a time of joy as goodness prevails in the world. I am so grateful to have grown up in a multicultural household where our parents encouraged us to seek opportunities and reach for the stars.”

Monday's reception is the latest in a series of presidential Diwali celebrations that coincide with President George W. Bush's administration. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump also held Diwali celebrations.

The festival marks the return of the mythical Lord Ram, referred to in the Sanskrit scripture as the reincarnation of the god Vishnu, from exile after 14 years. The people of his kingdom of Ayodhya lit lamps to light his way home – a tradition that the merry-makers continue today with lamps and pyrotechnics. According to the US Census Bureau, Indian Americans are the largest non-mixed Asian group in the United States. Nearly 4.4 million people claim to be of 100% Indian origin.

Today, revelers around the world mark the occasion with new clothes, extravagant decorations and massive amounts of sugary sweets.

This year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the main proponent of a Hindu nationalist movement called Hindutva, saw a candy named in his honor. The so-called “Modi Laddu” – the Modi Ball – consists of saffron, clarified butter, pistachios, almonds and rose water.

However, the observance of this holiday in India also brings with it a certain bitterness.

Modi was the driving force behind the reconstruction of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya, the place where Ram is said to have been born. In 1992, a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque at the site, sparking deadly religious riots that were India's worst since independence and left more than 2,000 people dead. Modi spent years raising money to build a massive Hindu temple on the ruins. He opened it at the beginning of the year and said, “Today our ram has come.”