Deepavali Festival The festival of lights.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Deepavali
- தமிழ்
- தீபாவளி
- తెలుగు
- దీపావళి
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ದೀಪಾವಳಿ
- മലയാളം
- ദീപാവലി
- हिन्दी
- दीपावली
- සිංහල
- දීපාවලී
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 festival of lights. The south keeps it as the morning Krishna killed Narakasura: the family rises before dawn, is rubbed with sesame oil, bathed, given new clothes, and the first crackers are lit while it is still dark. Lamps are put out at dusk and sweets are exchanged with the neighbours; the Kerala Deepavali is the quietest of them and the Tamil the earliest in the day.
- Deity
- Krishna, Lakshmi, Kali, Rama
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The Tamil calendar reads the Chaturdasi at arunodaya, the hour and a half before sunrise, because the oil bath belongs to it; the Telugu, Kannada and Kerala lists take the Amavasya running at sunset, when the lamps and the Lakshmi puja are.
The fast
No fast is prescribed. The first thing eaten after the bath is Deepavali lehiyam, a digestive of dry ginger, pepper and jaggery, and then the sweets.
Where the regions differ
The Tamil main day is the Naraka Chaturdasi morning; the north keeps the Amavasya evening that follows as Diwali and Lakshmi Puja; Bengal keeps that same night as Kali Puja. The two dates are usually one day apart. Sri Lanka keeps Deepavali as a public holiday across the island, on the Amavasya read at pradosha, strongest among the Tamils of the north and east and in the Colombo bazaars.
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.