Hindus across the GTA are celebrating Diwali, a festival of lights, that marks the beginning of a new year for believers of the world's oldest religion.
Toronto-area temples were filled last night as worshippers celebrated an end of the old and beginning today of a new year in the Hindu calendar.
Temples and peoples' homes were lit with diyas -- cotton-string wicks inserted in small clay pots filled with oil -- to signify victory of good over the evil within an individual.
"Diwali is the festival of lights," said Pundit Bahoj Sharma, of Vishnu Mandir, a temple in Richmond Hill. "People brighten up their homes and invite friends and family over."