Dīpāvalī — the five days of lamps
Kārtika Amāvasyā (Āśvina in amānta), five days from Kṛṣṇa Trayodaśī to Śukla Dvitīyā · October–November
Dīpāvalī, “a row of lamps”, is the festival of light over darkness, celebrated on the darkest night of the month. It welcomes Lakṣmī, goddess of prosperity, into clean and lit homes, and remembers Rāma's return to Ayodhyā. It spans five days: Dhanteras (Dhanatrayodaśī), when people buy a new utensil or a little metal and honour Dhanvantari, god of healing; Naraka Caturdaśī or Choṭī Dīpāvalī, Kṛṣṇa's victory over Narakāsura, marked in the South by a pre-dawn oil bath; Lakṣmī Pūjā on the new moon itself; Govardhana Pūjā and Annakūṭa (Bali Pratipadā and the Gujarati New Year) the next day; and Bhāī Dūj (Yama Dvitīyā), when sisters feed and bless their brothers.
To keep it at home, clean and declutter the house, draw a rangolī at the door, and light clay diyas with ghee or oil at the entrance, windows and the tulasī. On the main evening, in the pradoṣa time shown in the panchang, worship Gaṇeśa and Lakṣmī together with a new or cleaned image, coins, account books or a pen, kumkum, rice, flowers, kheel-batāśe and sweets, and keep a lamp burning through the night. Share sweets with neighbours and remember those who have less. If you light fireworks, choose green crackers, keep water and sand nearby, keep children supervised, wear cotton, and spare animals, the elderly and the air — many families now celebrate with lamps alone.
Bengal, Odisha and Assam worship Kālī on this new moon; Gujarat begins its New Year; Goa burns effigies of Narakāsura at dawn; Varanasi lights its ghāṭs on Dev Dīpāvalī two weeks later. Jains mark Mahāvīra's nirvāṇa, and Sikhs celebrate Bandī Chhoṛ Divas.
Tradition says that when Rāma returned to Ayodhyā after fourteen years of exile and his victory over Rāvaṇa, the people lit rows of lamps to light his way home on the new-moon night. Another tradition tells that on this night Lakṣmī, who rose from the churning of the ocean of milk, wanders the earth and enters homes that are clean, lit and welcoming. In the South, the festival centres on Kṛṣṇa and Satyabhāmā slaying the tyrant Narakāsura, who had imprisoned sixteen thousand women; before dying he asked that his death be celebrated with lights. The day after, tradition remembers Kṛṣṇa lifting Govardhana hill to shelter the people of Vraja from Indra's storms.
Lakṣmī · Gaṇeśa · Kālī · Kṛṣṇa · Rāma · Lamps, rangolī, Lakṣmī Pūjā at pradoṣa · Pan-Indian; also Jain and Sikh · Skanda Purāṇa · Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10