Diwali was a subdued affair at Swami Narayan temple this year

KARACHI:

The Swami Narayan temple, hidden in a busy corner of Karachi, showed few signs of Diwali, the festival of lights, as Sunday evening approached.

The temple opened its gates for visitors at 4pm sharp after which small groups of people started to arrive but the crowds hardly swelled as the evening wore on. The temple priest, who recently took over as the mandir Maharaj after his 70-year-old father passed away, was seen walking around with his own child, amid the continuous ‘china maachis’ firecrackers.

The priest sits down for a small break between running to and from his house and warns everybody: “Everyone is going to be outside, there will be a mad rush.” He is referring to Diwali from a few years ago when the Lighthouse area would be packed with colours as families headed to the temple for the festival prayers.

But there is no rush to be seen. Not all families were excited to make a trip down to the temple and several families chose to stay home for the prayers. “There will be a lot of traffic, we’ll get stuck,” “What is there to do at the mandir,” were just some excuses families gave when they decided to stay home this year.

Within the compound of Swami Narayan, there are a few vendors trying to sell small packets of incense, firecrackers or flowers. A few young couples take each other’s pictures. But there is little else to disturb the pet peacock as he struts around. Several murtis also sit on the top floor, many of these will be decorated later on in the day.

As the sun begins to set, a team of cameramen and reporters reach the temple - there are so many of them that they easily outnumber the actual visitors. The priest was, however, hopeful that more people will show up. “As soon as people are done lighting the diyas outside their houses, they will come out.”

Worried about the lack of space, several families even refrained from buying fireworks and crackers. Nevertheless, explosions echoed the neighbourhood. During previous years, the temple has faced restrictions over the sale of Diwali-related items due to security reasons. The mad rush around stalls selling fireworks seemed to have died down this year, as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th,2013.