Diwali · The Festival of Lights
Not watching the festival. Inside it.
Begin a conversationView the routeOn Diwali night, a billion people light a lamp at the same moment
Most visitors watch Diwali from a hotel terrace. You will be inside a family home: making the rangoli at their doorstep, joining the Lakshmi puja, and sharing sweets that took three days to make. Then you climb to the rooftops as the whole city of Jaipur lights up around you.
The journey keeps going after Diwali. In Varanasi the ghats are washed and lit again for the festivals that follow. Then we travel into the desert for the Pushkar fair, where camels, traders and pilgrims gather by a holy lake under the November moon. We choose a new Diwali city every year; this is the journey for the coming season.
Ashvin Kumar Mishra · Founder & Chief Travel Curator
Six moments you will carry home
Rangoli with the women of the house
Learn to draw the welcome patterns that greet Lakshmi at every doorstep on Diwali.
The city lights up
Rooftops and fireworks across the old city as Diwali night begins.
Clay lamps with a potter family
Shape and paint your own diyas in a potters' lane before the festival.
Dawn on the Ganga
A private boat as the sun rises over the ghats of Varanasi.
The evening aarti
Fire, bells and chanting on the river, watched from the water.
The Pushkar Camel Fair
Traders, camels and pilgrims gathered in the dunes beside a holy lake.
From the lamps of Jaipur to the river of light in Varanasi
This route is a starting point, not a script. Every destination, experience and the order you travel in can be fully customised around your interests, dates and pace. The detailed day-by-day itinerary is shared personally with every guest upon enquiry.
Celebrate somewhere unforgettable
A palace hotel
So that Diwali night ends somewhere grand, with lamps along every terrace.
A heritage palace on the ghats
Step from your room straight onto the river, the oldest living city in the world.
A luxury desert camp
Spacious tents within reach of the fair, quiet enough to hear the camel bells at dawn.
Our journeys are built around people, not monuments
The sweet makers
The halwais who work through the night before Diwali, frying, stirring and folding by hand.
The priests of the Ganga
Young priests who perform the evening aarti on the ghats every night of the year.
The families of the fair
Herders, dancers and traders who travel across Rajasthan for Pushkar's full moon.
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Read all guest stories2026 & 2027 dates
| Dates | Timing | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 5 – 18 Nov 2026 | Dhanteras 6 Nov · Diwali 8 Nov · Pushkar fair 17 – 24 Nov | On request |
| 26 Oct – 8 Nov 2027 | Dhanteras 27 Oct · Diwali 29 Oct · Bhai Dooj 31 Oct | Open |
| +6 days, to 14 Nov 2027 | Stay for the Pushkar full moon or Dev Deepawali in Varanasi (14 Nov) | Add-on |
Festival dates follow the Hindu lunar calendar; the Pushkar fair announces its exact dates closer to the time. Palace rooms for Diwali sell out early, so we suggest reserving by June 2027. Every journey is private and priced on request, according to season, group size and the rooms you choose.
Questions guests ask us
QAre the fireworks and crowds overwhelming?
QDo we need to be religious to join the puja?
QWhat should we wear?
QWhy book so far ahead?
QCan we celebrate Diwali somewhere other than Jaipur?
Shall we plan your Diwali?
Every Satark journey is private and shaped around you: your dates, your pace, your interests. Tell us a little about yourself and Ashvin will reply personally within 24 hours.
Plan my journeyWhatsApp Ashvin