Diwali garden lights

It wasn't only the inside of East Riddlesden Hall that was decorated and lit for Diwali. The gardens had floodlights, lanterns and strings of white LEDs looped in the trees, with rows of tea lights along the paths. It was all rather magical. 

 

Diwali

I noticed that our local National Trust (NT) property, East Riddlesden Hall, was putting on a special display to celebrate Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights. With religious significance for Hindus and several other faiths, it gets its name from the clay lights that people put around their homes for the festival, symbolising the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness, the triumph of good over evil. The Sanskrit word dīpāvali means 'a row or series of lights'.  

Homes are decorated with patterns called rangoli, using coloured powder, sand or - as here - brightly coloured pompoms.  

The Hindu festival is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. I believe the little statue here represents the Goddess, surrounded by Diya lamps, their clay holders made by local schoolchildren. 

I must confess to knowing very little about the festival, though I know it is celebrated by our local Hindu communities with feasting and fireworks. It was good to see the NT getting into the spirit of things, in collaboration with various local Hindu community groups.  

As the nights draw in and winter encroaches, I felt it was fitting to go and enjoy the lights - and to see East Riddlesden Hall with a different look. It's not normally open at night.

Festive Haworth at night

The village of Haworth (known for being the home of the literary Brontë sisters) usually pulls out all the stops at Christmas, with all sorts of festivities during December. They have torchlit parades, markets, carol singing, a nativity and the tradition of 'scroggling the holly' (don't ask!), all mainly designed to attract people to spend time and money in the village. (See HERE for a description of past years). 

This year it will all be much reduced, as we try to navigate through the pandemic. Instead of events, they have concentrated on making the Christmas lights extra sparkly, with lots of little Christmas trees all over the village. I was passing nearby on my way home one evening, so I stopped off in the village to take a look. It started raining hard after a while and I struggled to keep my lens clear of rain spots, though it did have the bonus of giving some nice effects on the wet cobbles. 

The top photo shows one of the village pubs, the Black Bull, reputedly haunted. It is famous for being where Branwell Brontë, the sisters' troubled, alcoholic and drug addict brother, spent much of his time. Sadly many pubs are currently closed but it still looked cheerful and cosy with all the lights on. 

The church looked rather nice with flood lighting and Christmas trees at its gate. The Brontës' father, Patrick, was the minister here from 1820 to 1861 when he died. (His wife and children all predeceased him). The present church was, however, largely rebuilt around 1880. 

The village has many small shops that cater mainly to tourists. I guess they've had a hard time of it this year. They were putting on a lovely festive show, beautifully decorated and lit.