Offerings of lotus flowers and seeds are made to the goddess Lakshmi on Diwali. These are symbols of purity, prosperity and fertility. We light all windows around our houses and temples to show Lakshmi the way.

Have you ever seen an elephant riding a mouse? If so, chances are you’ve seen the Hindu god Ganesh and his faithful rodent friend Mushika. He’s also the Hindu god of knowledge. Diwali is a time for eating lots of delicious sweets, and Ganesh’s favourite is modak. Are you having your favourite treats this Diwali?

Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian scientist who transformed the world’s understanding of how light works – even Einstein was wowed by his genius! A mysterious particle called the Higgs Boson – one of the building blocks of the universe – was named after him.

This is a raksha mask used by traditional Sri Lankan healers in energetic Tovil rituals full of music and dancing to ward off evil spirits and invite blessings. Dance with us this Diwali and bring good blessings your way!

The four-armed god, Shiva is also known as the Lord of the Dance, and there’s going to be a lot of that this Diwali! Whether it’s the elegant Laysa dance or the lively Tambaya, Shiva sure knows how to light up the dance floor. After all, he even danced the universe into creation! Can you do the Nataraja pose like Shiva?

Kathak dancers are also storytellers. They use graceful footwork to tell romantic stories of Indian gods from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Modern Bollywood films such as Devdas (2002) or Bajirao Mastani (2015) bring traditional Kathak to the big screen. What stories would you like to tell? And more importantly, what dance moves are you using?