The song "Silent Night, Only Night" is what we sing to usher in Christmas on Christmas Eve. The same cannot be sung for Diwali though I feel the essence of both is the same in many ways. Christmas and Diwali are festivals of lights, good spirits and death of evil.

Ever since I developed my liking and fondness for Hinduism, I have been attracted and deeply fascinated by many facets of the multi dimensional Hinduism. As I studied more and more of it, I fathomed the depths of one of the oldest religions of civilisation and understood that the spirituality in it transcends many barriers of mere religion.

Diwali is one such major facet. It not only belongs to Hinduism but is universal in nature and in its essence too. Diwali ignites the values of self confidence, love for humanity, peace, prosperity and above all eternity which goes beyond all mortal factors.

What do I visualise when I think of Diwali? Lights, lights everywhere, not even an iota of darkness. I have learnt that Diwali is one of the highly celebrated festivals of Hinduism. Coming to know more about it, I understand that Diwali should be celebrated unanimously throughout the world as a gesture of goodwill.

When I think of Diwali, I can never imagine a world broken into fragments by narrow feelings of communalism and religion which does not care for human benevolence. My movie "Eat, Pray, Love" has been well received in India and I am ever grateful to countless Indians for the love, confidence and trust they have bestowed on my acting abilities. Wishing you all a very happy and jubilant Diwali and promising to return to this sacred land again and again for the best of creativity.

Read more »

Oscar winning Hollywood star Julia Roberts says she is a "practising Hindu" after she shot for the film "Eat, Pray and Love" in India and regularly goes to temples to "chant and pray and celebrate" with her family.

Roberts, 42, who won a legion of fans after she essayed the role of a prostitute in "Pretty Woman", said: "I'm definitely a practising Hindu. Golly, I've been so spoiled with my friends and family in this life."

The actress said she goes to temples with her three children - Hazel, Phinnaeus and Henry - and husband cameraman Daniel Moder, reports told.

Roberts, who was born to a Baptist and Catholic couple in the US, hopes to be reincarnated as "something quiet" after the stress of her celebrity lifestyle.

"Next time I want to be just something quiet and supporting," she is quoted as saying.

In "Eat, Pray and Love", Roberts plays a woman hoping to find herself through Hindu spirituality.

It is a big screen adaptation of the bestselling memoir of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert. Roberts plays a recently-divorced woman travelling the world trying to find herself. The character visits Italy for food, India for spirituality and Bali, where she finds love.

The actress caused controversy in India last September when locals were barred from celebrating an important Hindu religious festival while she shot scenes for the film in their temple on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Villagers hoping to mark the beginning of Navratri, nine days of worship of their Goddess Durga, at Ashram Hari Mandir in Haryana, found their temple sealed by Roberts's vast security team of 350 guards, bulletproof cars and a helicopter.

One of Julia’s biggest ever box office hits was "Pretty Woman" in which she landed the female lead opposite Richard Gere.

Read more »