Diwali (Deepavali)

Diwali is tied to the new moon. In the Purnimanta calendar followed across most of North India, the month runs from full moon to full moon, so the new moon falls mid-month and the main night is called Kartik Amavasya. In the Amanta calendar of Gujarat, Maharashtra and the South, the month ends on the new moon, so the very same night is Ashvin Amavasya. The date is the same everywhere; only the name of the month changes.

Panchang makers choose the Lakshmi Puja day by one rule: Amavasya tithi must prevail during Pradosh, the period just after sunset. When the tithi straddles two evenings, the evening that holds Amavasya in Pradosh is preferred. Because the lunar year is about eleven days shorter than the solar year and is corrected by an extra month every few years, Diwali moves between mid-October and mid-November.

Diwali is really a chain of observances, each with its own meaning.

Diwali gathers several sacred stories, and different regions hold different ones closest to heart.

In North India the night is above all Rama's homecoming: after fourteen years of exile and the defeat of Ravana, Rama returns to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana. The Ramayana tells the return and coronation; the lamp-lighting is the people's tradition built around it.

The Bhagavata Purana (Book 10) narrates Krishna's slaying of Narakasura, the demon who had imprisoned thousands of women. Popular tradition places the victory on the dawn of Chaturdashi, which is why the South greets Deepavali with an early oil bath.

Lakshmi herself is said to have risen from the churning of the ocean (samudra manthan), and she is believed to visit homes that are clean, lit and welcoming on this dark night. The Bhagavata Purana (Book 8) also tells of King Bali, humbled by Vishnu as Vamana and sent to the netherworld; Bali Pratipada celebrates the belief that he returns to visit his people.

Other traditions share the night. Jains observe Diwali as the nirvana of Bhagwan Mahavira, and Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas, remembering Guru Hargobind's release from Gwalior fort.

Household practice varies by region and family, but a simple evening puja usually follows these steps.

The Shri Sukta, a hymn to Lakshmi preserved among the supplementary hymns (khila) of the Rigveda, is the classic Diwali recitation. Its first verse invokes Agni (Jataveda) to bring the golden goddess. The prayer from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28) is often recited as the lamps are lit, because it states the festival's inner meaning.

Gujarat celebrates the day after Diwali as Bestu Varas, the New Year, and greets it with 'Saal Mubarak'. Maharashtra begins with Vasu Baras (worship of the cow and calf) and builds clay forts for children. In Bengal, Odisha and Assam the new-moon night belongs to Kali Puja, with lamps for the ancestors. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh mark Naraka Chaturdashi with a pre-dawn oil bath, new clothes and crackers. Goa burns effigies of Narakasura at dawn. In Varanasi, Dev Deepawali fifteen days later, on Kartik Purnima, lights the ghats. In Nepal the festival is Tihar, honouring crows, dogs and cows before Bhai Tika.

Sweets are made and exchanged for days: laddoos, barfi, kaju katli, gujiya, chakli and shankarpali in Maharashtra, mathiya and chorafali in Gujarat, murukku and adhirasam in the South. Kheel (puffed rice) and sugar batashe are offered to Lakshmi. Other customs include wearing new clothes, buying utensils on Dhanteras, drawing small footprints of Lakshmi entering the home, playing cards or dice in some families as a nod to the legend of Shiva and Parvati's game, and visiting relatives with gifts.

Many families now choose clay diyas over electric strings, restrict or skip firecrackers for the sake of clean air and animals, and gift sweets to sanitation workers and neighbours.

At its heart Diwali is about welcoming light into a dark place. The new moon is the darkest night of the month, and the festival answers it not with argument but with a small flame in every window. For many families it is the one time in the year when the whole home is cleaned, debts are settled, quarrels are put aside and new beginnings are made. Its stories point the same way: the return of rightful order with Rama, freedom from captivity with Krishna, and prosperity that stays only where there is cleanliness, effort and generosity.