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इतिहास
The history, origin and significance of Diwali — where it comes from, what it means, and how it changed over time.
Diwali 2026: 8 November 20265 daysदिवाली
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Diwali, also written Deepavali, is the festival of lights celebrated across India and by Indian communities worldwide. It falls on the new moon (Amavasya) of the Hindu month of Kartik, which places it in late October or November each year. In 2026 the main day is Sunday 8 November, and the wider season runs across five days from Dhanteras on 6 November to Bhai Dooj on 11 November.
The night itself is marked by rows of clay diyas along doorways, windows and balconies, a Lakshmi Puja for prosperity in the evening, and an exchange of sweets and gifts between families, neighbours and colleagues. Homes are cleaned and repainted in the weeks before, accounts are balanced, and businesses open new ledgers on the first day of the new financial year.
Diwali means different things to different communities. For most of North India it marks Rama's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. In Gujarat it opens the new business year. In West Bengal the same week belongs to Kali Puja rather than Lakshmi Puja. In Maharashtra and Goa the day is celebrated as Narak Chaturdashi first, with an early oil bath. Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka call it Deepavali and treat the ritual oil bath as the centre of the day.
What holds all of it together is light: the idea that a house lit up is a house that welcomes good fortune, and that the turn of the lunar year is a reasonable moment to settle debts, forgive grudges and start again.
Almost every large Indian festival means something different in different states. That is not a contradiction — it is the history.
Rama's return to Ayodhya frames the festival. Lakshmi Puja and Ganesh Puja are done in the evening, and the five days run Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. Crackers are the loudest here, though Delhi's winter smog rules now restrict them heavily.
Diwali opens the new business year. Traders do Chopda Puja, applying tilak to fresh account books, and Dhanteras jewellery purchases are taken far more seriously than elsewhere. Gujarat also observes the new year as the next day, Bestu Varas.
The day starts early with Narak Chaturdashi — a pre-dawn oil massage and bath, then a celebratory breakfast of faraal. Diwali in Maharashtra is as much about food (chakli, chivda, karanji) as it is about lights.
The same amavasya night is Kali Puja, not Lakshmi Puja. Barasat, Dakshineswar and Tarapith run enormous Kali Puja pandals, and the rituals are Shakta rather than Vaishnav. Many Bengali households light fourteen diyas the night before, for Bhoot Chaturdashi.
Celebrated as Deepavali or Deepavali, with the ritual oil bath before sunrise as the centrepiece. Tamil households also mark it with kolam at the threshold and a new cloth gift for family members.
Deepavali is relatively low-key and mostly marked by an oil bath and sweets; Onam remains the state's major festival.
Marked as Diwali with community Banti or light displays, and in Assam it overlaps with Kati Bihu customs in some districts.
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Sources and how this was checked
Last reviewed 6 October 2026. Drik Panchang — Diwali Puja calendar, Time and Date — Holidays in India 2026. How we source and correct festival content.