Kali Chaudash 2021

Kali Chaudash — Narak Chaturdashi, Roop Chaudas, Chhoti Diwali — falls on the fourteenth day of Kartika's dark fortnight, the day before Diwali (Amavasya). It is the day Lord Krishna (aided by Satyabhama and Garuda) slew the demon Narakasura, freeing 16,100 women he had imprisoned. The victory is celebrated with pre-dawn bathing and oil massage — earning the name Narak Chaturdashi (the fourteenth of Naraka's defeat).

In Gujarat, Bengal, and Maharashtra, this day has another dimension: Kali Puja. Goddess Kali — the ferocious, dark, time-consuming aspect of Devi — is worshipped with great intensity on this new-moon-adjacent night. In Bengal, Kali Puja is the biggest event of the Diwali season, eclipsing Lakshmi Puja in cultural significance. Tantric practitioners perform midnight puja (Nishita Kaal puja) to Goddess Kali with offerings of red hibiscus, sindoor, and blood-red fruits.

In Maharashtra and Gujarat the day is called Narak Chaturdashi or Roop Chaudas (Roop = beauty). The tradition of an abhyang snan (oil bath with ubtan — turmeric and herb paste) before sunrise is observed to wash away the darkness of Naraka and emerge beautiful for Diwali. This is also the day Hanuman Jayanthi is observed in some South Indian and Maharashtrian traditions (specifically the one that places Hanuman's birth at Nishita kaal of this night).