Diwali 2026 Lakshmi-Ganesh Puja Vidhi: Samagri List and the Full Step-by-Step Method (8 November)
Diwali 2026 is on Sunday, 8 November, fixed by Amavasya running through pradosh kaal. The whole Lakshmi-Ganesh puja in order: cleaning, chowki, why Ganesh sits to Lakshmi's left, the kalash, the sixteen upacharas, Kubera and bahi-khata pujan, and the samagri checklist.
Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November. This guide covers the vidhi alone: what to arrange, how to build the chowki, and what to do in what order. For the muhurat windows, see our Diwali 2026 date and muhurat guide.
Diwali 2026: the date and the rule behind it
Lakshmi Puja is not fixed by the tithi at sunrise. It is fixed by pradosh kaal, the window that opens at sunset. Whichever evening has Kartika Krishna Amavasya running through that window is Diwali.
In 2026, Amavasya runs from 11:28 on 8 November to 12:32 on 9 November. Delhi sunset on 8 November is 17:30, so Amavasya is fully present at pradosh that evening; by the next evening it has ended. Diwali is therefore 8 November, though 9 November is the day that begins under Amavasya. Naraka Chaturdashi shares the date this year; Govardhan Puja waits until the morning after next.
| Date | Tithi at sunrise | Sunrise | Sunset | Pradosh (derived) | Observance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 6 Nov | Krishna Dwadashi | 06:37 | 17:31 | 17:31 – 19:55 | Dhanteras |
| Sun 8 Nov | Krishna Chaturdashi | 06:39 | 17:30 | 17:30 – 19:54 | Naraka Chaturdashi, Diwali |
| Mon 9 Nov | Amavasya | 06:39 | 17:29 | 17:29 – 19:53 | — |
| Tue 10 Nov | Shukla Pratipada | 06:40 | 17:29 | 17:29 – 19:53 | Govardhan Puja |
| Wed 11 Nov | Shukla Dwitiya | 06:41 | 17:28 | 17:28 – 19:52 | Bhai Dooj |
Sunrise, sunset and tithi timings are measured by the AstroVedansh engine for New Delhi. The pradosh column is derived, not measured — sunset plus 2h24m. Sunrise, sunset and moonrise shift by city, so check your local panchang before fixing a time.
Rahu kaal at Delhi on 8 November runs 16:08 to 17:30, ending exactly as pradosh opens.
The complete samagri checklist
Buy on Dhanteras or earlier, so nobody is sent to the market mid-puja.
| Group | Items | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Seat and murtis | Wooden chowki, red cloth, Lakshmi and Ganesh murtis | Seated Lakshmi with a lotus |
| Kalash | Copper or brass pot, water, five mango or ashoka leaves, whole coconut with husk, raw rice, a coin, moli | Coconut rests on the leaves |
| Anointing | Roli, kumkum, haldi, chandan, akshat, gangajal, panchamrit | Whole grains, never broken rice |
| Flowers | Lotus if available, marigold, rose, a door toran | Lotus is Lakshmi's flower |
| Bhog | Kheel, batasha, lava, sugar, gud, five fruits, kheer, paan, supari, laung, elaichi | Covered until naivedya |
| Lamps | Earthen diyas, cotton battis, mustard oil or ghee, matches, kapur | Soak new diyas an hour first |
| Utensils | Thali, panchapatra and spoon, ghanti, dhoop, agarbatti, kalava | One spare thali for removals |
| Wealth items | Coins, notes, a silver coin, the bahi-khata, a new pen, red cloth | Traders: keep the safe key |
Cleaning and preparing the room
Wash the puja room floor and clear the clutter — not because a goddess inspects corners, but because an unswept room makes an unhurried puja impossible. On the day bathe first, wear clean clothes, and finish the kitchen work before pradosh so the bhog is ready.
The chowki: building the seat
Place the chowki so you sit facing east or north. Spread the red cloth and smooth it. Put a heap of raw rice at the centre and set the Lakshmi murti on it — rice is the seat, and a murti should not sit on bare wood.
Set Ganesh alongside, on Lakshmi's left. Slightly forward, keep the thali of coins, notes and jewellery — that is what is worshipped in dhan pujan. Saraswati, if your family keeps her, goes on Lakshmi's right. Everything else stays off the chowki.
Why Ganesh sits to Lakshmi's left
Two reasons are usually given. The first is precedence: Ganesh is prathama-pujya, worshipped before any deity in any rite, so he gets his own murti and invocation rather than being folded into the main puja. The second is iconographic — in a pair the right side is senior and the left belongs to the child or attendant, so Ganesh on Lakshmi's left is the son's place beside the mother.
Being honest: the story of Lakshmi adopting Ganesh is late Puranic and folk material, and no standard vidhi text carries a verse commanding this arrangement. Traditions also differ on whether "left" is read from the murti's side or the worshipper's. If your family has always done it the other way, keep doing that.
The kalash and the sthapana
Fill the kalash three-quarters with clean water; add gangajal, a coin, akshat and a few petals. Tie moli around the neck in three turns. Arrange five mango or ashoka leaves around the mouth, tips outward, then rest the whole coconut, husk intact, on them. Mark a swastika on the pot and set it on rice to Lakshmi's right.
Then the sthapana: sit, sip water for achaman, take akshat and a flower in your right hand, state your sankalpa — name, gotra if you use one, place, and that you are performing Lakshmi-Ganesh pujan this evening — and release the akshat onto the chowki. Do not get up again until the aarti is done.
Shodashopachara: the sixteen steps
Sixteen services, done for Ganesh first and repeated for Lakshmi. Enumerations differ between paddhatis; sixteen is the constant, not any one list.
- Avahan — invite the deity, hands folded.
- Asan — the seat, with akshat.
- Padya — water at the feet.
- Arghya — water at the hands.
- Achaman — water for sipping.
- Snan — panchamrit, then water, then wipe dry. Metal murtis only.
- Vastra — moli or new cloth.
- Yajnopavita — sacred thread for Ganesh; bangles or shringar for Lakshmi.
- Gandha — chandan and roli as a tilak.
- Pushpa — flowers; lotus to Lakshmi if available.
- Dhoop — light and circle it.
- Deep — the ghee lamp, shown.
- Naivedya — uncover and offer the bhog.
- Tambulam — paan with supari, laung, elaichi.
- Dakshina — a coin or note.
- Aarti — then pradakshina and pranam.
Kheel, batasha and lava
Kheel is puffed paddy, rice popped in its husk. Lava is the older Sanskrit word for parched grain, and on most samagri lists kheel and lava are the same thing under two names — which is why buying both gets two identical bags. Batasha is the hollow sugar drop, offered alongside.
The texts do not say why. The most reasonable reading is calendrical: Diwali falls just after the kharif paddy harvest, so the new grain goes to the deity before it is eaten. That is an inference, offered as one — nobody should tell you a benefit has been proven in it.
Kubera puja and the bahi-khata
After Lakshmi, traders and many households worship Kubera, treasurer of the devas. The cash box or safe stands in for his seat: clean it, mark a swastika and the shubh-labh signs in roli, offer akshat, flowers and a coin, and recite om yakshaya kuberaya vaishravanaya dhanadhanyadhipataye dhanadhanyasamriddhim me dehi dapaya svaha. Keep it facing north if possible.
The bahi-khata or chopda pujan follows. New account books are wrapped in red cloth, a swastika and the word Shri written on the first page in roli or kesar, and the books get kumkum, akshat, flowers and a new pen. In the Gujarati calendar the books are opened on Bestu Varas, Kartika Shukla Pratipada — 10 November 2026.
Deepdaan and the closing
After the aarti, light the diyas from the puja lamp: a pair at the main door, one at the tulsi, one at the water tap, one in each room. Because Naraka Chaturdashi shares the date this year, add the Yama deepdaan — a four-wick lamp outside the house facing south, lit by someone who is not fasting.
Close by folding your hands and asking pardon for what was done wrong or left out; the mantraheenam kriyaheenam verse exists because no householder gets every step right. Distribute prasad, leave one lamp burning overnight if safe, and leave the chowki standing until morning. Check your rahu kaal before fixing new work.