What is Kārtika dīpa-dāna, and how can I do it at home?

offering lamps every evening of Kārtika — at the tulasī, the mandir, a temple or water — is the month’s signature practice.

Kārtika is the month of Dāmodara (Kṛṣṇa) and of light. The Kārtika Māhātmya praises dīpa-dāna, gifting or offering a lamp, as one of the simplest and most fruitful acts of the month, and it is open to everyone.

At home: each evening, light a ghee or sesame-oil lamp near the tulasī and another in the mandir. Many Vaiṣṇava homes sing the Dāmodarāṣṭakam while offering the lamp. Some hang an ākāśa-dīpa, a lamp raised high on a pole or the roof, for the whole month, remembered as light for the ancestors. On festival days such as Dhanteras, Diwālī and Kārtika Pūrṇimā (Dev Dīpāvalī), rows of lamps are lit, and lamps are floated on rivers in Varanasi and elsewhere.

You may also give lamps, wicks and ghee to a temple. Use clay lamps where you can, and keep flames safe from children and curtains.

Hymn: Dāmodarāṣṭakam · Source: Kārtika Māhātmya (Padma and Skanda Purāṇa)

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