DIWALI has been celebrated in style.

Thousands of worshippers attended Slough Hindu Temple in Keel Drive, Slough, for the celebrations, which included services, lighting candles, fireworks, and gifts of fruit and sweets.

Management committee member, Naresh Barolia, 52, of Manor Park, said: “Hindus come and visit the temple on Diwali day to offer sweets and a candle. It’s one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu religion, because tomorrow is the start of a new year.”

Vice-president Ranju Kumar, 46, of Manor Park, said: “We light a candle at the temple and pray for wellbeing for everyone, not just for ourselves, but for all the world.

“We believe this is the day that Lord Rama, with his wife Sita, came back from Sri Lanka, and we light the candles to welcome them.”

Sikhs were also celebrating on Thursday of last week, although for slightly different reasons. For Sikhs, the day – which they refer to as Bandi Chhor – is in commemoration of the day the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, freed himself and 52 captured kings from imprisonment by the Mughal empire.

Harjinder Singh Gahir, president of the Ramgarhia Gurdwara, Woodland Avenue, said: “The day signifies the release of prisoners of conscience, of release from bondage. It is highly relevant to today, when many people are still unjustly held by governments.

“The whole of India celebrates on this day – these kings belonged to many religions, many regions, different castes. Our Guru did it for everybody.”

The day was accompanied by services, in the form of prayers, singing, the recital of ballads, and talks about the the Gurus.