Deepavali falls on Oct 22

This year Deepavali will be celebrated on October 22, instead of Oct 23 as published on most calendars.

PETALING JAYA: Deepavali will be celebrated on October 22, this year, and not on October 23 as stated in most calenders.

The Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) today confirmed that the festival of lights this year would fall on Oct 22.

MHS president R Mohan Shan said some calenders have stated that the festival falls on Oct 23; but this is not true.

“Some calenders have the wrong dates and we have rectified this. Oct 22 is the date of the celebration,” he added.

Mohan said the federal government and several state governments have issued circulars to civil servants notifying the change in the date of Deepavali, which was earlier said to fall on Oct 23.

Mohan said Deepavali should be celebrated during the ‘Chaturdhasi tithi’ and not in ‘Amavasya tithi’(new moon day).

In Indian astrology, ‘tithi’ is used to calculate the time and there are 30 ‘tithis’ in each lunar month.

Deepavali is celebrated by nearly 2 million Indians in Malaysia and the festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair.

Meanwhile netizens especially on Facebook are puzzled over the dates.

Some have questioned why the new dates were not announced to the public until it became an issue.