Diwali at our house
Firecrackers, handmade cards and too many sweets: Diwali memories from the Mahakatha team, what's on the radio around Diwali 2026, and a simple Lakshmi puja.
Diwali is close now. This year Dhanteras falls on Friday 6 November 2026 and Diwali, with Lakshmi Puja, on Sunday 8 November. Before the cleaning and the shopping take over completely, we wanted to share a little of what Diwali means to us, what you'll hear on the radio, and a simple way to keep Lakshmi Puja at home.
Diwali, the way we remember it
Ask anyone about Diwali and they'll tell you about a smell or a sound before they tell you about a ritual: the first crackle of a phuljhadi, ghee warming in a kadhai, the rustle of a new kurta. For our curator, it's the same.
Diwali at home began with firecrackers, and later became handmade greeting cards. And of course the food and sweets, being invited to people's homes and visiting them.
Prashant Mahakatha, curator
We love that the memory changes as it goes. Firecrackers first, the way they are for every child. Then, growing up, something quieter: cards cut and coloured by hand, given to neighbours and relatives. And through all of it, the visiting. A plate of sweets carried to one house, and a different plate brought back. Doors left open all evening. Nobody quite sure whose turn it is to eat the last kaju katli.
Perhaps that's the heart of it. Diwali is a festival of light, but it's also a festival of going to see people. If there's someone you haven't visited in a while, this might be the year.
What plays on the radio around Diwali
Mahakatha Radio plays Lakshmi mantras day and night, as part of its regular rotation, alongside Ganesha, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, Om and many others. They're a natural fit for this time of year, when so many homes are preparing for Lakshmi Puja.
On festival days there's also a greeting on air, so on Dhanteras and on Diwali you'll hear us wish you and your family a happy festival between the mantras. As always, there are no ads, no film songs and nothing to sign up for. You can leave the radio playing softly while you clean, cook, or draw the rangoli.
Dhanteras: the evening before the evening
Dhanteras, on 6 November, opens the festival. Many families honour Dhanvantari, who is prayed to for good health, and Lakshmi and Kubera for prosperity. A lamp is lit for Yama outside the door in many homes, and something small is bought for the house. Our Dhanteras mantra guide has the mantras for each, with their meaning, and a short order for keeping the day at home.
A simple Lakshmi Puja at home
You don't need a priest or a long list of items to keep Lakshmi Puja. Many families do it like this, on the evening of 8 November, during the muhurat from their local panchang:
- Prepare a clean place. Spread a red or yellow cloth and place Lakshmi and Ganesha side by side, with flowers, rice, sweets and a kalash of water.
- Begin with Ganesha. Every puja starts with him, asking that what follows go smoothly.
- Light the lamps. Diyas at the puja and at the door, to welcome the light in.
- Invite Lakshmi. Offer flowers, kumkum, rice and sweets as you chant her mantra.
- Chant on a mala. The Lakshmi Gayatri or the Beeja mantra, 108 times, or 11 or 21 if time is short.
- Aarti and prasad. Sing the family aarti and share sweets with everyone in the house.
The mantras for each step, in Devanagari with meaning, are on our Lakshmi mantra for Diwali page. There's a Hindi version too, for parents and grandparents: दिवाली लक्ष्मी मंत्र. If your family has its own way of doing the puja, follow that. It's the right way for your home.
Dates are for New Delhi; tithi timings shift slightly by city.
A word about wealth
Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance, and it's natural to pray for a good year. But we'd gently say this: we make no promises of wealth, and no mantra comes with one.
The one mistake I see is rushing: treating a mantra like a transaction, without any intention behind it.
Prashant Mahakatha, curator
In the tradition, Lakshmi is honoured with gratitude for what we already have, and with clean homes, honest work and generous hands. Chant slowly. Mean it. Share the sweets. If you'd like to go further, our page on mantras for money takes the same honest approach to Lakshmi and Kubera mantras through the year.
From all of us
To every listener, near or far: thank you for keeping the radio company this year. We wish you a Diwali full of light, good food, open doors and people you love. Shubh Deepavali.
If there's someone you're thinking of this Diwali, a parent far away, a friend in a hard year, or someone you've lost, you can offer a prayer for them, read aloud on air at 7 am or 7 pm India time, followed by a mantra chosen for them. Or add a few words to the free prayer wall.
And on the night itself, as the lamps are lit, listen live with us.