Презентация по английскому языку "Diwali"

The Festival of Lights

• Diwali will next be celebrated on 23rd October 2014.
• Diwali is celebrated by Hindus in India and all around the world in October or November. It is the Hindu New Year and is either a 3-day or 5-day holiday depending on where you come from.

• It is a very exciting and colourful holiday. Homes are cleaned to welcome the New Year and windows are opened so that the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, can enter.

• It is believed that she cannot enter a house which is not lit up, so every household burns special Diwali clay lamps (diyas) to light the way for the goddess, which is why the holiday is also known as the Festival of Lights .

• Children have a holiday from school. Presents are given and delicious holiday food is prepared and exchanged. New clothes and jewellery are worn. Parties are held, and dice and card games are played. Fireworks and firecrackers are set off to warn off evil spirits, so it is a noisy holiday too!

A rangoli is a colourful design made on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests. At Diwali , Hindus draw bright Rangoli patterns to encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter their homes.

Rangoli were originally done in small patterns of about 2 foot square, but now entire areas of floor can be covered in intricate designs, often produced by first drawing gridlines in light chalk.

Rangoli patterns are traditionally drawn with the fingers using flour, rice grains or coloured chalk.

Rangoli can be square, rectangular or circular – or a mix of all three. They are often symmetrical. Rangoli motifs are usually taken from Nature - peacocks, swans, mango, flowers and so on.

The End