Diwali Celebration in India: How Every Region Celebrates the Festival of Lights

How is Diwali celebrated in India?

Diwali is celebrated across India by lighting homes with rows of clay diyas and lanterns, drawing rangoli, performing Lakshmi Puja on the new-moon evening, wearing new clothes, sharing sweets and gifts, and bursting fireworks. The main night in 2026 is Sunday, 8 November. What changes from region to region is the focus: Kali Puja in Bengal, a dawn Deepavali in Tamil Nadu, the New Year in Gujarat, Rama's homecoming in Ayodhya and Bandi Chhor Divas for Sikhs in Punjab.

• Regions at a glance
• North
• East
• West
• South
• Himalayan hills
• Villages
• Where to see it
• 2026 calendar
• FAQ

Diwali celebrations by region at a glance

For what each ritual means, from diyas and rangoli to Chopda Pujan and Bhai Dooj, see Diwali traditions and customs.

Diwali in North India

In Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, Diwali is the night Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and the defeat of Ravana. Rama's victory itself is marked about three weeks earlier on Dussehra, when Ravana's effigies are burnt; Diwali is the homecoming, so the celebration is about light rather than fire. Homes, shops and temples are lined with diyas and electric lights, families perform Lakshmi and Ganesha Puja at dusk, and the night sky fills with fireworks. Markets such as Delhi's Chandni Chowk are packed for weeks before with shoppers buying sweets, lamps, idols and gifts.

Ayodhya marks the festival with Deepotsav, held on the eve of Diwali along the Ram ki Paidi ghats of the Saryu. In 2025 it set a Guinness World Record by lighting 26.17 lakh diyas, and another for 2,128 people performing aarti together.

The day after Diwali, Govardhan Puja is celebrated across the North, especially around Mathura and Vrindavan, with Annakut offerings to Krishna. In Punjab, Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas, the release of Guru Hargobind from Gwalior Fort; the Golden Temple in Amritsar is lit up and fireworks are set off over the sarovar. In Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, Diwali leads straight into Chhath Puja six days later, when offerings are made to the setting and rising sun from riverbanks.

Diwali in East India: Kali Puja

In West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Odisha, the Diwali new-moon night is Kali Puja, also called Shyama Puja. Goddess Kali, the fierce form of the mother goddess who destroys evil, is worshipped through the night at home, in temples such as Kalighat and Dakshineswar in Kolkata, and in community pandals built from bamboo and cloth. Homes are lit with diyas and candles, and the streets with fireworks. Bengalis worship Lakshmi earlier in the season, on Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, the full-moon night after Durga Puja.

The night before Kali Puja is Bhoot Chaturdashi. Bengali homes light 14 lamps (choddo prodeep) in dark corners and eat a dish of 14 leafy greens (choddo shaak) to keep away evil spirits and honour 14 generations of ancestors. On the last day of the festival, sisters perform Bhai Phonta, placing a sandalwood mark on their brothers' foreheads.

In Odisha, families honour their ancestors with Kaunria Kathi: they light bundles of jute sticks and hold them up to the sky in the Bada Badua Daka ritual, calling on the ancestors to come in the darkness and return along a lit path. Large gatherings perform it in front of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

Diwali in West India: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa

In Gujarat, Diwali closes the old year. Business families perform Chopda Pujan, worshipping their new account books before Lakshmi on Diwali evening, and the next day, Bestu Varas, is New Year's Day in the Vikram Samvat calendar. People wake early, visit temples, greet each other with "Saal Mubarak" and visit relatives. Homes are decorated with rangoli, often with small footprints of Lakshmi drawn walking into the house.

In Maharashtra, Diwali starts a day early with Vasu Baras, when cows and calves are worshipped. On Naraka Chaturdashi families take a pre-dawn oil bath, and many crush a small bitter karit fruit under the left heel, recalling Krishna crushing the demon Narakasura. Every home makes faral, a platter of Diwali snacks such as chakli, karanji, shankarpali, chivda and ladoo, and hangs an akash kandil lantern outside. Diwali Padwa celebrates husbands and wives, and Bhau Beej brothers and sisters.

In Goa, the highlight comes before dawn on Naraka Chaturdashi, when giant papier-mâché effigies of the demon Narkasur, built by neighbourhood groups for weeks, are paraded through the streets at night and burnt at sunrise.

Deepavali in South India

In Tamil Nadu, Deepavali celebrates Krishna's victory over Narakasura and is held at dawn on Naraka Chaturdashi, not on the new-moon night. Families rise before sunrise for an oil bath, greeted with "Ganga snanam aacha?" (have you had your Ganga bath?), put on new clothes, burst the first crackers and share sweets and Deepavali legiyam, a herbal digestive paste. Newly married couples celebrate Thalai Deepavali, their first Deepavali, at the bride's parental home, where they receive new clothes and jewellery and the blessings of elders.

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Naraka Chaturdashi honours Satyabhama, Krishna's wife, who in the local telling defeats Narakasura herself; homes are decorated with muggu patterns and lamps. In Karnataka, the day after Diwali is Bali Pratipada, which welcomes the return of the generous King Mahabali. In Kerala, Deepavali is celebrated more quietly, mainly with lamps, sweets and fireworks, as the state's biggest festivals are Onam and Vishu.

Late Diwalis of the Himalayan hills

In the hills of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some communities hold a second, later Diwali, because news of Rama's return is said to have reached the remote mountains late. Igas Bagwal in Uttarakhand is celebrated 11 days after Diwali, and Budhi Diwali, or Mangsir Diwali, about a month later in the following Hindu month. Both are known for bhailo, torches of pine or cedar wood that are lit and swung in circles while villagers sing and dance, along with cattle worship and village fairs.

Diwali in rural India

In villages, Diwali falls at the end of the kharif harvest, so it is also a thanksgiving for the crop. Farmers clean and decorate their cattle sheds, paint the horns of cows and bullocks, and worship cattle on Govardhan Puja as a source of wealth. Mud walls are freshly plastered, and doorsteps are decorated with rangoli or kolam that show Lakshmi's footprints entering the home. As night falls, rows of clay diyas outline every house and courtyard.

Where to see the biggest Diwali celebrations in India

• Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh: Deepotsav on the Saryu ghats, with lakhs of diyas, a laser show and the record-setting aarti.
• Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: diyas and Ganga aarti on Diwali, then Dev Deepawali on Kartik Purnima, Tuesday 24 November 2026, when the whole riverfront is lit.
• Kolkata, West Bengal: Kali Puja pandals across the city and night-long worship at Kalighat and Dakshineswar.
• Amritsar, Punjab: the Golden Temple lit with lamps and fireworks for Bandi Chhor Divas.
• Goa: Narkasur effigy parades and contests the night before Diwali, burnt at dawn.
• Puri, Odisha: the Bada Badua Daka jute-stick ritual in front of the Jagannath Temple.

The Diwali festival season in 2026

Diwali sits inside a longer season of festivals that run for almost three weeks in November 2026.

Igas Bagwal in Uttarakhand follows 11 days after Diwali, and Budhi Diwali about a month after. For the meaning of each of the five days, see the Diwali 2026 guide.

Diwali celebration in India: frequently asked questions