![]() "We are very happy to know that one of the biggest festivals for us is being recognized. "As a community, we're very excited about this bill," he said. Sudabattula, the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple president, said even without the fireworks provision, the bill is still a win for Utah's Indian community - which he estimated to be made up of about 40,000 people. "And I think it's just fine to allow a small but growing and important community to celebrate their culture in the same way." "We allow fireworks already for Utahns to celebrate their heritage from one of the pioneers across the plains into the valley on the 24th of July we allow fireworks celebrations to celebrate the birth of our country on July 4 we allow fireworks to celebrate the Lunar New Year for a large and growing Asian population, for whom that's an important part of their culture," Fillmore said. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan - said the bill arose after his constituents asked why fireworks were allowed for other cultural celebrations but not theirs. It comes during the time of the year when the nights are longer and days are shorter." "For us, Diwali is a celebration of good over evil and then light over darkness. "You light them up and take away the darkness with the fireworks," he said. He said those fireworks emit only light, not sound. Sudabattula said the temple currently gets special permission from South Jordan to use fireworks for one day during Diwali. ![]() "I think it would have been nice if it was only proposed as one day, the day of Diwali. "When I saw that, I was like 'Why in the world are they asking for five days? We don't even do that in India where it is celebrated much higher," said Balaji Sudabattula, the temple's president. However, the fact that the bill allowed for five days of fireworks seemed unusual to the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah. With this substitute, it allows a community to express itself, but not put the rest of us in a in a bad way." So without the substitute, I think this bill causes real, real problems. It's more than we give for the Fourth of July. "Five days is more than we give for any holiday. "If you're in animal agriculture like I am, the thought of having five days worth of fireworks where you have to make sure cows don't jump over fences and your dogs are in the house should terrify you," said Rep. Utah code currently only allows fireworks to be discharged on the Fourth of July, Pioneer Day, New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year. Removal of the bill's fireworks provision centered on concerns that the original bill would have allowed fireworks for five days. "It's been remarkable to see the appreciation from members of these different communities, who find it very meaningful that this proposal would would even be considered." Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, said during the House debate. "While the bang has been taken out of this bill, it is still a very important bill to recognize these cultures that have come to our great state of Utah," the bill's sponsor, Rep. It is based on the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik and typically falls during the last week of October or the first week of November. The five-day festival of Diwali, also known as Festival of Lights, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil. However, lawmakers also voted to eliminate a portion of the bill that would have allowed fireworks during the celebration. Lawmakers voted 71-1 to pass SB46, which would make Diwali a state commemorative day. A bill meant to recognize Utah's growing Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities and one of their most momentous holidays - Diwali - passed the state House Wednesday. ![]()
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