Diwali also known as Deepavali and the “festival of lights“, is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.

The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair.

The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. …

Tonight. 🙂

In Nepal, Diwali is known as “Tihar” or “Swanti” …

I was in Nepal last year for Tihar, and I’m back for another month this year. There’s no better place for me in November than the Himalaya.

The mainstream media news reports on the Nepal snowstorm disaster, by the way, are not accurate. Click over to wikipedia for ongoing updates and an a more objective overview of the tragedy.

I’ll be careful up there, as I was last year on the Annapurna, just after a snow storm. 🙂