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A tiered lamp of many flames held up in the dark at Gwarighat, the temple spire behind it.
Evening aarti on the bank of the Narmada, Jabalpur — Mity05, 2019

The rivers, and light itself · 15 minutes at dusk

Deepdan — offering lamps to the waters

Kartik month; Dev Deepawali; Ganga Dussehra; Karthigai; any evening of gratitude

In the simplest words

Setting little lamps afloat on water, for Kartik evenings, for ancestors, for wishes: light, given away, that somehow makes your own path brighter.

Deepdan, giving a lamp away, is bhakti's most photogenic act and its most selfless: light released to travel without you. On the ghats it floats downstream for someone unseen; at home it burns at the door for whoever passes. Kartik is its month, but no evening refuses it.

Perform this puja

5 steps, one at a time, with the lamp, the mantras and the bell, on this screen.

Samagri: what you need

0/3 gathered

The vidhi, step by step

0/5 done

  1. Prepare at dusk

    Wicks set, lamps filled; one lamp always kept for the home shrine before any are given away.

  2. Light with the verse

    Each lamp lit with the deepa-jyoti verse, the flame saluted as the divine made visible.

    दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

    Dīpa-jyotiḥ parabrahma dīpa-jyotir janārdanaḥ, dīpo haratu me pāpaṁ dīpa-jyotir namo'stu te

    The light of the lamp is the supreme absolute; the light of the lamp is Janardana. May the lamp take away my faults; light of the lamp, salutations to you. The verse dares an equation, this small flame is parabrahma, because fire is the one household thing that behaves like the absolute: giving itself away all evening and remaining undiminished. The faults it takes, it takes the way light takes darkness: by presence, not by force.

    Source: Traditional dīpa-vandana verse

  3. Name the intention

    Each lamp given for someone or something: an ancestor, a struggling friend, a hope. Deepdan with a name burns differently.

  4. Set them afloat / at the thresholds

    At water: the dona lowered gently, released without pushing. At home: floated in the bowl, or set at the doorstep, window, tulsi, the darkest corner of the stair.

    गङ्गे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वति । नर्मदे सिन्धु कावेरि जलेऽस्मिन् सन्निधिं कुरु ॥

    Gaṅge ca yamune caiva godāvari sarasvati, narmade sindhu kāveri jale'smin sannidhiṁ kuru

    O Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri, be present in this water. Sannidhim kuru, 'be present', is the operative prayer: the rivers are not fetched, they are recognised. One vessel of water, rightly addressed, holds the whole sacred geography; for a household morning, pilgrimage is compressed into attention.

    Source: Traditional snāna / pūjā invocation

  5. Watch one go

    Stay till at least one lamp is out of sight. The rite's quiet teaching: what is given is not watched over.

    ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

    Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ

    Om, peace, peace, peace. The three utterances are aimed, not repeated for weight: at what rises from within (adhyatmika), what comes through other beings (adhibhautika), and what descends beyond anyone's control (adhidaivika). Naming all three sources, the chant admits how undefended a life is, and answers each door with the same word.

    Source: Upaniṣadic śānti-pāṭha tradition

Note: Use clay lamps and leaf boats only, no plastic or thermocol on the water; the river should be brighter for the offering, not burdened. In Kartik, a lamp nightly at tulsi carries the whole month's deepdan merit, says tradition.

Dev Deepawali →Kartik Purnima · Dev Deepawali →Ganga Dussehra →Karthigai Deepam →