Friendly competition across Blacktown City has seen two properties awarded the overall prize in the 2022 Diwali Lights Competition.
Judges were faced with a high standard of entries and were unable to break a tie for first place in the Overall City category, awarding top honours to Marsden Park's Jitesh Kumar and Prospect's Roneel Kumar.
The avid decorators were selected from more than 40 entrants in this year's competition, which encourages residents in Blacktown City to light up their homes in celebration of the ancient Festival of Diwali, marked by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.
Joint winner Jitesh said he was thrilled with the win, given it was only his second year taking part in the competition.
"I decided to go bigger this year after being named a finalist in last year's competition," he said.
"Last year there were only a few houses in our street that would decorate, but this year, we have about 15 homes with lights, and many of them have reached out to me and said I had encouraged them.
"People told me I had the best lights in Elara (Marsden Park), but I never thought I would be number one in Blacktown."
Jitesh said his stunning display attracted up to 200 visitors every night, with people travelling across Sydney to marvel at his work.
"Diwali is one of the great festivals for us of Hindu faith, so that's why I wanted to get involved and let everyone know about our festival," he said.
"People of all religions and cultures come to visit, so it is a great way for people to come together and connect."
Roneel Kumar's inspiration for his winning light display was sourced from around the globe, with dazzling lights custom-made during his travels to India and China.
Unlike Christmas lights, Diwali lights are not mass produced, so Roneel took it upon himself to design light motifs featuring the Om, lotus flower and oil lamp symbols.
"All the lights are of Hindu cultural significance. I would see things when I would travel overseas for work, and when I went to India and China, I would put my ideas to paper, but it took many iterations to get it right," he said.
With the help of his father-in-law, Roneel spent countless weekends decorating the Prospect property, using a large steel structure to erect the lights from.
Roneel, a regular and successful competition entrant, said his light decorations began as a small affair more than a decade ago, when his wanted to recreate Fijian Diwali celebrations for his wife.
"When we migrated to Australia 11 years ago, I started small with the lights as my wife would miss the Diwali lights and celebrations we had back home," he said.
"Now it's amazing to see Diwali celebrations across Blacktown and Parramatta.
"We have lots of non-Hindus come to appreciate our lights and we have cars queuing with people wanting to take photos of our lights.
"There's definitely a lot more awareness of Diwali now and Blacktown is a really multicultural Council, so it's great to be a part of this. I'm proud to be from Blacktown."
Phantom Street in Nirimba Fields was crowned Best Street, with 8 properties decorating their homes. 5 Starling Street, Marsden Park was awarded Best Rangoli and received second place in the Overall City prize.
Ward Winners
Ward 1 - 5 Morell Crescent, Quakers Hill
Ward 2 - 1 Haddon Close, Glenwood
Ward 3 - 57 Hampton Crescent, Prospect
Ward 4 - 5 Marin Place, Glendenning
Ward 5 - 28 Wilcox Street, Marsden Park
Overall City Winners
1st place - 28 Wilcox Street, Marsden Park
1st place - 57 Hampton Crescent, Prospect
2nd place - 5 Starling Street, Marsden Park
3rd place - 5 Morrell Crescent, Quakers Hill
Best Street
Phantom Street, Nirimba Fields
Best Rangoli
5 Starling Street, Marsden Park
Picture: Prospect's Roneel Kumar and his family with their dazzling display of Diwali Lights.
