BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 California has become the third state in the U.S. to officially recognize Diwali as a state holiday. <\/p>\n
Locals in Bakersfield are celebrating the Festival of Lights, which began on Oct. 20 at 2:30 p.m. according to the Hindu lunar calendar. <\/p>\n
Ranjit Singh, owner of Spice Land, an Indian grocery store, shared the significance of Diwali, saying, “As a Hindu, it’s celebrated as Lord Rama came up 14 years, exiled from his own nation, came back, and people celebrated with the yas to welcome him home. And as a Sikh, we celebrated as Bandi Chhor Divas, so, it’s actually the purpose of Diwali is, you know, light over darkness.”<\/p>\n
Singh compared Diwali to Christmas, emphasizing its role in bringing people together to share food, exchange gifts, and enjoy sweets. <\/p>\n
Among the treats offered at Spice Land, Singh highlighted his favorites, “My most favorite is called milk cake. So it’s a little bit on a chocolatey and white sweet over there. That is my most favorite. This is also one of my favorites, called doda barfi. It’s made out of a green shell. It takes a very long time to make.”<\/p>\n
While fireworks are traditionally part of Diwali celebrations, the Bakersfield Fire Department has advised against their use, stating that only licensed professional fireworks shows are permitted. <\/p>\n
“Fireworks, even safe and sane ones, are illegal outside of July 1st through 4th and New Year\u2019s Eve,” officials warned, citing the risk of fires due to dry brush.<\/p>\n
Despite the fireworks ban, Singh continues to share the spirit of Diwali with the community. <\/p>\n
“They really appreciate that we give them a feeling of home. We put a tent out, and we display the sweets outside, and it gives them a space, and gives them a variety of sweets to purchase,” Singh said.<\/p>\n
Spice Land will continue its Diwali celebrations, welcoming the community to enjoy a variety of sweet treats available throughout Tuesday, October 21st.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 California has become the third state in the U.S. to officially recognize Diwali as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,7,179,4107,4035,13337,13338,13339],"class_list":["post-15454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-diwali","tag-fireworks","tag-spice-land","tag-sweets","tag-traditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}