Category: Festival Days

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Govardhan Puja and Annakut Explained: The Day After Diwali

Govardhan Puja and Annakut Explained: The Day After Diwali

The day after Lakshmi puja is the least understood of the five days of Diwali, because it is three or four different festivals depending on where you are. In Mathura and much of the north it is Govardhan Puja, with a mountain of food. In Gujarat it is New Year’s Day. In Maharashtra it is Padwa, a day for husbands and wives. In the south and in parts of the west it is Bali Pratipada, when a demon king returns to visit his people.

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The Five Days of Diwali Explained: What Happens on Each Day and Why

The Five Days of Diwali Explained: What Happens on Each Day and Why

Ask most people when Diwali is and they will name one night. Ask their grandmother and she will name five days, each with its own name, its own story and its own list of jobs. The one night is the third; the other four are how the festival builds up and winds down.

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Diwali Across India: Regional Traditions From Kolkata to Kerala

Diwali Across India: Regional Traditions From Kolkata to Kerala

The word Diwali covers a season more than a single festival. The same five days in Kartik are Lakshmi’s night in Delhi, Kali’s night in Kolkata, Krishna’s dawn victory in Chennai, the new year in Ahmedabad, and the day the sixth Guru walked free in Amritsar. The lamps are the constant. Almost everything else changes at the state border.

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Dhanteras Guide: What to Buy, What It Means and How to Celebrate

Dhanteras Guide: What to Buy, What It Means and How to Celebrate

Dhanteras is the first of the five days of Diwali and the one most associated with buying. Markets stay open late, jewellers advertise for weeks beforehand, and even families who buy nothing else that month will bring home a steel spoon or a new broom. Walk through Chandni Chowk, Laad Bazaar or T. Nagar that evening and you will see why. Behind the shopping is a set of stories and a small evening ritual that most people know only in part.

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Bhai Dooj: Traditions, Rituals and Gift Ideas for the Last Day of Diwali

Bhai Dooj: Traditions, Rituals and Gift Ideas for the Last Day of Diwali

Two days after Lakshmi puja, when the lamps are still up and the sweets are half finished, Diwali ends with the quietest of its five days. Bhai Dooj is a ceremony between sisters and brothers: a tilak, an aarti, a meal, a gift. It has none of the noise of Diwali night and all of its warmth. For many people it is the day they remember best from childhood: a sister’s thumb pressing kumkum onto a forehead, and an envelope passed across a plate of food.

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