Deepavali

Date in 2026

Monday, 9 November 2026

Masa

Ashwina

Tithi

Krishna Pournami

Duration

5 days (Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj)

Observed in

All India, with sharply different regional forms

Significance

Deepavali is a row of lamps — dipa-avali — and it is less a single festival than five days of related ones that different regions weight differently. In the north the central story is Rama's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, the city lit with lamps to guide him home. In the south, and across the Telugu country, the day belongs to Krishna's defeat of Narakasura, and the lamps mark the end of that tyranny; the pre-dawn oil bath on Naraka Chaturdashi is the observance that matters most. In the west, and for merchant communities everywhere, it is Lakshmi Puja, the night the goddess is invited into a clean, lit house, and the day the account books for the new financial year are opened.

None of these accounts displaces the others, and the fact that they coexist is the more interesting thing about the festival. What they share is the image: a small light deliberately placed against a large darkness. The amavasya of Kartika is the darkest night of one of the darkest months, and the response to it is not to wait for dawn but to light something.

The five days each have their own character. Dhanteras opens with the purchase of metal — traditionally a vessel, now more often gold. Naraka Chaturdashi brings the oil bath before sunrise. Lakshmi Puja on amavasya is the night itself. Govardhan Puja or Bali Pratipada follows. Bhai Dooj closes it, with sisters and brothers.

When it falls, and why

The central day, Lakshmi Puja, falls on the amavasya of Kartika in the amanta reckoning — the new moon, when the sky is at its darkest. In purnimanta states the same night is placed in Kartika too, since amavasya falls mid-month there; this is one of the rare cases where the two conventions agree on the month name.

In Gregorian terms that puts it between mid-October and mid-November. The exact day depends on when amavasya prevails during pradosha kala — the twilight period after sunset — because Lakshmi Puja is performed then rather than at sunrise. When amavasya spans two evenings, or neither, panchangams apply further rules and can differ by a day; where they do, we say so on the date.

Pooja vidhanam, step by step

1. 1

   Clean the house completely

   This is not preamble — it is the first act of the observance. Lakshmi is held not to enter an unclean house, and the cleaning traditionally reaches places that are not cleaned the rest of the year.

2. 2

   Decorate the threshold

   Draw a rangoli at the entrance and lay a toran of mango leaves and marigold. Small footprints drawn leading inward from the door are the customary invitation.

3. 3

   Bathe and prepare the space

   Take an oil bath before the puja. Set a low platform with a red cloth, and place images of Lakshmi and Ganesha on it — Ganesha to the right of Lakshmi from the viewer's side.

4. 4

   Set the kalasham

   Fill a kalasham three-quarters with water, add a betel nut, a coin, a flower and a few grains of rice, cover it with five mango leaves and a coconut wrapped in red cloth.

5. 5

   Light the lamps

   Light an odd number of ghee or oil lamps and place them at the threshold, on the windowsills, and around the puja space. The lamps at the door are lit first.

6. 6

   Perform the puja in pradosha kala

   Begin after sunset. Offer haldi, kumkum, akshata, flowers and a garland of lotus if available. Recite the Sri Suktam or the Lakshmi Ashtottara Shatanamavali. Offer naivedya of kheer, batasha and seasonal fruit.

7. 7

   Worship the account books and tools

   For merchant households this is the chopda pujan: the new year's ledgers are opened and worshipped, and the first entry is made. Artisans and professionals worship the tools of their work in the same way.

8. 8

   Arati, and then the lamps outside

   Perform arati with camphor, distribute prasadam, and place the remaining lamps outside. Traditionally a lamp is left burning through the night at the threshold.

Samagri checklist

What to gather beforehand. Where something is not available, offer what you have — the intention carries.

• Images of Lakshmi and Ganesha
• Ghee or sesame-oil lamps, and cotton wicks
• Kalasham, coin, betel nut, mango leaves, coconut
• Red cloth for the platform and the kalasham
• Marigold and lotus flowers, mango-leaf toran
• Rangoli colours or rice flour
• Haldi, kumkum, akshata, sandal paste
• Camphor, incense, cotton for the garland
• Kheer, batasha, murukku, seasonal fruit
• New account books or ledgers, for chopda pujan
• Silver or brass coins, for Dhanteras

The vrat katha

In the southern telling, Narakasura — son of Bhudevi, the earth — had won a boon that he could be killed only by his mother. He grew tyrannical, imprisoned sixteen thousand women, and took the earrings of Aditi. Krishna went against him with Satyabhama, an incarnation of Bhudevi, at the reins; when Krishna fell, it was Satyabhama who took up the bow and killed him. Dying, Narakasura asked that his death be remembered as a day of light rather than mourning, and it was granted.

In the northern telling, Rama returned to Ayodhya on this day with Sita and Lakshmana after fourteen years of exile and the war at Lanka. The city, having waited the whole fourteen years, lit rows of lamps along every street so that the returning party would find their way in the dark of the new moon.

In the western telling, Lakshmi emerged from the churning of the ocean on this night, and moves through the world on it looking for a house clean and lit enough to enter. Bali Pratipada, the day after, remembers the demon-king Bali, granted by Vamana the right to return and visit his people once a year.

How it differs by region

• In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the emphasis is on Naraka Chaturdashi and the pre-dawn oil bath, with Lakshmi Puja in the evening. Firecrackers are traditionally lit at dawn rather than at night.
• In Tamil Nadu the festival is largely a single day — Deepavali, on Naraka Chaturdashi — with the ganga snanam at dawn, new clothes, and Deepavali marundhu, a digestive preparation eaten to counter the day's sweets.
• In Maharashtra and Gujarat the five-day form is fullest, with Vasu Baras opening it and the Gujarati new year falling on Bali Pratipada.
• In the north the Rama narrative dominates, Lakshmi Puja on amavasya night is the centre, and Govardhan Puja follows with an annakut offering.
• In Bengal and the east the same amavasya is Kali Puja, and the goddess worshipped that night is Kali rather than Lakshmi.

Common questions

Slokas