Priyanka Chopra Celebrates Diwali in New York

While much of the country was busy carving pumpkins and stockpiling candy this weekend, actress Priyanka Chopra was busy setting up her New York apartment for her annual Diwali celebration. Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, officially began on Sunday, and on Saturday night, Chopra invited friends and family over to ring it in. “It’s the beginning of our new year,” the Quantico star explains. “It’s almost like our Christmas—we eat, we pray, we dress up together, we exchange gifts. It’s all about family and friends coming together.”

Chopra wore a white silk sari that her mother had just gotten for her and filled her Upper East Side home with vibrant marigolds and sparkling lights. But before the night really got started, Chopra practiced her favorite Diwali tradition ofLaxmi puja. “These are the prayers that happen in the evening. It’s an auspicious time and a priest comes to lead the service and it’s very meditative to me,” she says. “It’s the evocation of Lord Ganesha and goddess Laxmi for the New Year, and it’s just amazing to have the whole family sit together and pray. Of course, the rest of the evening is full of debauchery, which is my other favorite thing about Diwali.”

Fittingly, Chopra had a speakeasy-type gambling room set up in her home. “Gambling during Diwali is a really interesting tradition that, according to Hinduism, started when Shiva and his wife would play dice,” says Chopra. “It was a game they played often and it was eventually decided that these games would be played on Diwali and whoever would gamble that day would gain prosperity and wealth. I decided to do a spin on it and have blackjack and roulette tables set up.” Meanwhile, traditional foods like laddoos were served and the host proudly displayed her own rangolisand artworks on the floor, which have a particularly personal significance to Chopra. “I’ve always celebrated Diwali, it’s a very big deal in India,” she says. “I think my fondest memories of celebrating this holiday as a child were probably making rangolis with my dad. He was very artistic and we used to sit on the floor together and construct these patterns.”

While Chopra’s celebration of lights may be different now that she’s a major screen siren, the spirit of the holiday remains close to her heart. “Diwali is about hanging out with the people you love and feeling good about yourself and your life.”

Culled from Vogue.com