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Diwali in Mumbai (2026): Dates, Where to See the Lights and What to Expect

Festivals & Events · Discover Mumbai Team · 1 October 2026 · 10 min read

Diwali in Mumbai (2026): Dates, Where to See the Lights and What to Expect

Diwali in Mumbai is Maharashtrian at heart. Star-shaped paper lanterns called akash kandils hang outside almost every window, families fry plates of chakli and karanji to swap with the neighbours, concerts start before sunrise, and on the big night the whole city lets off fireworks at once. In 2026 the festival falls in the first half of November, after the rains have gone and as the pleasant season begins, which makes it one of the best weeks of the year to visit.

This guide covers the dates, the places worth going to, where to buy the lanterns and the snacks, and the practical things that catch visitors out.

The dates

Day Date What happens
Vasubaras Thursday 5 November Cows and calves are worshipped; in Maharashtrian homes Diwali begins here
Dhanteras Friday 6 November The day to buy gold, silver or new utensils; jewellers are packed
Narak Chaturdashi Sunday 8 November, before dawn The ritual oil bath, abhyang snan, and the first fireworks of the morning
Laxmi Pujan Sunday 8 November, evening The main night: puja at home and in shops, then the city’s loudest fireworks
Diwali Padwa (Bali Pratipada) Tuesday 10 November A state holiday; a day for couples and, for many traders, the start of a new account year
Bhau Beej Wednesday 11 November Sisters and brothers; a holiday for state government offices this year
Tripurari Purnima Tuesday 24 November Two weeks later: thousands of oil lamps at Banganga, see below

This year Narak Chaturdashi and Laxmi Pujan fall on the same Sunday, so the morning and evening rituals happen on one day. Drik Panchang gives the Laxmi Pujan muhurat for Mumbai as 6:27 PM to 8:27 PM.

Monday 9 November is the odd one out. Some all-India calendars put Govardhan Puja and Bali Pratipada on the Monday, because the tithi begins at midday, but Maharashtra observes Padwa on Tuesday 10 November and that is the public holiday. If you are visiting family, go by their calendar.

What Diwali looks like here

Akash kandils. The lantern is the symbol of a Mumbai Diwali. Traditional ones are paper or cloth on a bamboo frame, shaped like a star or a lamp with long tails, and hung outside the front door or from a balcony with a bulb inside. Walk through any Marathi neighbourhood after dark in Diwali week, Dadar, Girgaon, Parel or Lalbaug, and every chawl and building has them, a different colour on every floor. Our guides to Girgaon and Dadar and Shivaji Park have walks through both.

Faral. The plate of Diwali snacks that every household makes or buys and then sends to friends and neighbours: chakli (a crisp spiral), karanji (a sweet stuffed pastry), shankarpali, anarse, chivda and besan ladoo. If you are invited to a home, you will be offered a plate. Accept it.

Rangoli and killa. Doorsteps get rangoli, patterns in coloured powder, refreshed every morning. In Maharashtra children also build small mud forts, killas, in courtyards and building compounds, modelled on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s hill forts and decorated with toy soldiers.

Diwali Pahat. A Marathi tradition of music at dawn: classical, natya sangeet and devotional concerts that start around sunrise on the mornings of Diwali week, especially Narak Chaturdashi and Padwa, in auditoriums and open grounds across Dadar, Girgaon, Thane and the suburbs. Most are announced a week or two ahead. The first confirmed for 2026 are by the singer Mahesh Kale: at Shanmukhananda Hall, near King’s Circle, at 6:30 AM on Sunday 8 November, and at Shiv Samartha Ground in Thane at 6:15 AM on Wednesday 11 November, both ticketed. We add others to our What’s On page as we confirm them.

Where to go

Shivaji Park Deepotsav, Dadar

For more than a decade the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has lit up the whole of Shivaji Park for Diwali. In 2025 the lights came on around 7 PM each evening for about ten days around the festival, with a fireworks display; whether 2026 includes fireworks after the High Court’s new order (see the practical notes below) is not yet known. It is free, it is very crowded, and there is nowhere to park. Take the train to Dadar and walk; Shivaji Park is about 15 minutes from the station. The 2026 dates had not been announced as of 7 October, and we will add them to What’s On when they are.

The kandil lane at Mahim

In the weeks before Diwali, pop-up stalls along L.J. Road in Mahim West, outside Citylight Cinema, sell handmade akash kandils, from simple paper stars to large designer pieces. It is the easiest place to see the craft in one stretch, and the best place to buy one to take home. Go in the evening, when they are lit.

Dadar market

The streets around Kabutar Khana in Dadar West fill with shops selling lights, lanterns and decorations, and the flower market by Dadar station sells marigold garlands and mango-leaf torans by the heap in the days before Laxmi Pujan. It is chaotic and wonderful, and it is where the faral shops below are too.

Kumbharwada, Dharavi

Dharavi’s potters’ colony, on 90 Feet Road, was settled by potters from Saurashtra in Gujarat, and some families have been here for six or seven generations. In the weeks before Diwali, rows of freshly made diyas lie drying in the lanes, some plain and some already painted. You can buy them straight from the potters, plain clay ones for a few rupees each. Go in daylight, take a taxi from Mahim station, and ask before photographing people at work. This is a workplace and people’s homes, not a show.

Light markets for shopping

  • Lohar Chawl, Kalbadevi: the city’s wholesale lighting market, for fairy lights, LED strings and lamps
  • Lamington Road, near Grant Road station: lighting and electronics shops
  • Bhuleshwar: lights, decorations, diyas and puja supplies in the old market lanes, a short walk north of Crawford Market

Zaveri Bazaar on Dhanteras

Mumbai’s jewellery market, in the lanes north of Crawford Market, is at its busiest on Dhanteras, when buying gold is considered lucky. Even if you are not buying, the crowd and the lit-up shopfronts are a sight. Keep a hand on your bag.

Temples on Laxmi Pujan

Mahalaxmi Temple at Breach Candy is the obvious place on the night of Laxmi Pujan, and the queues show it; our Mahalaxmi guide has the timings. Mumbadevi Temple in Bhuleshwar is busy all week. Go early in the day, dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and expect to leave your shoes outside. Siddhivinayak is busy too.

The seafront on Laxmi Pujan night

Fireworks go up from building compounds and terraces all along the coast, and Marine Drive, Worli Sea Face and Juhu Beach are good places to watch the skyline light up between about 8 and 10 PM. Expect crowds and smoke.

Banganga on Tripurari Purnima

Two weeks after Diwali, on Tripurari Purnima (Tuesday 24 November), the ancient Banganga Tank at Walkeshwar is lit with thousands of oil lamps for a maha-aarti organised by the GSB Temple Trust. It is one of the most beautiful nights of the year in South Mumbai. In 2025 entry needed free online registration with a QR code, registrations closed once capacity was reached, and there were free shuttles from Grant Road and Charni Road stations. Expect the same in 2026: registration is on the official site, bangangamahaaarti.com, which was still showing the 2025 event on 7 October. Register as soon as it opens, and arrive early; in 2025 registered visitors had to be in by 5:30 PM or lose their place.

Where to buy faral

The best faral comes from the Marathi sweet and snack shops in Dadar, and most take orders for boxes and hampers from mid-October:

  • Panshikar, Ranade Road, Dadar West, with branches in Girgaon and Vile Parle: chakli, karanji and anarse
  • Chanderkar Sweets, Ranade Road, Dadar West: chakli and ladoos
  • Godbole Stores, Dadar West: chivda, sev and shankarpali
  • Kanitkar’s, D.L. Vaidya Road, Dadar West: ladoos and festive snacks
  • Ladu Samrat, Lalbaug: ladoos and savoury boxes

For North Indian mithai instead, Tewari Bros. in Juhu and Punjabi Chandu Halwai in Zaveri Bazaar are long-established names.

If you would rather eat Maharashtrian food than carry it home, The Girgaum Kitchen and Diva Maharashtracha are good places for a Marathi meal near the lantern lanes.

Practical notes

  • Fireworks: new rules this year. On 22 September 2026 the Bombay High Court ordered a total ban on bursting firecrackers on public streets and roads during festivals across Maharashtra, along with laser lights and loud sound systems. Fireworks were already banned between 10 PM and 6 AM under a 2005 Supreme Court order, and in 2023 the High Court narrowed Mumbai’s Diwali window to 8 PM to 10 PM. So this year, expect fireworks to be confined to building compounds and private grounds. The case is still open in the High Court, and how strictly the ban is enforced on the night remains to be seen; we will update this page if the rules change before Diwali. The loudest times are dawn on Narak Chaturdashi and the evening of Laxmi Pujan, both on Sunday 8 November. If you are travelling with a baby or a dog, or you hate loud bangs, plan a quiet evening indoors.
  • Air quality. The air is noticeably worse for a few days around Diwali, with smoke hanging over the city the morning after Laxmi Pujan. If you have asthma, carry your inhaler and keep the windows shut that night.
  • Sky lanterns are banned. Mumbai Police ban the sale and flying of sky lanterns, the paper ones you light and release, for about a month around Diwali; in 2025 the ban ran from 12 October to 10 November. The hanging akash kandils are fine. Flying drones was banned for most of that period too.
  • Shops and restaurants. Malls, hotels and most restaurants stay open through Diwali. Many small, family-run shops and eateries close early on Laxmi Pujan evening for their own puja, and some close for a day or more around Padwa and Bhau Beej, when staff go home to their families. Phone ahead if your plans depend on one.
  • Banks and offices are closed on Sunday 8 and Tuesday 10 November. Withdraw cash before the weekend.
  • Travel. Trains and buses out of Mumbai are booked weeks ahead, and flights cost more. If you are flying in, note that the main airport’s Terminal 1 closes on 25 October 2026, so every BOM flight now uses Terminal 2; our arrivals guide explains. Book your hotel early, because early November is the start of the busy season; our where-to-stay guide compares the areas.
  • If you are invited home, take a box of sweets or dry fruits, take your shoes off at the door, and say “Diwalichya hardik shubhechha”, Marathi for “Happy Diwali”. “Happy Diwali” works perfectly well too.

Sources

The 2026 Deepotsav dates, the Diwali Pahat concerts and this year’s police orders are announced in the fortnight before Diwali. We will update this page and our What’s On page as they are.

Header photo: Diwali lanterns in Pune, Maharashtra by आर्या जोशी, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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