Kundli.me · Festivals
The festival of lights and Lakshmi.
When is it?
Sunday
8 days to go
The date follows the tithi in the panchang; when a tithi shortens or lengthens, some places keep the festival a day earlier or later.
Why it is celebrated
Deepavali means “a row of lamps”, and the festival is exactly that before it is anything else: on the no-moon night of Kartik, when the sky gives no light at all, every house supplies its own.
The story and belief
No single story owns the day; several run together, and which one a family tells depends largely on where it is from. In the north it is the return of Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and the defeat of Ravana, the city lit end to end to welcome him.
The story and belief · continued
In the west and south the emphasis falls on Krishna's killing of Narakasura the day before. From the samudra manthan comes the account of Lakshmi rising from the churned ocean on this very night, which is the reason the puja is hers.
Main rituals
The Diwali puja is done after dark, in Pradosh Kaal, with Lakshmi and Ganesha worshipped together — Ganesha first, as at the start of any undertaking, and Lakshmi at his left.
Across India
Customs differ from home to home and region to region; these are the main forms, not a rule everywhere.
Often asked
What is Chopda Pujan or bahi-khata puja?
It is the worship of the new account books on Diwali night, kept by trading families across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and much of North India.
Often asked · answer continued
The old ledger is settled and set aside, the new one is wrapped in red cloth, a swastik is drawn on the first page with “Shubh” and “Labh” written on either side, and the pen, cash box and now the laptop are worshipped with it. Trading in the new year opens the next morning, on Balipratipada.
Diwali (Lakshmi Puja)
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