Dev Diwali/ Dev Deepawali is an internationally famous festival of Varanasi. People from across the globe come and witness the light festival of heaven. Of Late the other parts of India have started celebrating the wonderful evening by decorating the Ghats of the Ganges using candles and diyas. Kolkata is one of those cities.

Kolkata, the cultural capital of India is famous for the different religious and cultural festivals. The people of the city possess a quality to adapt any festival, style or food from different parts of the world, blend them with their own aesthetics and finally add a new festival in their own calendar. Dev Diwali is a new addition. There are some unfortunate political reasons behind the celebration of Dev Diwali in Kolkata. But keeping aside those reasons, let’s focus on the festival.

The full moon after Diwali is known as Dev Diwali. This day is celebrated in various ways across India. The believers of Lord Krishna celebrate ‘Ras Purnima’. It is believed that he performed Raas (a traditional folk dance) with Radha and all the Gopis on the bank of Yamuna river on this auspicious day. Sikhs celebrate this day as ‘Gurupurav’. Santhals (the Austroasiatic speaking ethnic group) celebrate this as ‘Badna Parav’. Similarly, the believers of Shiva celebrate Dev Diwali to commemorate Lord Shiva’s victory over the demon Tripurasura. Usually this day was famous as Kartik Purnina (the birth day of the younger son of Shiva and Durga) to get a baby. But nowadays, along with Kartik Puja they are celebrating Dev Diwali.

Celebration in Ahiritola Ghat and Nimtala Ghat:

Although all the ghats from Baghbazar Ghat to Babu Ghat are decorated with diyas. But to be very honest, because of the wideness, Ahiritola Ghat and Nimtala Ghat look gorgeous during the celebration. They are next to each other.

Celebration of Dev Diwali in Ramkrishnapur Ghat, Howrah:

Not only in Kolkata, the festival is celebrated in Howrah too. The most famous Ghat in Howrah is Ramkrishnapur Ghat.