The five days of Diwali: what each day is, and why the South celebrates a different morning

What are the five days of Diwali? In most of North and West India they are Dhanteras (the 13th lunar day of the dark fortnight), Naraka Chaturdashi or Choti Diwali (the 14th), Lakshmi Puja on the new-moon night (Amavasya), Govardhan Puja, also called Annakut and Bali Pratipada (the first day of the bright fortnight), and Bhai Dooj, also called Yama Dwitiya (the second). The new-moon evening is the main night. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are different. There, the main Deepavali is the Chaturdashi itself, celebrated before sunrise with an oil bath, new clothes and lamps. It marks Krishna and Satyabhama's victory over the demon Narakasura. Bengal, Odisha and Assam give the new-moon night to Goddess Kali. This guide goes through the days one at a time, then region by region. It gives no dates. The reason is explained below.

Why each day has its own "clock"

Every Diwali day is tied to a tithi (lunar day), and a tithi does not begin at midnight or at sunrise. It can start at any hour and lasts roughly a day. So each observance carries a rule about which part of the day the tithi must cover:

Observance	The rule Panchang makers apply (as Drik Panchang describes it)
Lakshmi Puja	Amavasya must be running during pradosh, the period just after sunset
Kali Puja (Bengal)	Amavasya must be running at midnight
Kali Chaudas	Chaturdashi must be running at midnight (maha nishita)
Abhyang snan / Tamil Deepavali	Chaturdashi must be running in the hours before sunrise
Yama Dwitiya puja	the afternoon (aparahna) of Shukla Dwitiya

Because the rules look at different hours, two observances that belong to "different days" can fall on the same date in one year and a day apart in another. Drik Panchang notes, for example, that Naraka Chaturdashi's dawn bath and the Lakshmi Puja evening fall on the same calendar date when Chaturdashi is still running before sunrise and Amavasya has begun by sunset. Govardhan Puja is usually the day after Lakshmi Puja, but there is sometimes a gap day.

Month names add a second layer. In the amanta calendars of the South and West, the dark fortnight before Diwali belongs to Ashvina. In the purnimanta calendars of the North, the same fortnight is called Kartika. The days are the same; only the label changes. Our guide to amanta and purnimanta months explains why.

Where to get the date. This guide gives no dates. For 2026, see our Diwali 2026 dates and Lakshmi Puja muhurat by city; for other years, use a Panchang calculated for your own city, or ask your family pandit. Our daily Panchang shows the day's tithi, and the Vedic Ghadi shows how the Hindu day is counted from sunrise.

Day 1: Dhanteras, Dhanvantari Trayodashi and Yama Deepam

Dhanteras, also called Dhantrayodashi, falls on Krishna Trayodashi. Three observances share this day:

• Lakshmi and Kubera. According to Drik Panchang, Lakshmi emerged from the churning of the milky ocean on this tithi. Households worship her together with Kubera, the treasurer of the gods, in the evening. Drik also notes that the Amavasya Lakshmi Puja two days later is the more significant one.
• Dhanvantari Jayanti. The same tithi is celebrated as the birth of Dhanvantari, physician of the gods and patron of Ayurveda. In the legend he rose from the ocean carrying the pot of nectar. Ayurvedic practitioners mark the day especially.
• Yama Deepam (Yamadeep). At dusk, a lamp is lit outside the home for Yama, the god of death. Tradition holds that this lamp guards the family against untimely death.

Buying on Dhanteras. Buying gold or other valuables on this day is a widespread custom, and Panchang publishers even print "good times" for it. That is a custom about auspicious beginnings, not a promise of returns. Lists of "things you must not buy on Dhanteras" circulate every year. We did not find their rules in the Panchang pages we used for this article, so treat them as local or family custom.

Day 2: Naraka Chaturdashi, Kali Chaudas and Hanuman Puja

Krishna Chaturdashi carries the most names, and it is also where regional practice differs most.

• Naraka Chaturdashi / Roop Chaudas / Choti Diwali. The day remembers the killing of the demon Narakasura. Its central rite is abhyang snan, a bath after an oil and ubtan (herbal paste) massage, taken before sunrise while Chaturdashi is running. Drik Panchang says sesame oil is used. It also says the bath is suggested on Chaturdashi, Amavasya and Pratipada, but that the Chaturdashi bath matters most. Tradition holds that this bath spares a person from naraka, the realm of suffering.
• Kali Chaudas (mainly Gujarat). It falls on the same tithi but follows the midnight rule, so it can come a day before Naraka Chaturdashi. Drik Panchang notes that its rites include midnight worship at cremation grounds, and that many Panchangs list it together with Naraka Chaturdashi without making this distinction.
• Hanuman Puja. In parts of India, especially Gujarat, Hanuman is worshipped on this day for strength and protection. The Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya keeps it as Hanuman Jayanti, while most of North India celebrates Hanuman Jayanti on Chaitra Purnima.

Day 3: Lakshmi Puja on Amavasya

The new-moon evening is the heart of Diwali in most of India. Homes are cleaned and lit, and Lakshmi is worshipped with Ganesha after sunset, during pradosh. Drik Panchang's calendar also lists Sharda Puja on this evening. This guide doesn't list the puja steps, because families follow their own vidhi (procedure). Ask your family pandit if you are doing it for the first time.

Two regional differences matter here:

• Bengal, Odisha and Assam worship Kali on this night. Kali Puja follows the midnight rule, so in some years it falls a day before Lakshmi Puja. In these regions the main Lakshmi Puja is Kojagara, on the full moon of Ashvina, about two weeks earlier.
• In North India, the story most often told about the night is Rama's return to Ayodhya. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the festival's story is Narakasura's defeat, which is why the celebration moves to the Chaturdashi dawn (see below).

Day 4: Govardhan Puja, Annakut and Bali Pratipada

The first day of the bright fortnight has three faces:

• Govardhan Puja / Annakut. This day remembers Krishna lifting Govardhan hill to shelter the people of Braj from Indra's storm. Drik Panchang says food made of cereals such as wheat and rice, a gram-flour curry and leafy vegetables is cooked and offered to Krishna; annakut is glossed on Wikipedia as a "mountain of food". Devotees also worship an image of Govardhan Hill made of cow dung.
• Bali Pratipada / Bali Padva (especially Maharashtra). In the Vamana legend, Vishnu pushed the generous demon-king Bali down to the underworld, then granted him a boon to return to earth. Drik Panchang says Bali is believed to stay on earth for three days and bless his devotees, and that religious texts prescribe drawing an image of him with his wife Vindhyavali for worship.
• New Year in Gujarat. Drik Panchang notes that the Gujarati community celebrates Kartika Shukla Pratipada as Nutan Varsh, the New Year. Old account books are closed and new ones are worshipped (chopda pujan). See India's regional calendars and new years.

Why is Govardhan Puja celebrated? (Govardhan puja kyu manaya jata hai?) The usual answer is the story above. In the version Wikipedia summarises, the people agreed with Krishna's advice to stop their worship of Indra; Indra, angered, sent storms and heavy rain, and Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill to shelter them until Indra accepted defeat.

Day 5: Bhai Dooj, Yama Dwitiya and Chitragupta Puja

Shukla Dwitiya closes the festival.

• Bhai Dooj / Bhaiya Dooj / Bhau Beej. Sisters apply a tilak to their brothers, perform aarti and feed them, praying for their long lives, and brothers give gifts in return. The story behind it, the one people search for as "Bhai Dooj story Yamraj", is that Yamuna invited her brother Yama, the god of death, to her home on this day and fed him. Pleased, Yama granted a boon: a brother who eats at his sister's home on this day will not suffer the torments of Yama's realm. That is why the day is also called Yama Dwitiya, and why a bath in the Yamuna on this day is considered especially meritorious.
• Chitragupta Puja. Chitragupta, Yama's record-keeper, keeps the account of every being's deeds. He is worshipped on the same tithi, mainly by the Kayastha community, together with pens, inkpots and account books. Drik Panchang notes that this is why the day is also called Masyadhara Puja (masyadhara means inkpot).

Why Tamil Nadu celebrates Deepavali on Chaturdashi morning

This is the question the festival raises most often outside the North. The short answer is that Tamil Nadu and Karnataka celebrate Deepavali for a different event, at a different hour.

• The event. Across most of North India, Diwali night is associated with Rama's homecoming. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Deepavali celebrates the killing of Narakasura by Krishna and Satyabhama.
• The hour. That victory belongs to Chaturdashi, so Deepavali is fixed on the day when Chaturdashi is running in the Brahma muhurta, the last part of the night before sunrise.
• What people do. Families rise before dawn, take the oil bath, put on new clothes, perform puja, light lamps and, where it is allowed, burst crackers. The lamps are lit at dawn rather than after dusk.
• How it relates to the North. The same Chaturdashi rites are kept elsewhere as Naraka Chaturdashi, but there the oil bath is the main event. Depending on how the tithis fall, Tamil Deepavali comes either one day before or on the same date as the North's Lakshmi Puja.

So a Chennai family and a Delhi family can both say "Diwali is today" and be talking about different mornings and evenings. Neither has the date wrong.

Other regional patterns

• Maharashtra starts a day early, on Govatsa Dwadashi (also listed as Vasu Baras). Bali Padva and Bhau Beej are its names for the fourth and fifth days.
• Gujarat starts two days early, on Agyaras (Ekadashi), and continues to Labh Panchami. The new year falls in between, on Pratipada.
• Bengal, Odisha and Assam centre the new-moon night on Kali Puja.

Firecrackers. Customs around crackers vary by region, and so do the rules on when and where they may be used. Check what your city currently allows.

Questions people ask

Diwali ke 5 din ke naam kya hain? (What are the names of the five days?) Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali), Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj.

Why is Diwali celebrated for five days? Each day marks a different tradition: the emergence of Lakshmi and Dhanvantari, Narakasura's defeat, the new-moon Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan, and Yama and Yamuna. Over time these have been kept together as one festival period that runs from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. Some regions extend it further, as described above.

Why do two calendars show Dhanteras on different dates? Usually because the Trayodashi tithi spans two civil dates, and calendars apply the pradosh rule for different cities, or apply it differently. Use a Panchang calculated for your own city.

I'm not Hindu and have been invited to Govardhan Puja. What should I bring? Ask your hosts what is customary in their family or temple. Practice varies, and a host will usually be glad you asked.

How do families keep Bhai Dooj after a brother has died? There is no single rule. Some families pause the day for a while, and others keep it in a quieter, remembering way. It is a good question to ask family elders or your pandit.