Days until Diwali 2026
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Lakshmi Puja falls on Sunday, November 8, 2026.
No ticking clock here: a festival arrives in days, not seconds.
The five days of Diwali 2026
- DhanterasNov 6, 2026
Buy a piece of metal, light the first diyas, honor health as the first wealth.
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali)Nov 7, 2026
The early oil bath, a few diyas at dusk, sweets begun.
- Diwali: Lakshmi PujaNov 8, 2026
The main night: rangoli, rows of lamps, and the family puja after dusk.
- Govardhan Puja (Annakut)Nov 9, 2026
Gratitude for food and shelter; many families cook an annakut spread.
- Bhai DoojNov 10, 2026
Sisters and brothers close the week with tilak, aarti, and a shared meal.
The Lakshmi Puja date is from our verified table; the surrounding days follow the usual tithi pattern and are pending panchang verification.
How to get your home ready
Two weekends out: clear and clean
Diwali cleaning is not chores, it is theology: you are making room for Lakshmi. Declutter one space that has been bothering the household all year, and let everyone claim a corner.
The week of: light and color
Draw a rangoli at the entrance (chalk and stencils count), check your diya and oil supply or set out tea lights, and put string lights where the wind cannot argue with a flame.
Diwali evening: the puja itself
Keep it simple and together: bathe and dress before dusk, set Lakshmi and Ganesha at a cleaned altar, light the lamps as a family, offer sweets, and do one aarti with everyone in the room. Phones down, kids holding the thali.
With kids and neighbors
Give children jobs: lamp placement, sweet boxes for neighbors of every background, one story of Rama's return told at dinner. A festival a child helps run is a festival they keep.
Apartment-safe light
Battery diyas on windowsills, one real flame supervised at the altar if your lease allows, and never a lamp left burning where no one is awake. The row of lights matters more than the fuel.
This Diwali, light a lamp for every name in the house
The Family Pack sends each person their own blessing page in one order: parents, children, the friend who hosts every year. Every verse quoted from a named source.
More dates: full festival calendar · all panchang tools