Happy Diwali

Diwali – A Festival of Lights!  This reminded me of the carved Pumpkins, which are displayed with candles or light lit inside.  It is fall season here in US, which is also a season of pumpkins.  Pumpkins are widely used in the US to carve Jack-o’-lantern and various other patterns displayed outside the house as a part of Halloween celebration. 

In addition to carving the Pumpkins, there are various things you can do with it, such as Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, Pumpkin pecan bread, and the most famous of them all – pumpkin pies. These are various creative ways to satisfy everyone’s taste buds!

Keeping the Festival of Lights in mind; I decided to carve a Pumpkin.
 
Things I used for carving:
 
One pumpkin that has a front surface at least 8 /12 by 11 inches
A pumpkin-carving pattern
Tape for attaching the pattern
A pumpkin-carving saw
A pen or awl (poker) to trace the pattern
A large wooden or metal spoon to remove the ‘guts’
Boning knife to cut out the top hole

First, I washed the pumpkin and cut out the top of the pumpkin about 4" from the stem to create a hole at about 45 degree angle to prevent the top from falling in.  Then I removed the seeds and scraped out the ‘guts’ using a large spoon.  I towel dried the pumpkin skin and taped the pattern on to the pumpkin.  Once the pattern is in place and centered, I poked along the lines creating tiny holes on the pumpkin (or you can use pen).  I carved the pattern carefully along the dotted lines using a pumpkin saw.

I carved the house with stars that symbolizes how a house looks when lit with many candles during this festive season and for an extra special touch, the ‘OM’ and Lord Ganesha, to make this carving Diwali special!  ‘OM’ and Lord Ganesh were little complicated to carve for an amateur artist like me and needed lot of patience.  Nevertheless, where there is a will there is a way!

May this Festival of Lights brighten up your lives and spirits!  Wish you all, our readers Shubh Deepavali!

Author: Queenie Mendonca- USA