When fire meets water
Every autumn, as homes across India flicker with diyas and fireworks bloom against the sky, Diwali lights up not just a nation, but the world.
From Leicester’s Golden Mile in the UK to Singapore’s Little India and Fiji’s island temples, this festival of lights has transcended borders, a shared celebration of hope, renewal, and the triumph of brightness over shadow.
Across Asia, other luminous rituals unfold on water and in the sky, each casting its own reflection on humanity’s timeless love affair with light.
Thailand: Loy Krathong, the river of light
On the full moon of the 12th lunar month, Thailand celebrates Loy Krathong, which literally means “to float a basket.”
The gesture is simple but profound. Each krathong carries away anger, regret, and misfortune, while thanking Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water. By midnight, rivers mirror the sky, dotted with hundreds of drifting flames.
Festival date
Thursday, 6 November 2025, overlaps with the Yi Peng lantern festival on 5 & 6 November. The festival, being part of the lunar calendar, changes dates every year but is usually held in November.
Rituals & offerings
People release krathongs into rivers, canals, and lakes, creating a glowing spectacle. Krathongs are small, hand-crafted floats made of banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense sticks.
Major celebration locations:
- Chiang Mai: Combines Loy Krathong with Yi Peng, featuring thousands of sky lanterns released into the air.
- Bangkok: Celebrations along rivers like the Chao Phraya, featuring large community events and riverfront festivities.
- Sukhothai (the festival’s birthplace): Hosts a Light & Sound Show and cultural events. The 2025 schedule is from 27 October to 5 November, with nightly performances and lantern displays.
Myanmar: Tazaungdaing, the Festival of Lights
When the full moon of Tazaungmon rises, Myanmar glows from pagoda to pagoda, marking the end of the rainy season and the conclusion of Buddhist Lent.
Monks chant through the night as thousands of candles illuminate gilded stupas, turning entire cities into seas of gold.
In Taunggyi, the celebration reaches its fiery peak with the release of enormous paper hot-air balloons, some carrying fireworks, others drifting silently as symbolic offerings to the heavens.
Festival date
- On the full moon of Tazaungmon, typically falling in late October or November. The exact date changes yearly according to the Myanmar lunar calendar.
- In 2025, Tazaungdaing falls on Tuesday,4 November.
Rituals & offerings
Families take part in the Kahtein robe-weaving vigil, staying awake all night to craft saffron robes for monks before dawn. The act embodies generosity, renewal, and spiritual devotion, where every light honors the belief that good deeds should shine brighter than desire.
Major celebration locations
- Yangon & Mandalay: Pagodas such as Shwedagon and Mahamuni are illuminated with thousands of candles.
- Taunggyi: Hosts the spectacular Hot-Air Balloon Festival, featuring balloon competitions, fireworks, and communal prayers beneath a glowing night sky.
India & Sri Lanka: Karthikai Deepam
Celebrated in Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka, during the Tamil month of Karthigai (November–December), this luminous festival honors Lord Shiva and the cosmic flame of creation, known as deepam. Light represents purification, unity, and spiritual clarity.
In Sri Lanka, where Hindu, Buddhist, and indigenous traditions intertwine, Karthigai Deepam glows as a reminder that illumination is both ancient and universal, linking devotion with the shared human longing for transcendence.
Festival date
- In 2025, it will be celebrated on Thursday, 4 December 2025.
- The festival is observed on the full moon day of Karthigai, i.e., the Tamil month of Karthigai, late November to mid-December.
- The date follows the Tamil lunar calendar and is usually celebrated on the same day across Sri Lanka and South India.
Rituals & offerings
Families light clay or brass oil lamps (vilakku) in front of their homes and altars, symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness. Temples hold special Shiva pujas and lamp processions, invoking the eternal flame that signifies creation and divine wisdom.
Main celebration locations
In India, the festival shines brightest at Tiruvannamalai’s Arunachaleswarar Temple, where a towering beacon (Maha Deepam) is lit atop Arunachala Hill, and at sacred Shaivite centers like Madurai, Chidambaram, and Kanchipuram, where temples glow with rows of lamps.
In Sri Lanka, devotees gather at Trincomalee’s Koneswaram Temple and Jaffna’s Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, as coastal shrines and northern towns light up with thousands of flickering flames.
Each flame tells the same story: that even in darkness, light finds a way to travel, to connect, and to begin again. Which of these glowing festivals will you connect with next in the post-Diwali haze?
