Indian embassy celebrates Diwali in Monrovia with 150 guests
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on The New Dawn
Illustrative image · Ravi Kant · Pexels · Licence PexelsThe Indian embassy in Liberia hosted the Hindu festival of Diwali on 7 November at the ambassador’s residence in Monrovia, before about 150 guests: diplomats, Liberian officials and UN representatives. Ambassador Manoj Bihari Verma described Diwali as a festival of unity and of the victory of light over darkness, according to The New Dawn.
The Indian embassy in Liberia celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, on Saturday 7 November at the Indian ambassador’s residence in Monrovia, The New Dawn reports. About 150 guests took part: diplomats, representatives of the United Nations and international organisations, members of the Indian community and Liberian friends of India.
They included Stevenson Tweh Seidi, deputy director general for culture, heritage and the creative economy, and Kekura M. Kamara, Liberia’s ambassador for arts and culture. Indian Ambassador Manoj Bihari Verma described Diwali as a celebration of unity and of the victory of light over darkness. He mentioned the festivities in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, where millions of clay lamps light up the banks of the Saryu river.
The programme included a short excerpt from Ramleela, taken from the epic Ramayana, diya and Garba dances and an Indo-Liberian musical fusion. The embassy sees it as an opportunity to strengthen relations between the two peoples.
India is stepping up its gestures in Liberia: it unveiled a bust of Gandhi in Monrovia in early October, then opened 140 training places for Liberian journalists on 22 October.
