gujarati
Diwali / Bestu Varas
દિવાળી / બેસતું વર્ષ
October-November · 5 days
Diwali is the most important festival of the Gujarati year — a five-day arc that runs from Dhanteras through Bhai Bij and crosses into Bestu Varas, the Gujarati New Year. For Gujaratis the day is distinctive in two ways: Chopda Pujan, when business owners pray over the year's account books before opening fresh ones, and Bestu Varas the morning after, when families exchange "Saal Mubarak" greetings and settle any unfinished accounts before the new year begins. Lamps are lit across the home, rangoli (sathiya) drawn at the threshold, sweets distributed to neighbors and family. The festival's spiritual heart is Lakshmi Puja on Amavasya night; its cultural heart, for Gujaratis especially, is the new beginning that comes the next morning.
What to do
Dhanteras
Purchasing gold, silver, or utensils for prosperity
Kali Chaudas
Day of warding off evil; cleaning the home
Chopda Pujan
Worship of account books and business ledgers to Lakshmi and Ganesha. Uniquely Gujarati business tradition — entrepreneurs pray over financial records (now laptops and accounting software).
Lakshmi Puja
EssentialMain Diwali night; prayer to Lakshmi for prosperity; lighting diyas and fireworks
Bestu Varas / Gujarati New Year
Day after Diwali. 'Saal Mubarak' greetings exchanged. Annakut offerings at temples. Start of new financial year.
Bhai Bij
Celebration of brother-sister bond
Getting ready
Deep clean home
home
Purchase gold/silver for Dhanteras
home
Prepare sweets (mithai)
food
Buy diyas, candles, rangoli supplies
home
Prepare Chopda Pujan items for business
ritual
Create rangoli at entrance
home
Send Saal Mubarak greetings
community
In the diaspora
Diwali in the US is the most widely recognized Indian festival — observed at the White House since 2003 and increasingly as a regional school holiday (New York City and New Jersey both passed school-holiday legislation in 2025). For Gujarati families specifically, the five-day arc is kept at home (Dhanteras gold purchases at Indian jewelers, Chopda Pujan on laptops and QuickBooks, evening Lakshmi Puja, Bestu Varas Saal Mubarak phone calls to family in Gujarat and the UK) and at community centers (BAPS Annakut on Bestu Varas morning is one of the most attended diaspora events of the year, with stacked offerings of vegetarian dishes filling the mandir hall). Sweets — mohanthal, sukhdi, ghughra, kaju katli — are exchanged with everyone.
Foods for this festival
What people eat and why — cultural context, not step-by-step recipes.
- Basundi
બાસુંદી · bah-SOON-dee
A wedding and festival sweet, ladled cold next to hot puris. Kali Chaudas dinner in many Gujarati homes means basundi alongside the bhajiya.
A wedding and festival sweet, ladled cold next to hot puris. Kali Chaudas dinner in many Gujarati homes means basundi alongside the bhajiya.
- Ghughra
ઘુઘરા · GHOO-grah
Made in big batches before Diwali and Holi, usually assembly-line style — one person rolls, one fills, one crimps the edges. The crimp is the signature.
Made in big batches before Diwali and Holi, usually assembly-line style — one person rolls, one fills, one crimps the edges. The crimp is the signature.
- Magas
મગાસ
Prepared for Diwali and Navratri. A specialty festive sweet that requires skill to get the right texture.
Prepared for Diwali and Navratri. A specialty festive sweet that requires skill to get the right texture.
- Mohanthal
મોહનથલ · moh-HUN-thul
The mithai by which Gujarati sweet-makers get judged — the grain of the besan has to come out right. Standard at Diwali, and a favored Krishna bhog at Janmashtami.
The mithai by which Gujarati sweet-makers get judged — the grain of the besan has to come out right. Standard at Diwali, and a favored Krishna bhog at Janmashtami.
- Sukhdi / Gol Papdi
સુખડી
Usually the first sweet a child learns to make — three ingredients, one pan, hard to ruin. Made for everyday prasad as much as for festivals.
Usually the first sweet a child learns to make — three ingredients, one pan, hard to ruin. Made for everyday prasad as much as for festivals.
When is Diwali?
- Diwali 2025
- October 20–24, 2025
- Diwali 2026
- November 6–11, 2026
- Diwali 2027
- October 27–31, 2027
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