Happy Deepavali

“Fill the Heart with the oil of love.
Place in it the wick of single-pointed mind.
Light it with the Knowledge of Truth
and remove the darkness of ignorance around you.
Just as one lamp can light many lamps;
Let each youth kindle this Light in many hearts.”

How beautifully the significance of the diyas is quoted here.Diwali something that makes me relate to brightly lit streets, diyas,color,rangoli, sweets and colorful lanterns.

As diwali was approaching I could see beautiful earthen and designer diyas, lanterns displayed by the vendors in the market. Shopping on Dadar streets is at its best in Diwali -a place I usually shop from. It gives you a pleasant festive feeling looking at the beautiful ornamented diyas, bright colors and brightly lit lanterns.

Last week when I visited the nearby mall I saw a counter selling traditional diyas and decorative articles. I fell in love with them at the first glance and when I read the price tag on the bottom of the diyas all my love evaporated into thin air.

This is how I came up with an idea to be creative with earthen diyas. It has been a joyful journey of decorating diyas as I also got my first year students involved in this diya making activity. Trust me they came up with incredible ideas.

1. Diyas are a symbol of victory, joy and light. To make a beautiful Diya you would require following things:

1.  Earthen lamps of your choice
2.  Acrylic colors 
3. Varnish 
4. Paint brushes- 2 and 3nos. 
5. Glitter tubes 
6. Candle wax 
7. Cotton thread

Always wash the lamps and sun-dry them before painting.

Apply a single coat of color, rest it for some time and then apply the second coat. You can mix two colors and get different shades and colors.

After the second coat apply varnish to give a gloss on the lamp and form a protective film over the color 

As the varnish is sticky it also acts as an adhesive so you can easily ornament the lamp with mirror or glitter work.

This is the how my decorated diyas looked like

For wax filling 

you easily get candle making kit in stationary shop which can be used for diya making. 

I used a double boiler to heat the wax as direct heat would burn the wax. 

The melted wax solidifies in less time so always be quick to pour in the melted wax in diya with a cotton wick in it. 

To make cotton wick take thick cotton thread and twist 2-3 threads together. hold the thread in the center while pouring the wax. Always coat the tip of the wick with wax so that it burns properly.

One of my students trying out her creativity.

I conducted a diya making activity with the first year students who came out with beautiful diyas which were distributed to all the staff members.

It’s an awesome experience of painting and decorating diyas.Thank you for reading this blog. 

Have a happy deepavali