Diwali (Deepavali) 2026: Date, Tithi, Puja Vidhi, Muhurat

Significance & Scriptural Basis

India's biggest festival. Celebrates Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Also marks the worship of Goddess Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity. Symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance.

Puja Vidhi

• Clean the puja space and wear fresh clothes.
• Light a deepa and take sankalp before beginning.
• Clean and decorate house with rangoli and diyas. Perform Lakshmi-Ganesh puja at pradosh kaal (after sunset). Open new account books (Chopda Pujan). Light diyas in every corner. Distribute sweets and gifts. Wear new clothes.
• Offer flowers, water, naivedya, and mantra japa.
• Perform aarti and distribute prasad to family members.
• Complete the observance with charity according to capacity.

Shubh Muhurat

For Diwali (Deepavali), the key computed timing is: Lakshmi Puja Muhurat: 17:55-19:50. City-specific sunrise and sunset can change the final local window.

Remedies

• Sankalp: Begin with a clear sankalp for family welfare and dharmic conduct.
• Daan: Offer food, clothes, or dakshina according to capacity.
• Mantra Japa: Chant the name or mantra of the presiding deity with a steady mind.

Fasting (Vrat)

A compulsory vrat is not prescribed across all traditions for this day.

Regional Variations

Regional customs vary by family, sampradaya, and local panchang. Common references include: Deepavali.

The Five Days of Diwali

Diwali is not one evening but a five-day arc across the dark fortnight of Kartik, each day with its own deity, its own tithi and its own household task. Knowing the sequence matters because the Lakshmi puja on Amavasya is only the centre of it.

• Dhanteras (Kartik Krishna Trayodashi): the birthday of Dhanvantari, physician of the gods. Families buy a new utensil, silver or gold, and light the Yamadeep, a single lamp facing south for Yamaraj, so that untimely death stays away from the home.
• Naraka Chaturdashi, also called Choti Diwali (Chaturdashi): the morning abhyanga snan with sesame oil and ubtan before sunrise recalls Krishna and Satyabhama freeing the sixteen thousand captives of Narakasura. Fourteen diyas are lit in the evening.
• Lakshmi Puja (Amavasya, the page date above): the darkest night of the month, chosen precisely so that lamplight is the only light. In Bengal and Assam the same night is Kali Puja.
• Govardhan Puja or Annakut (Kartik Shukla Pratipada, Tuesday, 10 November 2026): a mound of grains and sweets is offered to Giriraj and cows are worshipped, remembering Krishna lifting the hill against Indra's rain.
• Bhai Dooj (Dwitiya, Wednesday, 11 November 2026): sisters apply tilak to their brothers, echoing Yamuna welcoming her brother Yama, and the festival closes with a shared meal.

Lakshmi Puja Vidhi, Step by Step

The puja is performed after sunset in Pradosh Kaal (17:27 to 19:51), ideally inside the fixed Vrishabha lagna window (17:55 to 19:50), because a sthir lagna is believed to make Lakshmi's presence stable in the house. Amavasya itself runs from 2026-11-08 11:28 to 2026-11-09 12:32, and households that follow the Mahanisha tradition perform a second, quieter puja in Nishita Kaal (23:36 to 00:24).

1. Finish cleaning in daylight; the doorway gets a rangoli and a torana of mango leaves and marigold, with small footprints of Lakshmi drawn inward from the threshold.
2. Set a wooden chowki in the north-east or facing east, spread a red or yellow cloth, and place the idols of Lakshmi and Ganesha on it, Ganesha to Lakshmi's left, with Kubera or a coin pot beside them.
3. Fill a kalash with water, a coin, betel nut, akshat and a few drops of gangajal; crown it with five mango leaves and a coconut wrapped in red cloth.
4. Take sankalp with water in the right palm, naming the family and the wish for prosperity, then invoke Ganesha first so the puja proceeds without obstacle.
5. Bathe the idols with panchamrit (milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar) and then clean water; dry them and dress them in fresh cloth or a mauli thread.
6. Offer haldi, kumkum, sandal paste and akshat, then lotus or marigold flowers, and light dhoop and a ghee lamp; a five-wick lamp for Lakshmi is traditional.
7. Place the naivedya: kheer, batasha, makhana, laddoo, dry fruits and seasonal fruit; merchants also keep the new account books (Chopda) and the cash box before the goddess.
8. Recite the Shri Suktam or the mantra Om Shreem Mahalakshmyai Namah one hundred and eight times on a lotus-seed or tulsi mala.
9. Perform the Lakshmi aarti with the whole family, ring the bell and blow the conch, then circulate the aarti flame to every member.
10. Carry lit diyas to every room, the kitchen, the tulsi plant, the well or water tap, the gate and the roof; leave one lamp burning through the night near the kalash.
11. Distribute prasad and sweets, greet neighbours, and do not sweep the floor after the puja, so that the goddess who has entered is not swept out.

Puja Samagri Checklist

Gather everything before sunset so the muhurat is spent in worship, not in errands.

• Idols or pictures of Lakshmi and Ganesha; a chowki with red or yellow cloth
• Kalash, coconut, mango leaves, betel leaves and nuts, cloves and cardamom
• Earthen diyas, cotton wicks, ghee, mustard oil, camphor, incense sticks and dhoop
• Roli, kumkum, haldi, chandan, akshat rice, mauli thread and gangajal
• Panchamrit ingredients: milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar
• Flowers and garlands: lotus, marigold, rose; tulsi leaves for the naivedya
• Sweets and fruit: kheer, batasha, laddoo, makhana, dry fruits, sugarcane, pomegranate
• Coins, silver, ornaments and the account books for Kubera and Chopda pujan
• Bell, conch, aarti thali, matchbox and rangoli colours

Regional Diwali Traditions

The festival changes shape across India while keeping the same lamp at its heart.

• Bengal, Assam and Odisha worship Kali on Amavasya night with hibiscus, midnight pujas and lamps for ancestors.
• Gujarat treats the next morning as Bestu Varas, the new year; traders close the old ledgers with Chopda pujan on Diwali night.
• Maharashtra begins earlier with Vasu Baras for the cow and calf and ends with Balipratipada, when wives perform aukshan for husbands.
• Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra keep Naraka Chaturdashi as the main day, with the pre-dawn oil bath, new clothes and Deepavali lehiyam.
• Goa burns effigies of Narakasura at dawn; Varanasi waits a fortnight for Dev Deepawali on Kartik Purnima, when the ghats are lined with lakhs of lamps.
• Punjab remembers Bandi Chhor Divas at the Golden Temple; Jains mark Mahavira's nirvana; in Nepal the same week is Tihar, with a day each for crows, dogs, cows and brothers.

Whatever the region, the caution is the same: keep fireworks away from the diya corner, use cotton wicks rather than synthetic ones near cloth, and give the first sweet of the night to someone outside the family.