Dīpāvali

When it falls

The new moon (amāvāsyā) of Kārttika, which falls in late October or early November. It is the middle day of a five-day festival: Dhanteras, Naraka Caturdaśī, Dīpāvali itself, Govardhana Pūjā and Bhāī Dūj.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

Dīpāvali means 'a row of lamps'. In the north the lamps are for Rāma: the people of Ayodhyā lit the road home for him, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa on their return from fourteen years in exile and the defeat of Rāvaṇa. In the south the day before belongs to Kṛṣṇa's victory over Narakāsura, and in the west it is the day Lakṣmī, goddess of wealth, walks the earth and enters the houses that are lit and clean.

Jains keep the same night for Mahāvīra's liberation, Sikhs for Guru Hargobind's release from prison (Bandī Chhoṛ Divas), and in Bengal the night is Kālī Pūjā. One dark night, many reasons for the light.

The astronomy is the plainest explanation of all: it is the darkest new moon of the year, after the monsoon has cleared the sky, and every house answers it with fire.

How the day is kept

• Houses are cleaned and repainted in the weeks before, and a raṅgolī (floor pattern of coloured powder) is laid at the door for Lakṣmī to see.
• At dusk the family performs Lakṣmī Pūjā with Gaṇeśa beside her, then lights rows of clay lamps (dīyā) on every sill, step and wall.
• New clothes are worn, sweets and dried fruit are exchanged with neighbours and colleagues, and the account books of merchants open a new year.
• Fireworks fill the evening; in the north the children have crackers in hand by sundown.
• Ayodhyā lights several hundred thousand lamps along the Sarayū on the eve; the count is a world record and grows every year.

At the table

Sweets above all: laḍḍū, barfī, kāju katlī, gulāb jāmun, and boxes of dried fruit passed from house to house. Savoury snacks (namkīn) keep the guests fed between rounds of sweets.

More festivals of light