Dev Deepavali (Varanasi)

The Dev Deepavali (lit. 'the Diwali of the Gods', 'Festival of Lights of the Gods') is the festival of Kartik Poornima celebrated in the city of Varanasi, in the Bhojpuri region of Uttar Pradesh, India. It falls on the full moon of the Hindu month of Kartika (November - December) and takes place fifteen days after Diwali. The steps of all the ghats on the riverfront of the Ganges River, from Ravidas Ghat at the southern end to Rajghat, are lit with more than a million earthen lamps (diyas) in honour of Ganga, the Ganges, and its presiding goddess. Mythologically, the gods are believed to descend to Earth to bathe in the Ganges on this day. The festival is also observed as Tripura Purnima Snan. The tradition of lighting the lamps on the Dev Deepawali festival day was first started at the Dashashwamedh Ghat by Pandit Kishori Raman Dubey (Babu Maharaj) in 1991. During Dev Deepawali, houses are decorated with oil lamps and coloured designs on their front doors. Processions of decorated deities are taken out into the streets of Varanasi, and oil lamps are set afloat on the river.

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