Festival of Lights : A Collaboration for Deepawali (Diwali)

I am back again......hopefully with a BANG..........

We are 37 cake artists from around the world, all from different countries and regions with different backgrounds, religions and ethnicities. We have come together to acknowledge a beautiful, special Hindu holiday which is celebrated in Spring of every year. It is called " Deepawali or Diwali", also known as "A Festival of Lights". It is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year!The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. During the festival, which is celebrated for five days, Hindus prepare by cleaning, decorating, shopping, gift giving and baking sweet treats for loved ones. Feasts are prepared and families come together. Prayers are offered to deities. Stories of ancient myths and legends are told to children. Children prepare for the celebration by painting rangoli chalk designs on walkways and on the night of Deepawali (Diwali) , fireworks are displayed. It is the happiest of all Hindu celebrations!

As cake artists we wanted to represent this beautiful holiday in cake form. Each of us designed our cakes based on the gorgeous colors, rich traditions and religious practices inspired by Deepawali. Please join us to celebrate Deepawali ! We hope you enjoy……Happy Deepawali !

We were lucky enough to be featured in two of  UKs reputed cake Magazines : 

Cake Masters (October Issue Festival of Lights) 

and  

Cake Geek (International Cake Collaboration: Festival of Lights (Part 1),
                   International Cake Collaboration: Festival of Lights (Part 2))

and a Special video on youtube done by Candace's lovely son

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=torlLWchPWs&list=UUv2c48vQZt88i89ruCwawuQ

My Inspiration..................

When I was initially asked to do a Deepawali (Diwali : Festival of Lights) inspired cake the memories of wearing new cloths and going to the Temple with my family was what first came to mind. Once I thought of a Temple ..... Kolam ( Rangoli: Patterns created on the floor ), Deepam (Diya : Earthen Lamp), flowers, hanging lamp and bell , a girl doing the Kolam, a black stone/granite Goddess for the temple, a girl praying ( my dear friend Candace suggested that) sort of trickled in one by one.

All these tied up beautifully with the feel of a temple during the festive season. I wasn't sure whether I will manage to do all of them but wanted to try and see where it leads me.....after lots of learning, Ups and Downs....I did spend a lot of time trying to work out the structure, the hanging lamp and bell, figurines and photography. Here is what I have finally realised in Sugar ... Hopefully you like it :-).

A few appreciations I believe  are in order too. 

First of all Thank you so much Candace for thinking of me and having faith in me to be part of such diverse and talented group of cake decorators world over . My Firstever Collabortion :-) . 

Thank you so much to the wonderful, talented supportive group that I got the opportunity to work with and all the lovely friends I have made along the way in the cake world.

I am also very grateful to CakeMasters and CakeGeek  for agreeing to publish us and finally

Thank you so much to my family for accommodating a grumpy old ME :-)

 

Wish you all a very Happy Deepawali ( Diwali) in advance.