Kārtika Dīpotsavam 2024

Dev Dīpāvalī (also called Kārtika Dīpotsavam) is the full moon (Pūrṇimā) of the lunar month Kārtika, observed as the day the gods themselves are believed to descend to earth and celebrate their own festival of lights. Where Dīpāvalī marks the return of Śrī Rāma to Ayodhyā, Dev Dīpāvalī is imagined as the devas' own Dīpāvalī: 'Dīpāvalī of the Gods'.

The festival is most famously celebrated on the ghāṭs of Vārāṇasī, where thousands of oil lamps (dīpas) are lit along the banks of the Gaṅgā, turning the riverfront into a shimmering field of light for the evening Gaṅgā Āratī. The tradition is also linked to Tripurāri Pūrṇimā, commemorating Lord Śiva's destruction of the demon Tripurāsura, and to the completion of the Kārtika-māsa vrata observed through the month by many households.

Homes and temples light rows of lamps at dusk, and many devotees take a ceremonial bath in a sacred river, offer lamps at the water's edge, and visit Śiva and Viṣṇu temples decorated for the occasion.