Diwali is an important time in the Hindu calendar. Raj, 14, from Mumbai, celebrates it every year with his family in India.1Diwali is a family festival. It's called the 'Festival of Lights'. It's acelebration of the victory of 'good' over 'bad' with special lightsor 'diyas', and candles. The family is important in traditionalDiwali activities.2We usually celebrate Diwali in October or November at the start ofthe Hindu New Year. The festival is five days of celebrations.3 It's an international festival, but India's got a bigger Hindu populationthan any other country, so it's very important there. Other countrieswith Hindus also celebrate it, for example, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Europe.4It's important for people and their houses to be clean. We also wearthe most colourful clothes we can: yellow, red and green. Diwali is afestival of colour! Family is always important to Hindus, but duringDiwali it's even more important. People celebrate with their familiesat home and they eat special meals. It's a wonderful time!​