What to Know About Diwali, and How It's Celebrated

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Every year in October or November, millions of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains all across the world celebrate Diwali, a five-day festival that marks one of the biggest and most important holidays of the year in India. The religious celebration, which is also referred to as the Festival of Lights, is an auspicious occasion that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and hope over despair.

During this time, Sri Maha Lakshmi—the goddess of wealth, abundance, and well-being—is the main deity worshipped, so across India, many people light lamps and candles (known as diyas) to entice Lakshmi to visit their homes. Additionally, many Hindus will perform offering rituals called pujas, or poojas, to pray to the goddess.

While some of the Diwali festivities take place in large community gatherings (for example, families will dress in new clothes and go to the Temple for worship services), many of traditions and celebrations take place at home, according to Asha Shipman, the Hindu Chaplain at Yale University. In addition to lighting lamps, "People visit with neighbors, relatives, and friends, bringing platters of sweets and other foods. The night sky glitters and rumbles from firecrackers. It is a time of prayer, fellowship, and feasting."

While the dates vary annually based on the Hindu lunar calendar, Diwali usually occurs in October or November. This year, the biggest day of festivities (Lakshmi Puja) will take place on November 4, 2021. So before you send your friends and neighbors "Happy Diwali" wishes, learn about the five-day celebration, including the meaning behind the lights, the sweets, and rituals that make Diwali such a joyous occasion.

Diwali is a 5-day festival, but the main day of celebration is day 3—also known as Lakshmi Puja.

The five days of Diwali are as follows:

1. Dhanteras: On the first day of Diwali, people will perform rituals called puja or pooja, place tea lights around the balconies or entryways of their homes, and purchase kitchen utensils, which are believed to bring good fortune.

2. Narak Chaturdashi: Different regions celebrate this day in various ways, but many people will spend time at home and exchange sweets with friends or family. They may also decorate the floors of their home with rangolis—intricate patterns made from colored powder, rice, and flowers.

3. Lakshmi Puja: The main celebration is believed to be the most auspicious day to worship the goddess Lakshmi. Families will dress up and gather for a prayer to honor her, which is usually followed by a delicious feast, spectacular fireworks displays, and more festivities.

4. Govardhan Puja: This day is associated with Lord Krishna and the Gujarati new year. A mountain of food offerings are prepared for Puja.

5. Bhaiya Dooj: The last day is dedicated to celebrating the sibling bond. Traditionally, brothers will visit and bring gifts to their sisters, who honor them with special rituals and sweets.

Although the exact date of Lakshmi Puja changes every year, it is always held on the night of the new moon preceding the Hindu month of Kartika, according to Shipman, and on this day, Hindus will dress in new clothes and host worship services to Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha. This puja often involves preparing a clean and sacred space, offering prayers to invoke the deity, plus meditative prayers, offerings like sweets, songs, and more.

In 2019, Indian-American chef and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi gave her Instagram followers a peek into how she does her own Diwali puja offerings.

"We just did an offering to Lakshmi," explained the star of the Hulu series Taste the Nation. "We did all the things, we did honey, milk, water, turmeric, kumkum. We did this sweet with cinnamon, sugar, banana, and milk. We made all these offerings. We had all the children to do one thing, and then we all threw flowers."

The holiday's celebrations involve a lot of lights—including tea lights, sparklers, and even fireworks.

The presence of lights in many different forms is crucial to celebrating this five-day festival. "Diwali derives its name from the clay oil lamp called a diya. Diyas are hand-crafted little cups with flattened rims painted in bright colors and filled with oil. A cotton wick is placed half in the oil and half on a small shelf on the rim of the diya," explains Shipman, who notes that in modern times, many people now use tea lights instead.

"Across India, families place rows of oil lamps along the foundations, entry paths and balconies of their dwellings," Shipman continues. "And that gives forth another name for the celebration: Deepavali. Deep, another name for the oil lamp, and avali which means 'rows or clusters of lamps.'" These rows of diyas (or tea lights) are intended to dispel the darkness, fear, and ignorance, as well as entice Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and well-being into the home.

In addition to these lights and decorations, on Lakshmi Puja day, people will set off sparklers and fireworks to celebrate. (Though, in recent years, these activities have been scaled back due to concerns about pollution and air quality.) But it's not just all for show. According to Shipman, "the firecrackers symbolize a way to let things go," and to help release negative emotions.

Other Diwali traditions include dressing up, creating rangolis, and sharing sweets.

According to Shipman, many families will dress up in new clothes on the main day of Diwali before hosting religious worship rituals or going to temple. In addition to looking sharp, sharing delicious desserts with friends and family is important. "Sweets are very, very important in our Diwali celebrations," notes Shipman, who says she gets treats like mysore pak, a crumbly chickpea flour based sweet, and barfi from the Indian grocery store to share with her students at Yale. "The sweets signify forgetting any bitterness between us and letting bygones be bygones."

Visual decorations like rangolis (an art form using colored sand, flowers, or other materials) are also popular ways to celebrate Diwali. According to Shipman these designs are often placed near the entrance of the family home and contain "motifs favored by Lakshmi, including lotuses, elephants, conches, om, and footprints." Last year, actress Mindy Kaling took to Instagram to share a picture of her own rangoli—along with a glimpse of her daughter—captioning the cute photo: "When you’re drawing Diwali Rangolis and your daughter leaves with all the chalk."

Diwali is India's biggest holiday, but it's also celebrated around the world—including at the White House.

Today, Diwali is celebrated by millions of people across the globe—from Melbourne, Australia, to San Antonio, Texas. In fact, it's even celebrated at the White House. In 2009, former President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to observe Diwali, and in 2016, he marked the holiday by lighting a diya in the Oval Office.

"As Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists light the diya, share in prayers, decorate their homes, and open their doors to host and feast with loved ones, we recognize that this holiday rejoices in the triumph of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance," he said in a Facebook post at the time. "It also speaks to a broader truth about our shared American experience. It's a reminder of what's possible when we see beyond the differences that too often divide us. It's a reflection of the hopes and dreams that bind us together. And it's a time to renew our collective obligation to deepen those bonds, to stand in each other's shoes and see the world through each other's eyes, and to embrace each other as brothers and sisters - and as fellow Americans."

In 2020, just days after being elected the first Black, South Asian, and woman Vice President, Kamala Harris took to social media to mark the auspicious holiday. "Happy Diwali and Sal Mubarak!" she wrote. "@DouglasEmhoff and I wish everyone celebrating around the world a safe, healthy, and joyous new year."

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