Naraka Chaturdashi

The purifying morning bath

The day begins in the dark hours before sunrise while the moon remains visible. Families awaken early to perform a ritual known as abhyanga snan. People rub sesame or medicinal oils into the scalp and across the body. Next, they apply ubtan, an herbal paste believed to safeguard against hardship, bad luck, and poverty. After washing thoroughly, participants line their eyes with kajal to repel negative energy and put on fresh clothing. This morning cleanse serves as a physical and spiritual renewal, readying the household for morning worship and an abundant shared breakfast with relatives and neighbours.

Local traditions and effigies

Customs vary distinctively across regions. In Goa, communities construct large paper figures of Narakasura packed with dry grass and fireworks to represent malevolence. At dawn, these effigies are set alight amidst bursting firecrackers. Afterwards, Goans bathe in scented oil, women present a prayer flame known as aarti to men, and family members crush a bitter wild fruit called kareet beneath their feet to mark the demon's defeat. In Tamil Nadu, Naraka Chaturdashi serves as the primary day of Deepavali celebration, filled with early baths, firecrackers, and special household prayers called nombu.

Honouring spirits and ancestors

In West Bengal and Bangladesh, the holiday takes the name Bhoot Chaturdashi on the eve of Kali Puja. Belief holds that fourteen generations of ancestors journey to earth to visit their living descendants on this dark night. To direct these spirits safely home and keep malevolent entities away, families set fourteen small clay lamps in every shadowy alcove of the house. In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the day is called Kali Chaudas and is devoted to the goddess Mahakali or Shakti. People also kindle lamps for Yama, the god of death, praying for safety from suffering.

Harvest foods and offerings

The festival maintains close ties to autumn farming cycles. Households prepare an assortment of dishes using poha, or flattened rice beaten from the season's fresh harvest. In western parts of India, sweet and savoury preparations of this new grain form the core of the morning feast. Worshippers also conduct prayers for Hanuman and family patron deities, known as Kula Devi. Offerings presented during worship include coconuts, sandalwood, flowers, and a sacred mixture containing sesame seeds, sugar, jaggery, clarified butter, and beaten rice flakes, which is later distributed to family members.

How Naraka Chaturdashi is kept

Households rise before the morning sun to perform the traditional oil massage and herbal paste bath. After dressing in clean garments, families gather for worship, offering lamps, flowers, and sweet grains to deities such as Hanuman, Mahakali, or clan goddesses. In some areas, effigies of the demon Narakasura are set alight outside before daybreak. Families sit down together for a morning meal featuring fresh harvest rice flakes. In Bengal, fourteen clay lamps are lit at dusk to guide ancestral spirits, while other communities celebrate the evening with fireworks, illuminations, and festive midday sweets.

When and where

The festival takes place on the fourteenth day of the dark lunar fortnight, known as Krishna Paksha. Depending on the regional calendar system, this falls during the month of Ashvin or Kartika, usually occurring in October or November.

The observance is kept widely throughout India, showing distinctive regional practices in Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. It is also celebrated among Hindu communities in neighbouring Bangladesh.

What Naraka Chaturdashi means

The tradition celebrates the triumph of illumination and virtue over inner darkness, represented by the fall of the demon Narakasura. Ritual bathing and cleaning are thought to discard sloth, sorrow, and misfortune while inviting positive vitality. The lighting of lamps dispels both physical shadows and spiritual ignorance, simultaneously paying reverence to ancestors and seeking protection from hardships.

On the table

Flavours: Sesame

Days Naraka Chaturdashi is marked

Questions people ask about Naraka Chaturdashi

See also

DiwaliA five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.MawlidAn annual festival marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, marked by poetry, processions and feasts.HoliA spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.NavaratriA nine-night Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga and her nine forms through prayer, fasting, and dance.

Good reading and sources

• Naraka Chaturdashi on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.