Diwali 2024 – 31st October or 1st November?

Whenever a Tithi at sunrise and sunset is different as per planetary calculations or otherwise, such a confusion on festival celebration will be there.

In old times the reckoning of a tithi was referred mainly from sunrise and as per that Amavasya falls on 1st of November since only on 1st November at sunrise, we get Amavasya tithi. On 31st of October 2024, there will be Chaturdashi tithi at sunrise. This means Diwali should be celebrated on November 1st.

But hold on. Let us see why some learned people are preferring 31st October?

As per planetary calculations easily available these days, Amavasya tithi begins late evening on 31st and ends late evening on 1st of November. Those who are vouching for celebrating Deepavali on 31st of October have an argument that as Diwali is celebrated at night and the Amavasya night is on 31st October night, this leads us to Deepavali on 31st of October. Well, logically as per calculations, yes, they are right. However, the sunrise rule is defied clearly.

Now, there is another aspect as well if we take this debate to the time when people used to observe the Moon for such things. The Moon, going through Amavasya Tithi on the 31st October night, will be visible to us in the sky partly on 1st of November early morning just before sunrise in New Delhi and since a day does not begin in Hindu Calendar before sunrise, the 31st October night is the Amavasya night.

A person who is simply looking at the Moon will find the Moon on 31st of October morning in Chaturdashi tithi before sunrise and will conclude that 31st October night is the Amavasya night. Interestingly, this is as per the Aitreya Brahman verse (Panchika 7 (32.10)) from Vedas that I have mentioned in my book ‘Resolving the Indian Calendar Anomalies’ as well.

Hence, obviously, Deepavali shall be celebrated on 31st of October, 2024 if observations are the key, and not sunrise time.

At the end of the day, a festival is a matter of faith and whatever suits your beliefs should be the winning date. But of course, no one wants to be an odd guy and would like to celebrate it when the society at large around us is following it.

The real need is to fix a rule unanimously all across in order to avoid such confusions.

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