Dev Deepawali

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

Dev Deepawali, "the Diwali of the gods", is celebrated every year at Varanasi on Kartik Purnima and recalls the festival of lights the gods held when Shiva destroyed Tripurasura. Devotees bathe in the Ganges and light clay lamps in the evening, and the city's ghats come alive with thousands of diyas. Drik Panchang reckons the date for Varanasi by the full moon at dusk (pradosh), so it sometimes falls a day before Kartik Purnima.