Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) 2012

On the Chaturdashi of the Krishna Paksha of Kartika, in autumn — the fourteenth day of the waning fortnight, the day before Diwali. For this year's date, see the date shown above.

A ritual bath taken before sunrise on Naraka Chaturdashi, after the body is massaged with oil and a herbal ubtan. It is held to wash away the year's accumulated inauspiciousness, so one enters Diwali clean — hence the name Roop Chaudas.

A lamp is lit in the evening for Yama, the lord of death, often facing south, with a prayer against untimely death. It sits alongside the festival's memory of captives freed by Krishna.

Naraka Chaturdashi is the eve of Diwali; the two evenings run together, with lamps lit on both. Choti Diwali centres on the pre-dawn bath and Narakasura's defeat, and Diwali the next night on Lakshmi Puja.