Dev Diwali – The festival of lights celebrated in Varanasi. It falls on the full moon of the Hindu calendar 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 and at the southern end to Rajghat are lit with more than a million earthen lamps (Diyas) in honour of goddess river Ganges and its presiding goddess. The gods are believed to descend to Earth to bathe in the Ganges on this day. Also, during Dev Diwali, houses are decorated with oil lamps and coloured designs on their front doors, firecrackers are burnt at night, processions of decorated deities are taken out into the streets of Varanasi, and oil lamps are set afloat on the river.
