Photo: Harshajee5, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A Ganga ghat at Patna or Varanasi in the days before Chhath, when bamboo baskets appear on the sand before the main offerings.
Chhath’s big nights come mid-November. The week before belongs to baskets, thekuas and wet sand.
Photo: Swathi sri srinivasa raghavan, CC0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A family dining room somewhere in north India, two days after Diwali lamps have gone cold.
The festival is not a street show. It is a table, a tilak and a meal shared between siblings.
Photo: George Augustine, CC BY 2.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
Temple steps the morning after Diwali, plates of food built into a low mountain.
The day after the lamps is for a hill of cooked food set before the deity.
Photo: DeepanjanGhosh, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
Kolkata on Kali Puja night, the same new moon as Diwali elsewhere in India.
While much of India lights lamps for Lakshmi, Bengal keeps the night for Kali.
Photo: Prabhakar Banerjee, CC BY 2.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A neighbourhood terrace somewhere in India, on the main night of Diwali.
The festival’s centre is not the bang in the sky; it is the row of lamps on the wall.
Photo: Arnav, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A courtyard wall lined with oil lamps on Chhoti Diwali, the eve before the main festival night.
The small night is for cleaning, oil and the first row of lamps — not yet the full blaze of Diwali.
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK, CC BY 2.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
Usman Road and Pondy Bazaar in T. Nagar, Chennai, in the days before Deepavali 2026.
Deepavali shopping here is a city ritual: silk, gold and crowds that move like a tide.
Photo: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A ghat on the Hooghly in north Kolkata, on the last day of Durga Puja.
Five days of welcome end with a goodbye at the river.
Photo: The open draft, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A Ramlila ground in North India on the afternoon of Dussehra.
By sunset Ravana will be smoke. For now he stands over the crowd.
Photo: Xopolino, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
Kolkata on the night of Maha Ashtami, the eighth day of Durga Puja.
For a few nights the whole city becomes a gallery, and everyone goes out walking.
Photo: Nitinbaldha, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A garba ground in Gujarat, an hour before the dancing starts.
The circle is ready long before the dancers are.
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
A flower market in the middle of Navratri, early morning.
Nine nights, and a different festival in every state.
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