By Kate Lockley, Blacktown City Council
Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, is India’s biggest day of the year, celebrating good triumphing over evil, storytelling and practising religious rituals. The festival title derived from the name of clay lamps lit outside the home, symbolising an inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. Embracing this cultural holiday, Blacktown City Council, known for its diverse community and large Hindu population, has held its annual Diwali Light Competition for 2022 – with the entries not disappointing.
Hosted by Blacktown City Council, the 2022 Diwali Lights Competition – an event that has grown in popularity since its inception in 2017 – has attracted scores of stunning entries.
The competition encourages residents to decorate their homes with lights embracing the ancient festival of Diwali – a five day festival marked by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, celebrating the victory of light over darkness.
Home to a vibrant and multicultural community, Blacktown City has a large Hindu population, with more than 51,000 adherents.
Residents from India comprise the top country of birth in Blacktown City, following Australia, and now make up the fastest-growing migrant community.
Blacktown City Mayor, Tony Bleasdale OAM, said the Diwali Lights Competition provided a fun way for residents of all cultures and faiths to celebrate the festival, which has become an increasingly significant celebration in recent years, alongside the growth in the Indian-Australian population.
“As Mayor, I am extremely proud of our diverse community in Blacktown City, and the Diwali Lights Competition is just one way Council encourages the wider community to come together and connect during this festive occasion,” Mayor Bleasdale said.
“It is wonderful to speak to our residents from the subcontinent and hear their delight at the growing community interest in this special festival.
“These residents have told me of the importance of this competition in fostering a sense of ‘home’, and reminding them of celebrations in their home country.
“With our growing multicultural population, it is so important that we encourage participation in events that are important to our diverse communities and celebrate these occasions as a united City.”
The winners revealed
The 2022 competition saw two properties awarded the prestigious Overall City prize, with judges faced with a high standard of entries across Blacktown City.
Best Street was awarded to Phantom Street in Nirimba Fields, where eight properties decorated their homes.
Best Rangoli –colourful artworks made from sand, flower petals, flour or rice – was awarded to 5 Starling Street, Marsden Park, which also received second place in the Overall City prize.
This year’s top honours were awarded to Jitesh Kumar of Marsden Park and Roneel Kumar of Prospect, who were selected from more than 40 entries. Joint winner Jitesh Kumar said he was thrilled to win, given it was only his second year taking part in the competition.
“I decided to go bigger this year after being named a finalist in last year’s competition,” he said.
“Last year there were only a few houses in our street that would decorate, but this year, we have about 15 homes with lights, and many of them have reached out to me and said I had encouraged them to take part.
“People told me I had the best lights in Elara (Marsden Park), but I never thought I would be number one in Blacktown.”
Jitesh said his stunning display attracted up to 200 visitors every night, with people travelling across Sydney to marvel at his work.
“Diwali is one of the great festivals for us of Hindu faith, so that’s why I wanted to get involved and let everyone know about our festival,” he said.
“People of all religions and cultures come to visit, so it is a great way for people to come together and connect.”
Roneel Kumar’s inspiration for his winning light display was sourced from around the globe, with dazzling lights custom-made during his travels to India and China.
Unlike Christmas lights, Diwali lights are not mass produced, so Roneel took it upon himself to design light motifs featuring the Om, lotus flower and oil lamp symbols.
“All the lights are of Hindu cultural significance. I would see things when I would travel overseas for work, and when I went to India and China, I would put my ideas to paper, but it took many iterations to get it right,” he said.
With the help of his father-in-law, Roneel spent countless weekends decorating the Prospect property, using a large steel structure to erect the lights from. Roneel, a regular and successful competition entrant, said his light decorations began as a small affair more than a decade ago, when he wanted to recreate Fijian Diwali celebrations for his wife.
“When we migrated to Australia 11 years ago, I started small with the lights as my wife would miss the Diwali lights and celebrations we had back home,” he said.
“Now it’s amazing to see Diwali celebrations across Blacktown and Parramatta.
“We have lots of non-Hindus come to appreciate our lights and we have cars queuing with people wanting to take photos of our lights.
“There’s definitely a lot more awareness of Diwali now and Blacktown City is a really multicultural Council, so it’s great to be a part of this. I’m proud to be from Blacktown.”
High stakes: judging the competition
First-time judge Charu Vij, from Indian Link News, said it was amazing to see the commitment of the entrants to decorating their homes.
“The standard of the houses is extremely high, and the joint winners in particular put on an amazing show,” Ms Charu said.
“As a judge, I looked for properties that had a theme, told a story or featured a unique or custom idea.
“One of the winners, for example, had small children who dressed up as gods and goddesses and greeted us on the night, so this was a real stand out and helped set them apart from the competition.”
Ms Charu said it was heartening to see how Diwali had been accepted and adopted by the broader community.
“Diwali is very important for all Indian families and is the biggest festival of the year for us, like Christmas,” Ms Charu said.
“It’s lovely to know Diwali is no longer just an Indian festival and everyone is coming together and celebrating it together.”
Ward Winners
Ward 1 – 5 Morell Crescent, Quakers Hill
Ward 2 – 1 Haddon Close, Glenwood
Ward 3 – 57 Hampton Crescent, Prospect
Ward 4 – 5 Marin Place, Glendenning
Ward 5 – 28 Wilcox Street, Marsden Park
Overall City Winners
1st place – 28 Wilcox Street, Marsden Park
1st place – 57 Hampton Crescent, Prospect
2nd place – 5 Starling Street, Marsden Park
3rd place – 5 Morrell Crescent, Quakers Hill
Best Street
Phantom Street, Nirimba Fields
Best Rangoli
5 Starling Street, Marsden Park
