Diwali 2026 Sun 8 Nov

Why is Diwali celebrated? The katha

On the new moon of Kartika, the heart of the five days, homes are lit with rows of lamps and Lakshmi is worshipped in the evening, so that good fortune comes in and misfortune (Alakshmi) is driven out.

Diwali is told through more than one story. The Bhavishyottara Purana, as Underhill gives it, tells of King Bali, whose devotion had won him so much power that he troubled gods and men. Vishnu came to him as Vamana, a dwarf mendicant, and asked for as much land as he could cover in three steps.

When Bali granted it, Vamana grew vast: his first step covered the earth, his second the heavens, and his third pressed Bali down into the underworld. Relenting, Vishnu gave Bali that realm to rule, and three days each year to reign on earth wherever no lamps were lit. That is why every building is lit with lamps on these nights.

Others say Diwali celebrates Rama's crowning on his return from Lanka, and many households in the north tell it that way. Kane notes that merchants worship their account books on this night, and that lamps are set at crossroads, on riverbanks and in cowpens, not only at home.

Sources: M. M. Underhill, The Hindu Religious Year (1921), pp. 60, 63; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V, pt. 1 (BORI, 1958), pp. 199–200