{"id":23823,"date":"2016-10-31T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=23820&preview_id=23820"},"modified":"2016-10-31T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T05:00:00","slug":"us-president-barack-obama-celebrates-diwali-lights-first-ever-diya-in-oval-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=23823","title":{"rendered":"US President Barack Obama celebrates Diwali, lights first-ever diya in Oval Office"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

US President Barack Obama has celebrated Diwali by lighting the first-ever diya in the Oval Office of the White House and hoped that his successors would continue the tradition. Obama, who was the first president to celebrate Diwali personally at the White House in 2009, talked about this momentous occasion in a Facebook post soon after he kindled the diya in his Oval Office with some Indian-Americans working in his administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proud to be the first President to host a Diwali celebration at the White House in 2009, and Michelle and I will never forget how the people of India welcomed us with open arms and hearts and danced with us in Mumbai on Diwali,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, I was honoured to kindle the first-ever diya in the Oval Office \u2014 a lamp that symbolises how darkness will always be overcome by light. It is a tradition that I hope future Presidents will continue,\u201d Obama said on the White House Facebook page, which became viral on the social media.<\/p>\n

By late night it was liked by more than 1.5 lakh people and shared more than 33,000 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the entire Obama family, I wish you and your loved ones peace and happiness on this Diwali,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo all who are celebrating the festival of lights across America and around the world, happy Diwali. As Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists light the diya, share in prayers, decorate their homes, and open their doors to host and feast with loved ones, we recognise that this holiday rejoices in the triumph of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance,\u201d said the US President.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also speaks to a broader truth about our shared American experience. It\u2019s a reminder of what\u2019s possible when we see beyond the differences that too often divide us. It\u2019s a reflection of the hopes and dreams that bind us together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Obama said that it is a time to renew collective obligation to deepen those bonds, to stand in each other\u2019s shoes and see the world through each other\u2019s eyes, and to embrace each other as brothers and sisters \u2014 and as fellow Americans.<\/p>\n

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has a large fan following in the Indian-American community greeted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains across the world on the occasion of Diwali.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Sunday, nearly a billion Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists around the world \u2014 including more than two million Americans \u2014 will celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. For members of these faiths, lighting the lamp (the diya) is a reminder that light prevails over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil,\u201d Clinton said. \u201cHere in the United States, it is a tribute to the Indian American community that Diwali is celebrated with such beauty and joy. Regardless of our personal faith, Diwali reminds us that diversity is one of our greatest strengths as a nation, that light prevails over darkness, and that dharma \u2014 righteousness or goodness \u2014 must guide us toward a better tomorrow,\u201d Clinton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I have the honour of serving as president, I will be committed to building an Administration that reflects such diversity, including continuing White House celebrations of Diwali,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo those of you celebrating this joyous occasion, I wish you and your loved ones a Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak,\u201d Clinton said in a statement.<\/p>\n

There was no such statement from her Republican rival Donald Trump. Her daughter-in-law, Lara Trump had celebrated Diwali at a Hindu temple in Virginia last week.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus and co-chair Sharon Day said as Republicans, they continue to support religious freedom across the country, so that all Americans can continue to share these great traditions with the communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiwali marks a special time as our friends and neighbors of Hindu, Jain and Sikh faiths celebrate this year\u2019s Festival of Lights,\u201d said Chairman Priebus.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this celebration, we are not only reminded of the traditions that many immigrants bring that make our country more strong and more diverse, but also of the many blessings we have in our daily lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the music to the feasts, to the remembrance of Bandi Chhor Divas, a Sikh festival celebrating emancipation from religious persecution, Diwali also serves as a time for families to contemplate the past year, and what they look forward to in the future,\u201d the joint statement said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US President Barack Obama has celebrated Diwali by lighting the first-ever diya in the Oval Office of the White House and hoped that his successors would continue the tradition. Obama, who was the first president to celebrate Diwali personally at the White House in 2009, talked about this momentous occasion in a Facebook post soon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1184],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}