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Diwali in Leicester
Leicester holds one of the largest Diwali celebrations outside India, and the sari shops of Belgrave Road are at their busiest.
What is worn for Diwali in Leicester
Leicester has a large community of people of Indian origin, and its Diwali is one of the largest outside India. The Belgrave Road area, known as the Golden Mile, is hung with lights, and the switch on takes place some weeks before Diwali itself, with stalls, music and a firework display. The street has many shops selling sarees, jewellery, sweets and clothes, and they are crowded in the weeks before. On the day, families light lamps, visit the temple, and exchange sweets. Women wear new sarees, lehengas and salwar suits. The Hindu and Jain communities mark the day, and the Sikh community marks Bandi Chhor Divas on the same day. The shown date is the main day of Diwali.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Diwali" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Banarasi sari: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source