Lamps on rangoli during Diwali festival by Abhijit S. Rehpade, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Diwali
Five days of light observed differently in almost every region of India — where to be, and what to know before arriving.
A five-day festival of light observed across India and the diaspora, set by the lunar calendar and falling in October or November.
The Essentials
Diwali is a religious and family observance, and its public brilliance is a consequence rather than the point. The dates move with the lunar calendar and land in October or November; the festival runs over about five days, each with its own meaning, and what those days look like varies substantially across India.
The regional differences are real. In the north the emphasis falls on Lakshmi, lamps and the return of Rama; in the south the timing and the observance differ, and in parts of the east the festival is centred on Kali instead. A traveller who has read only one description will be surprised by another state.
It is also, practically, one of the busiest weeks of the Indian year. Domestic transport fills, cities empty of people travelling home and fill with people arriving, and air quality in parts of the north deteriorates sharply around the festival — a genuine consideration for anyone with respiratory sensitivity.
Where to experience Diwali
The places this happens, and what each one is actually like.
The ghats and the river at their most concentrated, with Dev Deepawali following a fortnight later — a different festival, often confused with Diwali itself.
The market illuminations are the distinctive thing here, with whole bazaars lit as a civic event rather than only homes and temples.
Diwali coincides with Bandi Chhor Divas, observed at the Golden Temple — a separate Sikh commemoration sharing the date, and worth understanding as such.
A different emphasis and in places a different day. Worth choosing deliberately rather than assuming the northern version travels.
The Deepotsav lamp-lighting along the Sarayu is now a large civic event, and a very different scale of spectacle from a city's own street lighting. Accommodation is limited, so this is one to plan early.
Bengal marks Kali Puja on the same night rather than Lakshmi Puja, with its own pandals and imagery. A genuinely different observance, not a regional variation of the same one.
How to plan your Diwali trip
It is an observance you are a guest at. Much of Diwali happens in homes and temples rather than in the street. Ask before photographing a rite or a family, follow guidance about which spaces are open to visitors, and accept that some of it is not for you to attend.
Travel before or after, not during. The days around the festival are among the heaviest for Indian domestic transport as people travel home. Internal legs should be held early, and a buffer day is worth more than usual.
Air quality is a real consideration in the north. Fireworks combined with the seasonal conditions can push northern Indian air quality down sharply around the festival. Anyone with asthma or a respiratory condition should plan with that in mind.
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