Dev Deepawali 2026
24 November 2026

Dev Deepawali, the Diwali of the gods, is kept in Kashi on the evening of Kartik Purnima. As the sun sets, lamps are lit along all the ghats of Varanasi, from one end of the river front to the other, and diyas are set afloat on the Ganga. Tradition holds that on this night the gods come down to Kashi to bathe in the Ganga and celebrate, and the city lights the lamps for them.

The celebration remembers Shiva’s victory over Tripurasura, the three flying cities of the asuras, which is why Kartik Purnima is also called Tripurari Purnima. The gods are said to have lit lamps in joy at that victory. Families do deepdaan on the river, attend the Ganga aarti, and worship Shiva and Ganga. Because the lamps belong to the evening, the day is set by the Purnima at pradosh.

• Earthen diyas
• Ghee or mustard oil
• Cotton wicks
• Leaf cups (dona) for floating lamps
• Flowers and marigold garlands
• Gangajal
• Bel patra for Shiva
• Dhoop
• Rangoli colours
• Sweets for prasad

Source: Shiva Purana; the fall of Tripura is also told in the Mahabharata

The three sons of the asura Taraka won a boon from Brahma and had three cities built for them, one of gold, one of silver and one of iron, that moved through the earth, sky and heaven. The cities could fall only to a single arrow, loosed at the moment the three came into one line. Safe in them, the asuras troubled the three worlds.

The gods turned to Shiva. A chariot was made for him from the powers of creation, and the gods themselves became its parts, with Brahma as its charioteer. When the three cities came into line, Shiva loosed one arrow and burned all three. From then he was called Tripurari, the enemy of Tripura.

Tradition holds that the victory came on Kartik Purnima, and that the gods celebrated it by lighting lamps. Kashi, Shiva’s own city, keeps that night each year as the gods’ Diwali.

What to do

• Light the lamps after sunset, in pradosh, since the festival belongs to the evening.
• Float diyas in leaf cups with flowers, so that what you offer to the Ganga goes back to the river cleanly.
• If you go to the ghats, reach early and keep children back from the water’s edge, as the crowds are very large.
• If you cannot be in Kashi, light diyas at home and at a nearby river or temple, as many families do.

What to avoid

• Avoid floating plastic, thermocol or foil in the river; the Ganga is the one being honoured.
• Families keeping the day avoid meat and alcohol, as the whole Kartik month is kept sattvik.

Dev Deepawali is above all a festival of Varanasi, where the ghats are lit end to end; Kartik Purnima itself is known across India as Tripurari Purnima. Being a Purnima, its month is Kartik in both the Purnimanta and Amanta calendars, since the full moon closes Kartik in both.

Dev Deepawali is kept on the evening the Purnima holds at pradosh, after sunset, while the snan and daan of Kartik Purnima go by the Purnima at sunrise. When the Purnima begins in the afternoon of one day and ends the next morning, Dev Deepawali falls a day before the Kartik Purnima snan. Since sunset is read at each place, the date can also differ between cities.