Deepavali Amavasai · Lakshmi Puja Observance The new moon that follows the Tamil Deepavali, the evening on which Lakshmi is worshipped and the account books of the trading year are closed and opened again.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Deepavali Amavasai · Lakshmi Puja
- தமிழ்
- தீபாவளி அமாவாசை · லட்சுமி பூஜை
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The new moon that follows the Tamil Deepavali, the evening on which Lakshmi is worshipped and the account books of the trading year are closed and opened again. Tamil households also keep the Kedara Gowri vratam on this day, a twenty-one day vow for Parvati that ends here.
- Deity
- Lakshmi, Kubera, Gowri
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
The hour
The rule in words
Pradosha, the two hours and twenty-four minutes after sunset, is the Lakshmi puja hour; the tithi is read at that instant, which is why the puja can fall on the day before the Amavasya that holds the sunrise.
The fast
Those keeping the Kedara Gowri vratam fast through the day and eat after the evening puja. Lamps, lotus, and a coin or an ornament are set before Lakshmi.
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu keeps Deepavali on the Naraka Chaturdasi morning and the Lakshmi puja on this following evening; the north keeps both on the one Diwali night, which is why the two calendars can differ by a day.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
The Satyanarayana vratam and katha at home. Pournami is the day of the vratam and Ekadasi the next best; Kartika Pournami, Vaishakha Pournami and the Sankranti days are the ones most families choose. Thursday, the day of Guru, comes first among the weekdays, and Tuesday is the one usually passed over. The puja is done in the evening and the prasadam shared after the katha, so no lagna window is computed here.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.