What to know before you go.
Researched by Sarisara, with sources.
Deepavali, also widely known as Diwali, is a Hindu festival that celebrates light winning over darkness and good winning over evil. Across Sri Lanka’s Tamil Hindu communities, homes and temples are lit with rows of small oil lamps called diyas, both inside and along windowsills and doorways, which is where the festival gets its name — Deepavali means roughly “a row of lights”.
In the lead-up to the day, families clean and decorate their homes, and on the day itself many Hindus perform a puja (prayer ritual) to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, asking for a good year ahead. People wear new clothes, share sweets with neighbours and family, and in many places fireworks light up the evening sky. Doorsteps are often decorated with rangoli — colourful patterns made from coloured powder or flowers.
In the wider Hindu calendar the festival can run for five or six days with different rituals on each one, but in Sri Lanka the main day — the day of Lakshmi Puja — is the one that is an official public holiday and the clear centre of the celebration. It falls on the new-moon night of the Hindu month of Kartika, which places it somewhere between mid-October and mid-November each year.
October – November Hindu
Falls on Amavasya, the new-moon night of the Hindu month of Kartika, which places it between mid-October and mid-November each year. Sri Lanka's public holiday is the main day of the festival, the day of Lakshmi Puja.
Free to watch and take part.
There is no entry fee. Deepavali is a home and temple festival, not a ticketed event.
New or best clothes are traditional for the day itself; modest dress is appropriate at any kovil you visit.
Not dressed right? This research did not confirm any strict dress enforcement for Deepavali beyond the general custom of dressing well.
There is no single festival venue — Deepavali happens in homes and Hindu temples across the country.
No single organiser — Deepavali is celebrated by individual Hindu families and temples across Sri Lanka
Celebrated across Sri Lanka, in Hindu homes and temples island-wide
It means “may you live long”. It is how we say hello in Sinhala, and how we greet you every time you come back.
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Fire dancers light the road before the elephants of the Esala Perahera.
