Essential information
Celebrate the lunar festival, Diwali, from home with stories, activities and more to enhance your family's celebrations.
To celebrate Diwali the National Maritime Museum is releasing a whole host of resources to add to festivities at home.
Scroll down to see what you can get involved in.
Welcome to Diwali 2020!
Watch a Rangoli being created on the floor of the National Maritime Museum
What's on
Performances from the Epika Dance Troup
Epika Dance is an International Bollywood Fusion Troupe based in London recognised for their unique fusion of Indian (Bhangra, kathak, garba, gidha and Bollywood), Japanese and Hiphop styles. Epika stands for Empowerment, Passion, Inspiration, Knowledge & Ambition. The company was Founded by Emiko Jane Ishii who trains people to become leaders in dance that will also help to inspire and evolve the future of dance.
Join us on Facebook at 4pm for three performances from Epika, filmed at the Queen's House, to celebrate Diwali. Performances include Bhangra and Giddha, Bhangra hiphop fusion and Kathak.
Craft activities to try at home
Artist, Meera Chauda, has created craft activities for families to do at home to celebrate the festival of light.
Check out the Diwali zine
This special publication is made up of submissions from South Asian communities in London and around the world.
'I created this zine to celebrate the persistent creativity of queer communities and how we keep traditions alive while cultivating our own,' says editor Anju Kasturiraj.
Anju is the Community Facilitator for the Migrations, Heritage and Belonging project at Royal Musems Greenwich. As well as the Diwali zine, she's also recorded a podcast in conversation with Hansika Jethnani, a queer poet and activist. Listen in to find out more about Diwali, religious violence, and queer interfaith spaces.
Listen to the podcast
Explore connections between London's docks and India
Meet Raj Fernandes, a dockworker living and working in London in the nineteenth century. Learn about the cargoes brought into London, the pay and working conditions along the docks, and Raj’s own story of life in London as a Lascar and the diverse communities he lived amongst in sailor town.
Explore connections between Greenwich and India
Delve into the collection and discover objects relating to India in the Museum's collection.
Moon Gazing
Try your hand at Moon gazing with the Royal Observatory. Follow the advice in this video to get closer to our neighbour, the Moon.
Participate and Share
This Diwali we are asking families to share their Diwali recipe!
Do you have a recipe that your family prepares every year? Send it in, with an image and sentence about why it is you like to cook this particular dish for Diwali, and add it to our online recipe hub for others to see.
Send them in to kcassels@rmg.co.uk
How to make akki kadela bele payasa
Suitable for all ages and abilities
