The festival · At home, wherever you are

How to celebrate Karthigai Deepam at home

A clean doorstep, a row of clay lamps, a plate of sweet puffed rice and a few quiet minutes at dusk. A plain guide to keeping Karthigai Deepam at home, with the oil, the wicks, the steps, the sweets and the greetings in English and Tamil.

← Karthigai Deepam 2026: the full guide

You do not have to be at the foot of Arunachala to keep Karthigai Deepam. For most Tamil families, in every country, the festival is a home festival first: a clean doorstep, a row of small clay lamps, a plate of sweet puffed rice, and a few quiet minutes at dusk. This is a plain guide to doing it well, with ordinary materials, in a flat or a house, wherever you happen to live.

When to light the lamps

The tradition is to light the lamps at dusk on the evening of Karthigai Deepam, which is Tuesday 24 November 2026. Dusk means your own sunset, wherever you are. You do not need to match the moment of the Maha Deepam at Tiruvannamalai. If you would like to be with the flame at the same moment, it is lit at about 6 PM IST, which is about 12:30 PM in the UK, 7:30 AM in New York, 8:30 PM in Singapore and 11:30 PM in Sydney; our live-stream guide has a full table and how to find a genuine broadcast. Many families do both: lamps at their own dusk, and the live flame whenever it comes.

What you need

• Clay lamps (agal vilakku in Tamil). Any small clay or brass lamps will do; use as many as you like, from one to a long row.
• Oil or ghee. Sesame oil (nallennai) and ghee are the traditional choices; coconut oil is also used. Choose one rather than mixing.
• Cotton wicks. Soak clay lamps in water for a few hours first; they then burn longer and absorb less oil.
• A match or taper, a tray or saucer under each lamp, and a clear surface away from curtains.
• Flowers and a kolam if you like: rice-flour kolam at the doorstep is traditional, but not required.

A simple way to do it

1. Prepare in the afternoon. Clean the doorstep and the shrine or the place where you will pray, wash the lamps and set the wicks.
2. Bathe and dress simply before dusk. White or light, clean clothes are traditional.
3. Light one lamp first, at the shrine or a picture of Arunachala, Shiva or your family deity, and light all the others from it. This is the “one becoming many” of the Bharani Deepam.
4. Place the lamps along the doorstep, on the window ledges and at the gate or balcony: the line between your home and the outside is where the lamps stand.
5. Pray, or simply be quiet for a few minutes. If you want words, the cry of the night at Tiruvannamalai is Annamalaiyarukku Arohara (அண்ணாமலையாருக்கு அரோகரா).
6. Offer the sweets (below), share them, and call your family.
7. Let the lamps burn out, or put them out safely when you go to bed. Never leave lit lamps unattended near children, pets or fabric.

The sweets of the night

The classic offering is karthigai pori, puffed rice sweetened with jaggery. Many families also make pori urundai (puffed-rice balls), appam and savoury adai. A simple karthigai pori for a small family goes like this.

• Melt about 1 cup of grated jaggery with a few spoonfuls of water, strain out any grit, and simmer it to a thick, sticky syrup (a drop should hold together in cold water).
• Stir in a pinch of cardamom, a spoonful of ghee, and a handful of small pieces of dry coconut and roasted gram or peanuts.
• Pour it over about 4 cups of puffed rice (pori) and mix quickly with a wet spoon. For pori urundai, wet your hands and press the warm mixture into balls.

Quantities are a guide; every family has its own. The festival is not fussy.

Greetings, in English and Tamil

In English, you might simply write: May the lamp of Arunachala light your home and your heart. Happy Karthigai Deepam. Share it freely.

What you are really doing

On the hill, the lamp is a mountain of fire in a cauldron of ghee, lit before millions. In your home it is a few small flames on a doorstep. The act is the same: you light a fire against the dark and you remember what it stands for. The story of why this night is lit, and by whom, is told in why Karthigai Deepam is celebrated. If you want to feel closer to the hill itself, read the legend of the column of fire before you light your lamps.

Last updated 8 November 2026. Legends are told as tradition, in our own words; where tellings differ, we say so. Dates and timings follow the sources named on the page and should be confirmed against the official Arunachaleswarar temple (HR&CE) announcements.