Kālī Caturdaśī 1923: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Kālī Caturdaśī (Naraka Caturdaśī, Rūpa Caturdaśī, Choṭī Dīpāvalī) falls on Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa Caturdaśī (Āśvina Kṛṣṇa Caturdaśī under the amānta month reckoning used across South and West India, Kārtika Kṛṣṇa Caturdaśī under the pūrṇimānta reckoning used across North India), the day before Dīpāvalī (Amāvasyā). It is the day Lord Kṛṣṇa (aided by Satyabhāmā and Garuḍa) slew the demon Narakāsura, freeing 16,100 women he had imprisoned. The victory is celebrated with pre-dawn bathing and oil massage, earning the name Naraka Caturdaśī (the fourteenth of Naraka's defeat).

In Gujarat, Bengal, and Maharashtra, this day has another dimension: Kālī Pūjā. Goddess Kālī (the ferocious, dark, time-consuming aspect of Devī) is worshipped with great intensity on this new-moon-adjacent night. In Bengal, Kālī Pūjā is the biggest event of the Dīpāvalī season, eclipsing Lakṣmī Pūjā in cultural significance. Tāntrika practitioners perform midnight pūjā (Niśīta Kāla pūjā) to Goddess Kālī with offerings of red hibiscus, sindūra, and blood-red fruits.

In Maharashtra and Gujarat the day is called Naraka Caturdaśī or Rūpa Caturdaśī (Rūpa = beauty). The tradition of an abhyaṅga snāna (oil bath with ubṭan, turmeric and herb paste) before sunrise is observed to wash away the darkness of Naraka and emerge beautiful for Dīpāvalī. This is also the day Hanumān Jayanti is observed in some South Indian and Maharashtrian traditions (specifically the one that places Hanumān's birth at Niśīta Kāla of this night).