Dev Diwali (Deepawali) in Varanasi

Dev Diwali (Deepawali) in Varanasi

Dev Diwali is one of the famous festivals of Hindu which is celebrated in Benares on the occasion of Kartik Poornima and starts by holy Vedic mantras chanted by priests to please and welcome the God, sparkling fire crackers and a bunch of Diyas at the ghats.

At this occasion each and every ghat of the Ganges is packed with the great crowd of pilgrims and diyas (earthen ware). The pilgrims and devotees offer 'diyas' showing their reverence for the Ganges, worshiped by the Hindus as mother. Thousands of diyas (also known as earthen lamps) put into the holy water of the Ganges for their gods according to their rituals beliefs create a mesmerizing spectacle.

Dev Diwali 2013 will be celebrated on Sunday, at 17th November 2013. The main rituals performed by the devotees consist of Kartik Snan (taking a holy bath in the Ganges during Kartika) and Deepdan (offering of oil lighted lamps) to Ganga in the evening. The Ganga aarti is also performed in the evening.

Ganga Mahotsav is a tourist-centric festival in Varanasi which is celebrated for five days every year starting from Prabodhani Ekadashi to Kartik Poornima during the month of October–November. It showcases the rich cultural heritage of Varanasi. The festival, with a message of faith and culture, covers popular cultural programmeslike classical music, a country boat race, daily Shilpa Mela, displays of sculptures, displays of marital arts, and on the final day Poornima (full moon) which coincides with the traditional Dev Deepawali (light festival of the gods). The ghats on the Ganga River glitter with more than a million lit earthen lamps.

On occasion of Ganga Mahotsav and dev Dipawali all hotels are full, so please reconfirm your hotel reservation.