Diwali and Lakshmi Puja — The Five Days, the Meaning, and How to Worship
A guide to Diwali — the five days of the festival of lights, why Lakshmi is invited into the home on the new-moon night, the regional meanings from Rama's return to the Lakshmi Puja, and which texts to recite.
Diwali — Deepavali, “a row of lamps” — is the best known of all Hindu festivals, and also the most layered. It is not a single night but a sequence of five, and it carries several meanings at once: the return of a king, the welcoming of a goddess, the turn of the business year, and, at its simplest, the victory of light over darkness.
Five days, not one
The festival unfolds across five days around the new moon of Kartika (October–November):
- Dhanteras — the thirteenth tithi, when households buy metal, gold, or utensils and worship Lakshmi and Dhanvantari for health and prosperity.
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Chhoti Diwali) — marking Krishna’s defeat of the demon Narakasura.
- Lakshmi Puja — the new-moon night, the festival’s peak, when the goddess is invited into the home.
- Govardhan Puja / Annakut — commemorating Krishna’s lifting of Mount Govardhan, with a “mountain” of food offered to the deity.
- Bhai Dooj — honouring the bond between brothers and sisters.
Why Lakshmi, and why lamps
On the darkest night of the month, tradition holds that Lakshmi — the goddess of shri, auspiciousness and abundance — walks the earth and enters the homes that are ready to receive her. “Ready” is the operative word: she is said to enter only a house that is clean, orderly, and lit. This is why Diwali is preceded by a thorough cleaning and why every threshold, window, and courtyard is lined with diyas. The lamps are both an invitation and a symbol — the inner light of awareness answering the outer dark.
In much of North India the same night carries a second meaning: the return of Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, the citizens lighting his path home with lamps. The two stories coexist without conflict, and many families hold both in mind.
How the Lakshmi Puja is performed
On the new-moon evening, families gather for the Lakshmi Puja, usually alongside Ganesh, who is worshipped first as the remover of obstacles. The customary elements are simple: a clean, lit space; images of Lakshmi and Ganesh; lotus or marigold flowers; sweets and kheer; and often coins or account books placed before the goddess, since the night also opens the new financial year for many trading communities. Lamps are lit throughout the house and, in the older custom, the doors are left open so the goddess may enter freely. The Sri Suktam is recited for her invocation, followed by the aarti.
Texts to recite
Diwali is the year’s great occasion for the Lakshmi texts in our library. The Lakshmi Chalisa and the Om Jai Lakshmi Mata aarti anchor the household worship; the Vedic Sri Suktam is the classical invocation of the goddess; and the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam is a short, potent eight-verse praise. All are gathered on the Lakshmi page.
Because the north also keeps Diwali as Rama’s homecoming, some families add a Rama recitation — the Ram Chalisa or Shri Ramachandra Kripalu — to the evening.