The festival extends over five days and the date is dictated by the luni-solar Hindu calendar and it begins in late Ashvin (between September and October) and ends in early Kartika (between October and November). Dates for the next ten years are: 2023 — November 12th; 2024 — October 31st; 2025 — October 21st; 2026 — November 8th; 2027 — October 29th; 2028 — October 17th; 2029 — November 5th; 2030 — October 26th; 2031 — November 14th; 2032 — November 2nd; 2033 — October 22nd.

Diwali is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji.

Diwali marks the end of the harvest season in most of India. Farmers give thanks for the bounty of the year gone by, and pray for a good harvest for the year to come. Traditionally this marked the closing of accounts for businesses dependent on the agrarian cycle, and is the last major celebration before winter.

In essence, the festival of Diwali, like many winter festivals. celebrates the victory of good over evil and light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. However, the specific legends associated with the festival are many and varied and actually differ in different parts of India.

The meaning has also developed over the centuries, and the Times of India summarises the modern festival thus:

Regardless of the mythological explanation one prefers, what the festival of lights really stands for today is a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple - and some not so simple - joys of life.

Times of India editorial

Diwali Practices

Diwali is popularly known as the 'festival of lights', as houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas. These lamps, which are traditionally fuelled by mustard oil, are placed in rows in windows, doors and outside buildings to decorate them. The lamps themselves are lit to aid the goddess Lakshmi in finding her way into people's homes. They also celebrate the legend of the return of Rama and Sita to Rama's kingdom after fourteen years of exile.

In India, oil lamps are floated across the river Ganges and it is considered a good omen if the lamp manages to get all the way across. This is a practice that has been adopted on the Mersey in Liverpool.

Diwali is a time of feasting and the buying and exchange of gifts. Traditionally sweets and dried fruit were very common gifts to exchange, but the festival has become a time for serious shopping, leading to anxiety that commercialism is eroding the spiritual side of the festival. Diwali is also a traditional time to redecorate homes and to purchase new clothes.

Diwali Legends

1. The killing of the demon Narakaasura

The demon Narakaasura was the evil king of Pragjyotishpur, near Nepal. He ruled with a reign of terror, abducted 16,000 daughters of the gods and stole the earrings of Aditi, mother of the gods.

The gods asked Lord Krishna for help and after a mighty battle he killed the demon, freed the girls and recovered the earrings.

The rescue of the 16,000 girls is said to be the origin of the story that Krishna had 16,000 wives. After his victory Krishna returned very early in the morning and was bathed and massaged with scented oils. Taking an early morning bath with oil is still a Diwali tradition.

The basic BIR cooking method goes like this. Dilute your base curry sauce slightly, place in a pan and bring to a rolling boil. Pre-dilute your tomato puree to the consistency of single cream. Measure out your ginger-garlic paste and your spices so they're ready to add to the curry. Measure out the correct quantity of pre-cooked meat or vegetables or fried paneer.

2. The killing of the demon Ravana

Ravana, who had ten arms and ten heads, was the wicked king of the island of Sri Lanka, who kidnapped the wife of Rama. Rama had been in exile for 14 years because of a disagreement as to whether he or his brother should be the next king in Ayodhya.

After a great battle Rama killed the demon and recovered his wife. Rama's return with his wife Sita to Ayodhya and his subsequent coronation as king is celebrated at Diwali.

When Rama and Sita first returned to Ayodhya it was a dark moonless night and they couldn't see where they were going. Their people put little lamps outside their houses so that the new king and queen could find their way, thus beginning the tradition of the festival of lights.

The Sikh Tradition

Devotees of the sikh faith celebrate Diwali in celebration of the time when the sixth sikh guru, Guru Hargobind singh was released from his imprisonment. Sikh Diwali consists of practices such as the reading of the Sikh holy scripture the Guru Granth sahib at the holiest sikh shrine Amritsar in the punjab regions of india. Sikh families all get together to share a Vegetarian meal to give respect to animals and man alike. To make the crescendo of the joyous festival of lights fireworks are released into the air which represents freedom.

The Jain Tradition

Diwali has a very special significance in Jainism. It is celebrated as Deva Devali around the full moon day (Purnima) of Kartik. Lord Mahavira, the last of the Jain Tirthankar of this era, attained Nirvana or Moksh on this day at Pavapuri on Oct. 15, 527 BCE, on Chaturdashi of Kartika, as Tilyapannatti of Yativrashaba from the sixth century states: Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of this era, revitalised Jainism Dharma followed by Jains even today. Though few outdated history books still mention that he established Jainism. According to tradition, the chief disciple of Mahavira, Ganadhara Gautam Swami also attained complete knowledge (Kevalgyana) on this day, thus making Diwali one of the most important Jain festivals.