Immersive: Banaras’s Dev Deepawali –The Diwali of the Gods

Experience the story of the other Diwali in Benaras, where the Gods descend for the celebrations.

Ganga aarti at the ghats of Banaras, before the closing ceremony of Dev Deepawali

(Photo: Abhishek Ranjan Chowdhary/The Quint)

On the bustling ghats of Banaras in Uttar Pradesh, Diwali is celebrated twice. It’s the only place in the world that does it this way. It’s said that the Gods light diyas to celebrate the triumph of Lord Shiva over Tripurasur, and every year during this time, the Gods descend on the banks of river Ganga to celebrate Diwali.

Over 2,00,000 devotees throng to Banaras to be a part of the divine celebrations. Experience the festival of lights, in The Quint’s immersive project.

(This article was first published on 11 November 2017 and has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark the return of the festival.)