Suburban Indian worshippers set to celebrate Diwali

Officials expect as many as 20,000 worshippers Sunday at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Bartlett to celebrate the Indian holiday Diwali.

It's an official holiday in India, and falls on different days on the Gregorian calendar. Diwali is today, and while different Indian regions and religions - Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs - celebrate variations of the day, the core remains the same: a celebration of good defeating evil, punctuated with a fireworks display. That and the display of clay lamps makes Diwali, known as Deepavali by some, the festival of lights.

BAPS' fireworks display will light up the skies rain or shine on Saturday night. Youth volunteers have decorated the temple's main hall with an assortment of shells and nautical items. That reflects the "pearls of wisdom" theme the temple picked.

"The deeper you go for faith, the more it rewards you," temple spokesman Harish Patel said.

The theme was picked as temple members reflected on the economy, believing that through prayer they could find resolution and salvation, Patel said.

Sunday the temple will celebrate the New Year with Annkut, which translates to "mountain of food." Patel said 2,000 different vegetarian dishes, some prepared only for the holiday, will be cooked up.

BAPS started the Diwali events last week with a children's celebration.

The public is invited to attend all events, and Patel advises to be ready to take off your shoes while indoors during the poojas, or prayers. The crowds start lining up for the fireworks at 7 p.m., an hour before they occur, so get there early.