'We spent hundreds of hours making Diwali cupcakes'

The intricate display took a lot of thought and effort, Shryia Patel said

When Shryia Patel got the call to whip up 2,300 cupcakes for Diwali - with just over a week's notice - she didn't flinch.

Instead, the 26-year-old and four other families rolled up their sleeves, turned their ovens on, and got to work.

The double-creamed treats were iced with just hours to go until the Hindu new year, and went on to form a mountain of cupcakes, one of the main attractions at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Leicester.

"It's fun. It's different - everyone loves a cupcake," she said.

Tens of thousands of people from across the country and further afield attended the temple in Gypsy Lane for the Diwali celebrations, said organisers.

The cupcakes were part of a huge multi-coloured display, which featured a peacock with 82,000 spots of colour, hundreds of handmade decorations and 1,500 vegetarian dishes.

Ms Patel worked around the clock to make her share of the cupcakes

Ms Patel, who works as a project manager, said making the cupcakes was a "good challenge".

"Between us, we spent hundreds of hours," she said.

"[There was also] a lot of time in the oven, a lot of time preparing them, a lot of time storing them.

"And then obviously last night we spent the whole day icing each cupcake different colours.

"It's not a straightforward one-nozzle, one-colour job.

"They created a pattern, like a lotus flower. Outside is purple, middle is pink, little bits of orange and blue in the middle.

"At first we had to decide how we were going to bake them. We put three big trays in the oven, so we realised we could have between 15 to 20 in the tray at the same time. It did speed up the process a little bit but it was still a challenge.

"They were the priority this weekend."

'Love language'

Ms Patel said almost no cupcake went to waste.

"We only had to throw one away because the piping bag burst," she said.

Several nozzles were tested during the process, and a lot of care went into placing them in the temple on Wednesday morning.

"I think food is the love language of our community," said Ms Patel.

"Whenever we have guests around, the first thing we ask is if they want to have anything to eat or drink.

"It's showing our love, worship and devotion through food."

The Diwali celebrations brought tens of thousands of people to the temple over five days

For the first time ever, the temple also hosted a food court featuring various types of Indian cuisine.

The planning for it started in May, and hundreds of volunteers worked around the clock to make it happen.

Sanjiv Patel, a spokesperson for the temple, said the huge display was created to show devotion to Hindu deities.

"This display is to rejoice, it's vibrant, it's a spectrum of colour," he said.

"The cupcakes are one small part of these incredible displays.

"It's the devotion to our deities - that's what this is all about."

Neha Nehamakwana, 45, who is one of the stallholders, said: "Food is the centre of Indian households.

"Vegetarian food is something we pride ourselves on. We love cooking at home.

"Food is very important. We want to make sure people get some delicious, yummy food across all the different parts and states of India, because it's the centre of our lives."