Suresh Sheth, who runs an Indian grocery store in Kendall, has experienced lower-than-usual sales these days like any other business. But this week, he's ready for an onslaught of customers.

''I've ordered extra sweets,'' he says. ``I'm keeping everything ready.''

Tuesday marks Diwali, one of the most important Hindu holidays. Nobody keeps track of the number of Hindus in South Florida, but community leaders estimate the group to be more than 50,000.

Most have origins in India, but many also come from Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and other nations. As the ''festival of lights,'' Diwali is a time of celebration, song, dance and prayer for wealth, health and peace in the future.

''We celebrate the past and get ready for the new year coming,'' says Sheth. Like many Hindus, he'll wake early, take a ritual bath, put on his best clothing, pray and head to open the shop, which he launched in 1985, seven years after arriving in the United States from Mumbai.

The extra stock he has ordered from as far as India and as close at New York City will cover the traditions of the festival: oil, candle and electric lamps to brighten the home during the holiday, plus bright pink, yellow and green sugar-packed desserts made from flour, butter and cream to eat with family and friends. He would love to carry small fireworks -- Diwali always ends with a sparkle or bang -- but doesn't have the license.

There are more than 900 million Hindus in the world and dozens of Hindu holidays, but Diwali is one of the few celebrated by most, if not all followers. Still, accounts of its ancient origins vary.

One story tells of Lord Rama, who returned after a 14-year exile in the forest to Ayodhya, the capital of his kingdom. His people welcomed him by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa). That word, Deepawali, has been shortened to Diwali, and this is the story many northern Indians like Rajendra Gupta follow.

''Back home, it's like Christmas, lights are all over the place,'' says the gastroenterologist from Fort Lauderdale. ``Here, we try to get people to come to the temple to celebrate and feel the community.''

That's the South Florida Hindu Temple in Southwest Ranches, which he co-founded a decade ago. Gupta expects up to 500 worshippers there Tuesday night for services.

For many South Indians, Diwali marks the day when they believe Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura, an ancient ruler. The defeat is celebrated as a rising of good over evil. It's the story followed by Lakshmi Subrahmanian, a Coral Springs resident born in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Subrahmanian attends Shiva Vishnu Temple in Davie, which also expects hundreds of congregants for Diwali.

''The communal feeling is very good. We sing religious songs, we pray to the goddess Lakshmi,'' who is Subrahmanian's namesake. ``She is the goddess of wealth and we all pray to her for health and prosperity.''

In India, many businesses balance and close their books on Diwali, starting anew afterward in the hope of riches in the future. In Kendall, Sheth follows the American financial calendar, but says many Hindus come to his store to settle debts on Bollywood movie rentals and other issues before the holiday is over.

''It's a festival of lights and also of inner light and purity,'' Sheth says. ``We have to cleanse our bodies, our souls.''

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