Diwali Celebration kicks off in Taiwan

Diwali Celebration kicks off in Taiwan

2022-11-06

Every year, Indians all around the world celebrate Diwali, one of the most important Hindu festivals. During the festival, people set off fireworks and light candles to symbolize light over darkness and a spiritual victory of good over evil. The Taipei India Music and Culture Center, the group, "Indians in Taiwan," and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a Diwali celebration in Taiwan on Friday. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, the India Taipei Association Deputy Director, and other distinguished guests light a lamp, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. The 2022 Diwali Celebration in Taiwan is back in action.

Diwali, also known as “The Festival of Lights,” is one of the most important and major festivals celebrated by Indian communities around the world. During the festival, people light candles and set off fireworks to symbolize the spiritual victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness, and new beginnings. Ministry of Foreign Affairts Joseph Wu said, in recent years, investment and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and India have grown and deepened.

Joseph Wu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Diwali is the most important festival in Indian culture. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very happy to work with the Indian community in Taipei to promote this cultural event. I think it’s a very important symbol for Taiwan and India’s cultural relations. Taiwan has that kinship with India because both are democratic countries. The bilateral relations are getting better and better. The trade relations or the trade volume between Taiwan and India has grown 64% from the previous year. That is a tremendous achievement on our effort. Right now, we have the Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs visiting India right now discussing on how the two countries can further promote economic and trade relations with each other.

Since 2020, the Taipei India Music and Culture Center and the group, “Indians in Taiwan,” have organized the Diwali Celebration in Taiwan. The event is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This year, the celebration was held at the American Club, complete with a lighting ceremony, a musical drama of the story of Diwali, dinner, and several traditional Indian music and dance performances.

Jeffery Wu
Taipei India Music and Culture Center
It’s evil and just. They’re fighting together. Inside this story, there’s a lot of environment, loyalty, family values, and about how to protect your land and protect your people.

Around 140 Indians living in Taiwan, including officials from the India Taipei Association, entrepreneurs, students, scholars, and NGO groups came to celebrate Diwali in Taiwan.

Akash Dubey
Festival attendee
This year our guests is over 140. Plus the backstage team is more than 50 people helping backstage. As you see the beautiful decorations is just matching the standard of how we do it in India.

Vinoth Kumar
Festival attendee
I come from Kaohsiung all the way to Taipei to enjoy this Diwali celebration. Diwali is one of our very important festivals for Indians so I came here to enjoy this wonderful evening.

Neha Purswaney
Festival attendee
The whole family gathers, there are fireworks, lights, eating, and dancing. It’s different here because obviously, we can’t do it on such a large scale. But the spirit and the joy is here. They were all yelling out randomly during the photo. That spirit is there.

Stephany Yang
FTV reporter
This is the third Diwali festival held in Taipei, and organizers hope to further strengthen the relationship between Taiwan and India. This is Stephany Yang and Leung Chun Lok reporting in Taipei.

台灣排燈節慶祝活動提升台印雙方友誼

2022-11-06

排燈節是印度最盛大也最重要的傳統節日，象徵光明戰勝黑暗、善良戰勝邪惡。外交部、「台北印度愛樂中心」及「在台印度人社團」11月4日舉辦「2022年印度排燈節晚會」，跟著英語新聞記者楊怡安的腳步，一起來看看。

外交部長吳釗燮與印度台北協會副會長等嘉賓一同參與點燈儀式，象徵光明戰勝黑暗、善良戰勝邪惡，也為2022年台灣排燈節慶祝活動拉開序幕。

排燈節，又叫光明節，是印度每年最盛大也最重要的傳統節日。印度人會在各家各戶外點燈，代表光明戰勝黑暗、善良戰勝邪惡、智慧戰勝無知與新的開始。外交部長吳釗燮表示，台灣、印度近年在經濟及文化交流十分緊密。

[[外交部長吳釗燮]]
"排燈節是印度傳統文化上最重要的節日，外交部很開心與在台灣的這些印度僑民共同合作，推廣文化活動，這是台印文化交流的一個重要象徵。我們都是民主國家，彼此之間的關係也是越來越密切，在經貿關係上，去年雙邊的貿易額較前年增加了64%，這是我們共同努力所呈現的結果。經濟部次長目前正在印度訪問，討論如何進一步促進彼此的經貿關係。"

外交部從2020年開始，贊助「台北印度愛樂中心」及「在台印度人社團」共同舉辦「印度排燈節晚會」，今年選中台北市美僑俱樂部舉辦第三屆，現場除了舉辦點燈儀式，還有歌劇、印度特色美食、印度傳統舞蹈及音樂表演。

[[台北印度愛樂中心吳德朗]]
"(表演在描述)邪惡與正義之前的博鬥，裡面有很多關於環境、忠誠、家庭價值觀，以及如何保護自己的土地和人民"

本次活動包括印度台北協會官員、企業家、學生、學者、NGO團體等約140人出席。

[[在台印度人 Akash Dubey ]]
"今年我們的客人有140多人，後台團隊也有50多人。那些精美的裝飾跟我們在印度看到的，有相同的水準"

[[在台印度人 Vinoth Kumar ]]
“我從高雄北上台北參加排燈節慶祝活動，排燈節對印度人來說是一個非常重要的節日，所以我來到這裡享受這個美好的夜晚”

[[在台印度人 Neha Purswaney]]
"我們全家齊聚，有煙火、有燈、有食物、有舞蹈。這裡比較不同，因為我們無法大規模的舉辦，但精神和喜悅就在這裡，拍照時，他們都很開心，那種精神是存在的"

[[民視英語新聞記者楊怡安]]
"這是在台北舉辦的第三屆排燈節，主辦單位希望能進一步強化台印關係"

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