Festivals · Diwali
Diwali 2026
The festival of lights, when the year's warmest evening arrives with diyas, rangoli, sweets, and the whole house lit from within.
The short answer
Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
The day of Lakshmi Puja is the heart of a five-day festival. These are the days around it, in order.
| Day | 2026 date |
|---|---|
| Dhanteras | Friday, 6 November |
| Naraka Chaturdashi / Choti Diwali | Saturday–Sunday, 7–8 November |
| Lakshmi Puja / Diwali | Sunday, 8 November |
| Govardhan Puja | Tuesday, 10 November |
| Bhai Dooj | 10–11 November |
The meaning
What Diwali celebrates
Diwali is the festival of lights — the night the house says, in a hundred small flames, that light wins and darkness does not get the last word.
Light over darkness
The lamps are not decoration. They are the point. Every diya lit on Diwali night is a small, deliberate vote for light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil.
The goddess Lakshmi
Diwali honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Homes are cleaned, entrances are lit, and doors are left open in welcome, so that the year ahead arrives kindly.
A new year's turn
For many households Diwali is also a new year. Accounts are settled, new books are opened, and the festival carries the hope of a fresh, prosperous start.
The ritual
How Diwali is celebrated
There is no single Diwali. There is a house, a family, a street, and the particular way they have always done it. But a few things are everywhere.
Diyas and candles
Small clay lamps, filled with oil and a cotton wick, set along windowsills, doorsteps and courtyards. The flame is modest; together, a whole street becomes a constellation.
Rangoli at the doorstep
Patterns of coloured powder and flower petals drawn at the entrance, to welcome guests and the goddess alike. It is the first thing a visitor sees, and it is meant to be beautiful before it is anything else.
Sweets and family
Boxes of mithai move between neighbours and relatives. The house fills with people, and the kitchen with things cooked only once a year. Diwali is, above all, a table with everyone at it.
Fireworks in the evening
After the puja, the sky. Fireworks are the loudest note of the festival, and the one that asks for the most care — for children, for animals, and for neighbours who would rather sleep.
The setting
Diwali decorations
The two things every Diwali home has are diyas and rangoli — lamps to light the way in, and colour laid at the door to welcome whoever arrives. Everything else, from marigold garlands to a fresh coat of paint, follows from those two.
The table
Diwali food
Diwali is a festival of sweets, and of the dishes cooked only once a year — ladoos, barfi, and the savoury things that balance them. See our recipes for the dishes and the music we would set behind them.
The sound
Music for Diwali
Diwali is an evening, and an evening has a shape. The music starts low while the lamps are lit, gathers through the puja and the meal, and softens again as the last sweet is shared.
We have gathered the festival into a single release — one long, warm evening of music for diyas, rangoli and the last sweet of the night. It lives in our festival music section, and on the listen page alongside the rest of the catalogue.
Questions
Diwali, answered
- When is Diwali 2026?
- Diwali — the day of Lakshmi Puja — falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The festival runs across five days, from Dhanteras on Friday, 6 November through Bhai Dooj on 10–11 November.
- What is Diwali?
- Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated across India and the wider diaspora. It marks the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, and it honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
- How long is Diwali?
- Diwali is the third day of a five-day festival. The days around it — Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali), Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj — each carry their own small ritual, and together they make the festival.
- How is Diwali celebrated?
- With diyas and candles, rangoli drawn at the doorstep, new clothes, sweets shared with family and neighbours, and fireworks in the evening. Homes are cleaned and lit so Lakshmi feels welcome.