On 17 November 2009 at 7:30pm, the celebration of Diwali started with people arriving at Chinmaya Dham dressed in their best, bright and colourful traditional Indian costumes. Around 125 people had assembled in the prayer room where on one end was a big picture of Gurudev ever showering his blessings on the devotees, in the middle was Lord Sri Krishna’s altar and to the other end was Goddess Lakshmi decorated beautifully with lamps and flowers.

The celebration started with enchanting Bhajans. Brni. Niveditaji then started 16 step pooja of Goddess Lakshmi. Every body sang “Ya Devi Sarva Booteshu” in chorus invoking different forms of Goddess Lakshmi.

The evening's programme commenced with Bhajans sung by the Bal Vihar children from Taylor Lakes. This was then followed by the Sunday class Bal Vihar children singing and enacting the sloka "Kaayena Vaacha Manasendriyaiva Bhudyaatmana Vaa Prakrutey Swabhaavaat".

The Ramayana play followed. It was presented by the Bal Vihar children from Aspendale Gardens. They were dressed in striking costumes. The play began with Narada briefly describing the scene where Rama along with the Vaanara sena starts his hunt for Sita Devi. Hanumanji finding Sita Mata in Ashoka Vaatika was then depicted. Hanumanji's (with his cute swinging tail) conversation with Sita Devi captured the hearts of the audience. The play concluded after Rama killed Ravana and returned back to Ayodhya along with Sita. Every one shouted in joy “Bolo Sri Ramachandra Ki” ... ”Jai!”

After Vedic chanting from the Medha Suktam and Narayana Suktam by Sanskrit class students, devotees were treated to a glimpse of what to expect at the end of the year during Swami Swaroopanandaji's Yagna on Kishkinda and Sunderkand of the Ramayan. The vivid picture of the events painted on the canvas of our minds by Swamiji's eloquent words will further come alive through colourful dance drama performed by talented CHYK performers every night!

Brahmachari Gautamji concluded the program by explaining the significance of Diwali. Diwali means a row of lights. One should be giving love rather than being a passive receiver of love. Just like only a man with lot of wealth can be called a rich/wealthy man or only a man who has lot of strength can be called a strong person, only a person who has abundant love can be called a loving person. He emphasized that all of us need to drop our egos and either adapt ourselves to the circumstances or have the strength to change the circumstances. At the end, pencils and pieces of paper were passed around so that people could write their negativities which they would like to burn out to reach the higher goal.

Devotees placed their negativity chit around Ravana's effigy. Bal Vihar kids dressed up as Rama, Sita, Laxmana and Hanumanji came out and Sri Rama shot his arrow at the Ravana effigy. A tight bundle of sparklers created a fountain of fire causing the effigy to go up in flames very quickly. Everyone sang "Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram" as they watched the collected slips burn. The devotees greeted and hugged each other with Happy Diwali. The evening ended with sumptuous Mahaprasad complete with a variety of sweets.