The Diwali Lakshmi Puja is the evening worship of Lakshmi together with Ganesh on Kartika Amavasya, done at home in the muhurat after sunset, with Kuber, the kalash, the family's account books and rows of lamps. In outline: clean the house and draw rangoli, set up the chowki, take a sankalp, worship Ganesh and then Lakshmi, honour Kuber and the bahi-khata, hear the katha and sing the aarti, and light the lamps through the house.
The day, the pradosh window and the Lakshmi Puja muhurat for your city are on the Diwali date page; this page does not repeat them, since they move every year and from city to city.
Samagri: what to keep ready
- A chowki with a red cloth; some families spread a little rice or wheat on it as a seat
- Idols or a picture of Lakshmi and Ganesh; many families bring new clay idols each Diwali
- A kalash of water with mango leaves and a coconut on top, tied with mauli
- Roli, haldi, sindoor, akshat, mauli, a few lotus or other flowers, a garland
- Kheel and batashe, sugar toys (khilone), sweets, fruit, a little dry fruit
- Coins, or a silver coin kept for Lakshmi, and a small bowl for them
- A ghee diya for the puja, a large lamp for the night, and many small clay diyas with oil and wicks
- Incense, camphor for the aarti, a bell, panchamrit or plain milk for washing coins
- For the account books: new bahi-khata or registers, a pen, an inkpot or roli for marking, and the keys of the shop or cash box
- A picture or coin for Kuber, and for some families a book or pen for Saraswati
- Rice flour or rangoli colours, and roli for Lakshmi's footprints at the door
You do not need everything on this list. A clean corner, one picture, a lamp and a sweet are a complete Lakshmi Puja.
Step by step
- Clean and decorate. Finish cleaning during the day. Wash the doorstep, draw rangoli, hang a toran of mango leaves or marigold at the door, and draw small footprints of Lakshmi walking into the house.
- Bath and fresh clothes. In the evening the family bathes and wears clean or new clothes.
- Set up the chowki. Facing east or north, spread the red cloth and seat Ganesh and Lakshmi on it; families follow their own placement, and many seat Lakshmi on Ganesh's right side. Place the kalash on a little heap of rice to one side, and the coins, account books and keys in front.
- Sankalp. Take water, akshat and a flower in the right hand and say in your own words that the family is doing the Diwali Lakshmi Puja for the wellbeing and prosperity of the home. Let the water fall.
- Ganesh puja. Light the main ghee diya. Offer roli, akshat, durva grass if you have it, flowers and a laddoo to Ganesh.
- Kalash. Offer roli and akshat to the kalash, which stands for all the deities being present.
- Lakshmi puja. Wash the coins in milk or water and place them before Lakshmi. Offer haldi, kumkum, sindoor, akshat, the lotus or flowers, the garland, kheel-batashe, sugar toys and sweets. Many families repeat a short name-mantra such as Om Mahalakshmyai Namah while offering.
- Kuber and Saraswati. Offer flowers and akshat to Kuber for wealth kept safely, and to Saraswati for learning, often on a book or pen.
- Bahi-khata pujan. Open the new account books, mark a swastika in roli on the first page and write Shubh and Labh, or Shri, as the family does. Place the pen and keys beside them and offer akshat and flowers. In the shop the same is done at the cash box.
- Hear the katha. Hear or tell the Diwali Lakshmi Puja katha, or simply the story of Rama's return.
- Aarti. Sing Om Jai Lakshmi Mata, and the Ganesh aarti, with camphor or the ghee lamp.
- Lamps through the house. Light the small diyas from the puja lamp and take them to the main door, every room, the kitchen, the water tank, the tulsi, and the roof. Many families place the first at the threshold.
- Prasad. Share kheel-batashe and sweets with the family and with neighbours.
Checking the time
Three things matter. The Lakshmi Puja muhurat is the evening overlap of pradosh, the fixed Vrishabha lagna and Amavasya, and the Diwali date page and the muhurat page show it for your city. Traders who open new books often also check the choghadiya for a favourable slot, and some like to begin in the hora of a benefic planet such as Jupiter or Venus. Families who worship late at night, as Kali devotees do, look at nishita kaal on the date page. If the ideal window is short, the puja can be done anywhere in the evening after sunset; the welcome matters more than the minute.
Customs families keep
These are customs, not conditions; your family's own way comes first.
- A large lamp near Lakshmi is kept burning through the night in many homes. Set it in a deep dish on a steady surface, away from curtains and paper decorations, and keep water at hand.
- Many families keep the main door open for a while after the puja, as a welcome.
- The coins worshipped on Diwali are kept with the family's savings until the next year.
- Kheel-batashe and sugar toys are given to children and neighbours.
- Many homes now choose fewer or no firecrackers, for clean air and for animals, babies and older neighbours.
- Some families take a small Lakshmi-Ganesh idol each year and immerse or respectfully keep the old one.
Regional ways
- Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar: clay Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, kheel-batashe and sugar toys, and the evening Lakshmi Puja followed by lamps.
- Gujarat and Rajasthan's trading families: chopda pujan of new account books in the shop, and in Gujarat the next day begins the new year.
- Maharashtra: Lakshmi Puja in the evening, with a new broom often honoured as a form of Lakshmi.
- Bengal, Odisha and Assam: the same night is Kali Puja; in Odisha many families also light jute sticks to call and send off the ancestors.
- Tamil Nadu and much of the south: Deepavali is mainly the dawn oil bath on Naraka Chaturdashi; Lakshmi Puja on Amavasya is kept by some families.
After the puja
Let the lamps burn out on their own and gather them in the morning. Two days earlier is Dhanteras, and the next day is Govardhan Puja, with its mountain of food for Krishna.