Diwali 2026 at home, your family's way: when to do the puja, how to do it, and what to keep ready

Two days before

1. 1Finish the cleaning. Make or order the faral: karanji, ladoo, chakli, chivda, shankarpale.
2. 2Buy utane, til oil, the bitter karit fruit, dhane and gul, and a new broom.
3. 3Decide the silver for the Lakshmi Pujan: a Lakshmi Ganesh murti or image, one diya for the aarti, a small katori for haldi and kumkum. Coins and jewellery already in the house go on the plate.

The day before

1. 1Rangoli at the door and the akashkandil up. Lamps washed, wicks and oil ready.
2. 2Vasubaras (Thursday) if your family keeps it: the cow and calf are worshipped, and milk, curd and ghee are skipped that day.
3. 3Dhanteras evening (Friday): flour diyas for the men of the house, the lamp for Yama at dusk, dhane-gul offered and shared. Buying in the 6:35 to 8:35 PM window.

On the day

1. 1Before sunrise on Sunday: a warm til oil massage, then the abhyangasnan, the festival bath, with utane (the herbal bath powder) instead of soap. Crush the bitter karit fruit under the big toe after.
2. 2New clothes, faral, lamps through the day.
3. 3Evening, 6:27 to 8:27 PM: Lakshmi Pujan. Ganesh first, then Lakshmi, with the family's coins, jewellery and the new broom placed before her. The broom is worshipped with haldi-kumkum and kept clean, never stepped on.
4. 4Offer lahya, batase and dhane-gul; aarti; one lamp kept burning all night.
5. 5Monday, Padwa: the wife does aukshan for her husband, waving the lit lamp before him, and he gives her the gift. Padwa is one of the three and a half days of the year that need no muhurat, so gold bought that morning needs no other timing.
6. 6Wednesday, Bhaubeej: the sister does aukshan for her brother between 1:30 and 3:46 PM, and he gives the ovalni gift.

Two days before

1. 1Buy the new red chopda (the account book) and the kankotri (the printed invitation card for the puja). Start the mithai: mohanthal, ghughra, sukhdi.
2. 2Dhanteras (Friday): silver or gold coins, a Lakshmi Ganesh murti or image, new utensils, diyas and a broom, bought in the 6:35 to 8:35 PM window.

The day before

1. 1Kali Chaudas (Saturday): oil applied before daybreak and a bath. Hanuman is worshipped in the evening; the naivedya is udad dal vada with puri.
2. 2Saathiya and rangoli at the door; the puja corner set with a chowki and red cloth.

On the day

1. 1Pick one of the day's good windows on Sunday: 1:47 to 3:12 PM, or 6:02 to 10:47 PM. There is also a short morning one, 11:27 AM to 12:22 PM.
2. 2Set the kalash and the images of Lakshmi, Ganesh and Maa Sharda; the Gujarati order gives Saraswati her place first.
3. 3Place the new chopda before them, tie with thread, tilak of kumkum and haldi on each book. On the first page: Swastik, Om and Shubh-Labh; many open with Shri Sava. A laptop lid gets the same marks now.
4. 4Gold and silver coins laid on the books; flowers, sweets and coins offered; aarti; a lamp kept burning.
5. 5Monday, Bestu Varas: temple at dawn, Annakut, Saal Mubarak to everyone, elders' feet touched first.
6. 6Saturday 14 November, Labh Pancham: the shop or office reopens, the ledgers and Ganesha are worshipped with kumkum, and Swastik and Shubh-Labh go on the threshold.

Two days before

1. 1Clean the house and the ghar derasar. Arrange the Nirvan ladoo for the temple.
2. 2Buy the new chopda if the family trades; ghee diyas, kesar-chandan, vaskshep and rice for the sathiya.

The day before

1. 1Many Shvetambar families begin a two-day fast covering Diwali and the new year; the Uttaradhyayan Sutra is read.
2. 2Lamps cleaned and set; no firecrackers bought in most homes, on the ahimsa principle.

On the day

1. 1Sunday: temple darshan; the Nirvan ladoo offered after praying to Bhagwan Mahavir.
2. 2Recitation of the Uttaradhyayan Sutra, his last discourse, and japa through the night.
3. 3Ghee diyas at dusk, for the light of his enlightenment.
4. 4Monday: new year greetings, marking the day Gautam Swami reached enlightenment, and a temple visit. In trading families the account book is placed on a low stool facing east or north in the muhurat, the Gautam Swami Ashtak is recited and his blessings asked for the year.
5. 5Saturday 14 November, Labh Pancham, among Gujarati Jain families: the reopening day.

Two days before

1. 1Buy the new bahi and kalam, new utensils, silver coins and a Lakshmi Ganesh idol. Order ghewar and laddoo.
2. 2Deep-clean the shop and the gaddi; rangoli and toran at both doors.

The day before

1. 1Dhanteras evening (Friday): thirteen diyas lit, and the south-facing Yama deepam at the entrance for the whole night, the one lamp lit on no other day.
2. 2Roop Chaudas: the oil bath before sunrise on Sunday, if the family keeps it.

On the day

1. 1Bathe; set the gaddi or chowki with a red cloth at the shop or in the puja room.
2. 2Seat Lakshmi and Ganesh; place the new bahi-khata before them, tied with red or yellow thread, each marked with a haldi swastik and a kumkum tilak.
3. 3Kalash, diyas, flowers, coins and the cash box. Ganesh puja first, then Lakshmi, in the 6:27 to 8:27 PM window.
4. 4Write the opening invocation in the ledger and a token first entry. Aarti, often closing with the Satyanarayan aarti; prasad and sweets to staff.
5. 5Monday, Govardhan: a small Govardhan of cow dung or grain in the courtyard, dressed with flowers, tulsi and lamps; the Annakut thali arranged around it, 3:46 to 6:02 PM.
6. 6Wednesday, Bhai Dooj: the sister's tilak in the 1:30 to 3:46 PM window; the brother's gift.

Two days before

1. 1Finish all the cleaning now; the broom is not used on Diyari itself.
2. 2Get the hatri, the small shop-shaped shrine of clay, wood or a steel plate. Buy gold or silver coins, sindoor and the blue guli, and chikki.

The day before

1. 1Draw the butada, the diagram of sindoor and guli, on each hatri and on the wall beside the puja space.
2. 2A green wild fruit, the mitero, on each hatri for greenery and wellbeing. Set out the three matkas of sweets and dry fruits, the reminder to save.
3. 3Cook the Sai bhaji and rice.

On the day

1. 1No sweeping, no vacuum. The house was cleaned in advance.
2. 2Set the hatris with their diyas and light them at dusk.
3. 3Wash the gold and silver coins in unboiled milk and water. Take one coin from the lot and tap it gently against your teeth: Lakshmi aayi, danat vaai. Lakshmi has come, poverty has gone.
4. 4Lakshmi puja at the hatri with flowers, diyas and kumkum, in the 6:27 to 8:27 PM window.
5. 5Offer chikki and kheel; then the Sai bhaji dinner with rice and something sweet with jaggery.
6. 6Keep the house open through the night to welcome Lakshmi, lamps burning.

Two days before

1. 1Clean the house. Order mithai and dry-fruit boxes.
2. 2Dhanteras (Friday): the classic buys are a silver coin, a Lakshmi Ganesh idol, new utensils, diyas and a broom, in the 6:35 to 8:35 PM window. Thirteen diyas and the south-facing Yama deepam at the threshold that night.

The day before

1. 1Rangoli and toran; diyas washed, wicks and oil ready; the chowki, red cloth and kalash set in the puja corner.
2. 2Sikh families: seva at the gurdwara, kada prasad and panjiri at home.

On the day

1. 1Morning: bath, new clothes, a small Choti Diwali puja and a few diyas.
2. 2Evening, 6:27 to 8:27 PM: the common Lakshmi Ganesh puja (steps below). Ganesh first, then Lakshmi with the panchamrit abhishek, kheel-batasha and sweets, aarti.
3. 3Light the house in order: the entrance threshold first, then window sills, the staircase, the tulsi, the puja room. One lamp burns all night.
4. 4Monday, Govardhan: the cow-dung or grain hill, Krishna's Annakut, gau puja, 3:46 to 6:02 PM.
5. 5Wednesday, Bhai Dooj: the sister's tilak in the 1:30 to 3:46 PM window, aarti, a sweet; the brother's gift.
6. 6Sikh homes: prayers, kirtan and langar at the gurdwara on Sunday night; diyas and sweets at home, and many families buy gold or silver on the day with no puja attached.

Two days before

1. 1New clothes for everyone. Nallennai (gingelly oil), shikakai, kadalai maavu, turmeric root and sunnambu.
2. 2Make or buy the Deepavali marundhu, the lehiyam, plus sweets and murukku.

The day before

1. 1Infuse the oil overnight. Mark the new clothes with turmeric, a dot in each corner, and place them before the deities.
2. 2Keep a little Ganga jal from the puja room for the bath water. Kolam at the door.

On the day

1. 1Wake before sunrise on Sunday. The elder gives the ennai sastra, warm oil on the head, massaged into the scalp.
2. 2Turmeric paste on the feet, then the Ganga snanam, the festival bath: a few drops of Ganga jal in the water, washed off with gram flour or shikakai, not soap. The window is 5:45 to 6:42 AM.
3. 3Wear the turmeric-marked new clothes; touch elders' feet.
4. 4Eat the Deepavali marundhu first, before any sweet.
5. 5Lamps, a few crackers at dawn, sweets, visits. Optional evening Lakshmi Kubera puja: sixteen ghee lamps if you can, archanai for Mahalakshmi, coins for Kubera.
6. 6Tuesday 24 November, Karthigai Deepam: kolam at the entrance, the tall standing lamp (kuthu vilakku) and the small clay lamps (agal vilakku) filled with sesame oil or ghee, the main lamp lit before the deity first at dusk, then every lamp in the house.

Two days before

1. 1New clothes and lamps. The oil: til in most homes, coconut oil along the coast, castor oil (haralenne) in old Mysore families. The herbal ubtan.
2. 2Cow dung for the Bali figure; Mysore pak or Dharwad pedha ordered.

The day before

1. 1Clean the house; the goushala, if the family has one, is cleaned ceremonially before Bali Padyami.
2. 2Rangoli; brass and silver lamps cleaned and filled.

On the day

1. 1Before sunrise on Sunday: the abhyanga snana, oil massage and the herbal paste, 5:45 to 6:42 AM.
2. 2New clothes, elders' blessings, lamps at the door.
3. 3Evening: the house cleaned and lit, rangoli drawn, Lakshmi and Ganesha worshipped with lamps, kumkum and naivedya; the mantra your family uses, commonly Om Shreem Mahalakshmyai Namah.
4. 4Karnataka homes may keep the Kedara Gauri vrata for Parvati.
5. 5Monday, Bali Padyami: a triangular Bali figure of cow dung on a wooden plank dressed with kolam and marigold, worshipped; go puja, the cow bathed and decorated.

Two days before

1. 1Clean the house and the altar. Red hibiscus (japa), sindoor, khichuri and luchi ingredients, sweets, a Kali image or clay murti.
2. 2For Bhai Phonta: white sandalwood paste, kajal and sweetened curd.

The day before

1. 1Lamps at dusk; many families light fourteen lamps on the chaturdashi evening (choddo prodip).
2. 2The altar dressed in red and black motifs.

On the day

1. 1Sunday: the Kali idol decorated with red hibiscus. Lamps at dusk.
2. 2The main worship is the midnight puja, with the offerings made in order: sandalwood, a seat, water, a bath, cloth, flowers (hibiscus above all), incense, a lamp, food, paan and arati.
3. 3Offerings of khichuri, luchi and sweets; fish in non-vegetarian traditions.
4. 4Bhai Phonta: the sister marks the brother's forehead with sandalwood paste, curd and kajal, reciting the phonta verse; he eats at her home and gives her a gift, traditionally money or jewellery.