I arrived in Jaipur on the first day of Diwali without fully understanding what I was walking into. I knew the basics — it's a Hindu festival of lights, it involves fireworks, families clean their houses and light oil lamps — but the reality was so far beyond my expectations that I spent the first evening simply standing on the roof of my guesthouse, watching the city ignite. Every building, every window, every rooftop, every tree was covered in lights — not the tasteful, coordinated Christmas lights I was used to, but a chaotic, joyful, overwhelming profusion of fairy lights, oil lamps, candles, and firecrackers that turned the entire city into a shimmering, crackling, smoke-filled celebration. The noise was deafening — firecrackers of every size and volume were exploding in every direction — and the smell of marigolds, incense, and gunpowder hung in the air like a physical substance. I had never experienced anything like it.
Understanding Diwali: More Than Just Lights
Diwali (also called Deepavali, meaning 'row of lights') is a five-day festival that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. The festival is observed by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, and while the specific myths and traditions vary by region and community, the core elements — lighting oil lamps (diyas), setting off firecrackers, exchanging sweets and gifts, decorating with rangoli (colorful floor patterns), and gathering with family — are consistent across most of India. Diwali falls on the new moon day of the Hindu month of Kartik, which means the dates change every year. In 2026, the main day of Diwali falls on November 8th.
This festival has deep roots in Hindu mythology. In northern India, Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, when the citizens lit oil lamps to welcome him home. In southern India, the festival celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna over the demon Narakasura. In western India, particularly in Gujarat, Diwali marks the start of the new year and is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. In Bengal, Diwali coincides with Kali Puja, the worship of the goddess Kali. These regional variations mean that the way Diwali is celebrated can differ significantly from one part of India to another, and experiencing it in multiple regions gives you a much richer understanding of the festival.
The five days of Diwali each have specific significance and traditions. Day one (Dhanteras) is dedicated to Lakshmi and is considered an auspicious day for buying gold, silver, and new utensils. Day two (Naraka Chaturdashi or Choti Diwali) commemorates the defeat of Narakasura and is celebrated with early-morning oil baths and the lighting of small lamps. Day three (Lakshmi Puja) is the main day of Diwali, when families perform puja (worship) ceremonies, light diyas and candles, set off firecrackers, and exchange sweets and gifts. Day four (Govardhan Puja or Padwa) celebrates Krishna's lifting of Mount Govardhan and is marked by feasting. Day five (Bhai Dooj) celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.
Jaipur: A Royal Diwali
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is one of the best cities in India to experience Diwali. The city's pink sandstone buildings, its royal heritage, and its strong tradition of celebration make it a visually spectacular setting for the festival. I spent five days in Jaipur during Diwali 2024, staying at a guesthouse in the old city called the Pearl Palace Heritage Boutique Hotel, which cost 3,500 rupees ($42) per night for a room with a rooftop terrace overlooking the city. The guesthouse was decorated with marigold garlands and fairy lights for the festival, and the owner, a man named Rajesh, invited me to join his family's Diwali puja on the main day of the festival — an invitation that gave me a perspective on the celebration that no tourist experience could replicate.
At the markets of Jaipur in the days leading up to Diwali are a sensory overload of color, sound, and activity. The Johari Bazaar, the city's main jewelry market, was packed with shoppers buying gold and silver for Dhanteras. The Nehru Bazaar was filled with vendors selling fairy lights, diyas (small clay oil lamps), rangoli colors, firecrackers, and gift boxes of sweets. The prices were inflated — a string of fairy lights that might cost 50 rupees at another time of year was 150 rupees during Diwali week — but the atmosphere was electric. I bought a packet of 100 small diyas for 200 rupees ($2.40), a string of fairy lights for 100 rupees, and a box of Diwali sweets from a shop called Sodhani Sweets for 400 rupees ($4.80).
On the main day of Diwali, the old city of Jaipur was transformed. Every building in the walled city — the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace, the shops and houses along every street — was outlined in fairy lights and decorated with marigold garlands. The effect was extraordinary: the pink sandstone buildings, the warm yellow lights, and the orange marigolds created a color palette that I'd never seen anywhere else. I walked through the old city for hours, photographing and simply absorbing the atmosphere. The firecrackers started in the late afternoon and intensified after dark — by 8 PM, the noise was so continuous and so loud that conversation was impossible. The air was thick with smoke, and the combination of lights, noise, and smoke created an almost hallucinatory atmosphere.
Varanasi: Diwali on the Ganges
Varanasi, the holiest city in Hinduism, offers a Diwali experience that is fundamentally different from the urban celebrations in Jaipur or Delhi. The festival here is centered on the ghats — the stone steps that lead down to the Ganges River — where thousands of diyas are floated on the river as offerings. I arrived in Varanasi two days before Diwali and took a boat on the Ganges at dawn on the main day of the festival. The boatman rowed us from Dashashwamedh Ghat to Assi Ghat, a distance of about three kilometers, and along the way we passed hundreds of people lighting diyas and setting them afloat on the river. The combination of the oil lamps on the water, the temple bells ringing from the ghats, and the morning mist rising from the river was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
The Dev Deepawali celebration, which takes place in Varanasi fifteen days after Diwali (on the full moon of Kartik), is in some ways even more spectacular than Diwali itself. On Dev Deepawali, more than a million diyas are lit on the ghats, and the river is filled with floating lamps as far as the eye can see. The celebration commemorates the gods' visit to Varanasi on this day, and it draws enormous crowds. I attended Dev Deepawali in 2024 and watched the Ganga Aarti ceremony — a daily ritual in which priests perform a fire offering to the river — from a boat on the river, surrounded by thousands of floating lamps. The ceremony was followed by a procession of boats decorated with lights, and the entire riverfront was illuminated. If you can only visit Varanasi for one festival, Dev Deepawali is the one to choose.
Practical details for Varanasi: I stayed at the Mishra Guest House on Assi Ghat, which cost 1,500 rupees ($18) per night for a clean room with a view of the river. The guesthouse can arrange boat rides for the Ganga Aarti and Dev Deepawali — I paid 500 rupees ($6) for a private boat for the evening ceremony. The ghats can be extremely crowded during Diwali and Dev Deepawali, and the narrow lanes of the old city can be confusing. I hired a guide through the guesthouse for 1,000 rupees ($12) per day, which was Very valuable for navigating the crowds and understanding the significance of what I was seeing. Varanasi is not a city for first-time India visitors — the intensity of the sensory experience, the crowds, and the poverty can be overwhelming — but for experienced travelers, it offers a Diwali experience that is unmatched anywhere in India.
Amritsar: The Golden Temple at Diwali
The Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in Sikhism, is illuminated with thousands of lights and oil lamps during Diwali, and the reflection of the temple in the surrounding pool (the Amrit Sarovar, from which the city takes its name) creates one of the most beautiful Diwali scenes in India. I visited Amritsar for Diwali in 2024, arriving on the main day of the festival in the late afternoon. The temple complex was packed with devotees, but the atmosphere was peaceful and welcoming — the Sikh tradition of langar (free communal meals) means that every visitor, regardless of religion or background, is fed. I ate langar in the temple's enormous kitchen, which serves free meals to more than 100,000 people per day, and the experience of sitting on the floor alongside thousands of strangers, eating a simple meal of dal, roti, and kheer (rice pudding), was deeply moving.
The fireworks display at the Golden Temple on Diwali night is one of the largest in India. The display starts at about 8 PM and lasts for more than an hour, with fireworks launched from positions around the temple complex reflecting in the pool below. The combination of the illuminated temple, the fireworks, and the reflections in the water is extraordinary. I found a spot on the parikrama (the walkway around the pool) about thirty minutes before the display started and was able to photograph the scene without being jostled by the crowd. The Golden Temple is open 24 hours a day, and visiting in the early morning of the day after Diwali, when the crowds have thinned and the oil lamps are still burning, is a peaceful and meditative experience that contrasts sharply with the intensity of the previous night.
Amritsar is also home to the Wagah Border ceremony, a daily military ceremony at the India-Pakistan border about thirty kilometers from the city. The ceremony takes place every evening at sunset and involves elaborate marching and posturing by soldiers from both sides of the border, with crowds of spectators cheering on each side. The Diwali version of the ceremony is particularly festive, with both sides exchanging sweets across the border. I took a shared taxi from the Golden Temple to the Wagah Border for 100 rupees ($1.20) each way. Arrive at least an hour before the ceremony to get a seat — the stands fill up quickly, especially on holidays.
Diwali Sweets and Food
Food is central to the Diwali celebration, and the exchange of sweets between families, friends, and neighbors is one of the festival's most important traditions. The range of Diwali sweets is enormous and varies by region, but the most common varieties include: gulab jamun (deep-fried milk dumplings soaked in rose-scented sugar syrup), kaju katli (diamond-shaped slices made from cashew paste and sugar), rasgulla (soft cheese balls in sugar syrup), barfi (a dense milk-based sweet, often flavored with pistachios or saffron), and laddu (spherical sweets made from chickpea flour, sugar, and ghee). I bought a mixed box of Diwali sweets from a shop called Bikanervala in Jaipur for 600 rupees ($7.20) per kilogram — the box contained eight varieties and was beautifully packaged in a decorative tin.
Diwali is also a time for savory snacks, which are prepared at home and shared with visitors. The most common savory snacks include: chakli (a spiral-shaped fried snack made from rice flour and spices), mathri (flaky, crispy crackers made from flour and ghee), namak pare (salty, crispy diamond-shaped snacks), and samosas (fried pastry triangles filled with spiced potatoes or meat). I was invited to a Diwali party at the home of a family I met through my guesthouse owner, and the table was covered with plates of homemade snacks and sweets. The hostess, a woman named Sunita, had spent two days preparing everything, and she explained the significance of each dish as she served it. The food was delicious, but the hospitality and generosity were what I remember most.
For travelers who want to learn to make Diwali sweets, several cooking schools in Jaipur, Delhi, and Varanasi offer Diwali-themed cooking classes during the festival season. I took a class at the Saffron Palate cooking school in Jaipur, which cost 2,500 rupees ($30) and covered four Diwali sweets: gulab jamun, kaju katli, rasgulla, and moong dal halwa (a sweet made from lentils, ghee, and sugar). The class lasted three hours and included a meal of the sweets we made. The instructor, a home cook named Kamal, was patient and precise, and she explained the cultural significance of each sweet as we made it.
Safety and Practical Tips
Diwali is a wonderful celebration, but it presents some practical challenges and safety concerns that travelers should be aware of. Firecrackers are the biggest hazard — the noise is loud enough to cause hearing damage (I wore earplugs throughout the main evening), and the risk of burns from stray firecrackers is real. I wore closed-toe shoes, long pants, and a cotton shirt (synthetic fabrics melt if exposed to fire) on the main night of Diwali, and I kept a safe distance from groups of people setting off large firecrackers. Children are the most enthusiastic firecracker users, and they often set them off in crowded areas without much regard for bystanders — stay alert and be prepared to move quickly.
Air quality deteriorates dramatically during Diwali due to the firecrackers and the incense. In cities like Delhi and Jaipur, the air quality index (AQI) can exceed 500 (the 'hazardous' level) on Diwali night, which is dangerous for people with respiratory conditions. I wore an N95 mask on the main night of Diwali in Jaipur, and I could feel the difference in air quality even through the mask. If you have asthma or any respiratory condition, consult a doctor before traveling to India during Diwali and carry appropriate medication. An air purifier in your hotel room, if available, is also helpful.
Transportation during Diwali is challenging. Trains and buses are booked weeks in advance, and road traffic in cities can be gridlocked. I booked my train tickets between Jaipur, Varanasi, and Amritsar through the IRCTC website (irctc.co.in) six weeks in advance, which was barely early enough — many trains were already waitlisted. For intra-city transportation, I used Uber and Ola (India's ride-hailing apps), which were reliable and reasonably priced, though surge pricing was in effect during peak Diwali hours. Hotels and guesthouses also book out well in advance — I reserved my accommodations two months ahead, and several of the properties I contacted were already fully booked.
