Shiva Tripurari & Ganga
Dev Deepawali
Fifteen days after ours, the gods keep Diwali — and Kashi lends them her ghats.
Tithi: Kartik Purnima
In the simplest words
Fifteen days after Diwali, Kashi lights a million lamps on its ghats — they say the gods themselves come down to bathe in the Ganga that night.
The story & purpose
On Kartik Purnima Shiva destroyed Tripura — the triple city of the asuras that could fall only to a single arrow when the three aligned. The devas, delivered, lit lamps across the heavens; and Kashi answers them: on this night her eighty-plus ghats hold over a million diyas, earth reflecting the rejoicing sky.
The night gathers everything Kartik has ripened: the month's snan and deepdan complete, Tulsi married, Vishnu awake — and the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh swells to its grandest form of the year.
What is done
Deepdan at the water
Lamps set at river, tank, or home threshold — every flame joins Kashi's million.
Kartik snan completion
The month-long dawn baths conclude with today's purnima snan.
Tripurari smaran
Shiva worshipped as Tripurantaka; the brahma-murari shloka of the day.
Best timings
Deepdan at pradosh, as the full moon rises over the water.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
The ghats are lit largely by volunteers — lakhs of diyas placed by hand in a single evening.
Guru Nanak Jayanti shares this purnima — Kashi and Amritsar illuminated the same night.
Boats on the Ganga tonight glide between two skies of lamps.
Mantras of this festival
ब्रह्मा मुरारिस्त्रिपुरान्तकारी भानुः शशी भूमिसुतो बुधश्च । गुरुश्च शुक्रः शनिराहुकेतवः कुर्वन्तु सर्वे मम सुप्रभातम् ॥
Brahma Murari — the morning graha verse
Begin jaap →ॐ नमः शिवाय
Panchakshara — Om Namah Shivaya
Begin jaap →गङ्गे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वति । नर्मदे सिन्धु कावेरि जलेऽस्मिन् सन्निधिं कुरु ॥
Gange Cha Yamune — the seven rivers
Begin jaap →दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Deepa Jyotih Parabrahma
Begin jaap →