California may change into the most recent U.S. state to designate Diwali as an official statewide vacation.
Final week the California Legislature handed Meeting Invoice 268, which might add Diwali, also referred to as Deepavali and the Hindu “Competition of Lights,” to the state’s official vacation record.
The Meeting invoice would authorize group faculties and public colleges to shut on Diwali. State staff could be allowed to elect to take the break day; sure group school and public faculty staff could be given time without work with pay underneath the proposed regulation.
California now has 11 state holidays, together with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day.
To ensure that the invoice to change into a regulation Gov. Gavin Newsom should signal it earlier than Oct. 12. A consultant for Newsom couldn’t instantly be reached for touch upon the invoice.
“Designating Diwali as an official state vacation not solely acknowledges the competition’s non secular and historic significance however will higher allow these all through the Indian diaspora and past to participate in one of many world’s oldest non secular holidays,” stated Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José), who launched the invoice.
Diwali is well known over the course of 5 days and marks the start of the brand new 12 months within the Hindu calendar, in line with the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum of Asian Artwork. The vacation is historically celebrated after the 12 months’s final harvest in both October or November by Hindus and Indians throughout the Indian diaspora.
Festivities encompass honoring the goddess of prosperity and abundance, Lakshmi.
Individuals invite the goddess to enter and bless their houses, companies, temples and different public areas by putting rows of lights inside these areas, in line with the Hindu American Basis.
It’s additionally a time to acknowledge vital relationships, which is why celebrations embrace visits with household, buddies and others locally and exchanging items or sweets.
Diwali will start on Oct. 20 this 12 months.
Shakeel Syed, govt director of the South Asian Community of Southern California, stated if handed the invoice is one other step within the path of recognizing the Hindu group particularly and the South Asian group generally for a serious annual non secular occasion.
“It’s a recognition and illustration definitely for the second and third generations of this diaspora [so they can] really feel a part of society somewhat than a hyphenated model of society, particularly in colleges and faculties,” Syed stated.
California has the nation’s largest South Asian inhabitants, with Los Angeles being residence to the fourth largest such inhabitants of any metropolitan space, in line with the South Asian Community.
Pennsylvania was the primary U.S. state to designate Diwali as an official vacation in 2024; nevertheless, colleges authorities places of work and companies aren’t required to shut in observance, CBS Information reported.
This 12 months, Connecticut turned the second so as to add the occasion to its official vacation record.
The New Jersey Division of Schooling permits college students to look at Diwali, that means they are often absent from class to have a good time. In New York Metropolis, public colleges are closed on Diwali, an training regulation that was enacted in 2023.
“These initiatives actually negate and mitigate the very pervasive concept of seeing immigrants as everlasting foreigners on this nation solely due to their colour or language,” Syed stated. “So I applaud the California Legislature in sending a message to the nation that we’re a nation of immigrants, so any which method that we are able to have a good time that facet is nice for everybody.”
