Diwali Preparation Checklist: Week-by-Week Plan

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This year Dhanteras falls on Friday, 6 November and Lakshmi Puja on Sunday, 8 November, with Govardhan Puja on Tuesday, 10 November and Bhai Dooj on Wednesday, 11 November (Hindu Tone festival calendar, Dekho Panchang). Dates for the later days can differ by a day depending on region and the panchang your family follows, so check locally.

That gives you about three weeks. This plan spreads the work across them so the last few days before Dhanteras are for puja, cooking and family rather than scrubbing tiles at midnight. Each week has a short list. Where a job needs more detail, there is a link to a full guide.

How to use this checklist

Start by deciding what matters most in your home this year. A family hosting thirty relatives needs a different plan from a couple in a one-bedroom flat. Read the whole list once, cross out what does not apply, and add anything your family always does.

Then share the work. Write the weekly lists somewhere everyone can see, such as the fridge door or a family group chat, and give each job to one person. Shared jobs tend to become nobody’s job.

Three weeks before Diwali: plan, clear out and start cleaning

Make your lists

Guest list and plans: who is visiting, who you are visiting, and which days.
Puja list: what your family’s Lakshmi Puja needs, and what you already have.
Shopping list: clothes, gifts, sweets or ingredients, diyas, decoration, and anything for Dhanteras.
Budget: a total for the festival, split across these lists. Writing it down early makes it easier to say no to impulse buys during the sales.

Clear out before you clean

Decluttering first means less to dust, wipe and put back. Go room by room with separate bags for donating, the kabadiwala, e-waste and the bin. Our list of things to throw away before Diwali covers what usually goes and where each item should end up, from dead chargers to expired medicines.

Start the deep clean

Begin with the jobs that take longest or create the most dust: ceiling fans, cobwebs, the tops of almirahs, curtains and cushion covers. Our room-by-room Diwali cleaning checklist breaks the whole house into ten sessions of two to three hours, with a shorter three-day version if you are starting late.

If you did a big clean before Navratri, you are ahead. Our Navratri home cleaning guide shows what you probably covered, so you can focus on the rooms that have slipped since.

Book anything that needs booking

Painters, deep-cleaning services, tailors and home salon appointments fill up in the last two weeks. If you need any of them, this is the week to fix a date.

Two weeks before Diwali: kitchen, bathrooms and shopping

Deep clean the kitchen

The kitchen needs to be ready before the festive cooking starts. Plan two sessions: one for cabinets, dabbas and the fridge, and one for the chimney, stove, tiles and sink. Our kitchen deep cleaning guide covers each step, including how to soak greasy chimney filters and refresh the masala dabba.

While the shelves are empty, check your storage. If dabbas are mismatched or hard to reach, our list of kitchen organiser items for Indian kitchens is a useful starting point.

Bathrooms and bedrooms

Scrub tiles and grout, clean the exhaust fan, and clear drains. In bedrooms, sort wardrobes and the space under beds. If a wardrobe needs a full reset, our guide to organising clothes by category helps you put back only what you wear.

Never mix bleach-based bathroom cleaners with vinegar, ammonia or other products. Bleach reacts with acids and ammonia and can release toxic gases (Health Canada).

Shop for the things that are not perishable

Buy clothes, gifts, diyas, wicks, oil, candles, rangoli colours and decoration items now, while there is still choice and before delivery times stretch. Keep sweets and fresh flowers for the final week.

If you want to keep plastic out of this year’s celebration, natural rangoli colours from turmeric, rice flour and dried flower petals, clay diyas and cloth gift wraps are simple swaps.

One week before Diwali: puja corner, decoration and food

Prepare the puja corner

Clear the puja shelf, dust it and wipe it dry. Then clean the brass diyas, copper kalash and silver items you will use for Lakshmi Puja. Each metal needs a different method, and some, such as lacquered brass and silver-plated items, are easy to damage with the wrong one. Our guide to cleaning brass and silver puja items explains how to check what each piece is made of first.

If the puja corner feels cramped, the storage ideas in our puja room organisation guide work just as well for Diwali.

Check your puja samagri list against what you have: Lakshmi and Ganesha idols or pictures, a red cloth for the chowki, kalash, diyas, ghee or oil, wicks, kumkum, haldi, rice, flowers, sweets for the offering, and anything specific to your family’s tradition.

Test the lights and plan the decoration

Plug in last year’s fairy lights before you climb a ladder with them. Replace strings with broken bulbs or damaged wires, and keep electrical lights away from curtains and anything that can catch fire.

Plan where the rangoli, torans, lights and diyas will go. Doing this a few days early means the last evening before Diwali is only for putting things up.

Plan the food

Decide what you will make at home and what you will buy. Homemade sweets and namkeen that keep well, such as chakli, shakarpara and besan ladoo, can be made a few days ahead. Store them in clean, completely dry airtight containers.

Check the fridge has space for milk, sweets and leftovers, and that it is running cold enough. The US Food and Drug Administration recommends keeping the refrigerator at or below 4°C (FDA).

Finish the cleaning

Use this week for the entrance, balcony and main door, and a final sweep and mop of the whole house. Clean windows and grills last if you are expecting dust or construction nearby.

The five days of Diwali: a day-by-day checklist

Dhanteras (Friday, 6 November)

Many families buy a new utensil, a broom, or gold or silver on Dhanteras. If you plan to, set your budget before you go out.
Light a diya at the entrance in the evening, following your family’s tradition.
Put up the outdoor lights and torans if they are not already up.
Buy fresh flowers late in the day or early the next morning so they stay fresh for Lakshmi Puja.

Choti Diwali (Saturday, 7 November)

Finish the rangoli at the entrance.
Set up the puja chowki and lay out everything for Lakshmi Puja so nothing is missing at the last minute.
Prepare any sweets or dishes that can be made a day ahead.
Iron festive clothes for the next day.

Lakshmi Puja (Sunday, 8 November)

Keep the morning light: a quick sweep, fresh flowers in the puja corner, and the remaining cooking.
Check the puja muhurat for your city. Timings vary by location, so use your local panchang. Hindu Tone gives approximately 5:54 PM to 7:50 PM IST for New Delhi (Hindu Tone).
Light diyas after the puja, and keep them away from curtains, paper decorations and where children and pets play.
If your family bursts crackers, keep a bucket of water nearby, and keep children supervised.

Govardhan Puja (Tuesday, 10 November)

Many families prepare annakut, a large offering of many dishes, on this day. Plan the menu in advance if you do.
Take down wilting flowers and garlands and compost them.

Bhai Dooj (Wednesday, 11 November)

Keep gifts and the tilak thali ready the night before.
Plan travel early if you are visiting family in another part of the city or another town.

Air quality during Diwali

Air quality in many Indian cities drops sharply around Diwali. You can check your city’s live air quality index on the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app (Nicobar Times on CPCB’s Sameer app). On days with poor air, keep windows closed in the evenings when crackers are burst and open them for cross-ventilation once the air clears. Wet mopping, rather than dry sweeping, also keeps fine dust from going back into the air.

After Diwali

The festival leaves behind wax drips, diya oil on the floor, rangoli powder, cracker residue and a fridge full of sweets. Our post-Diwali cleaning guide covers each of these, along with how to pack lights and diyas so next year’s preparation is easier.

The house also tends to fill up again with gifts and packaging. A simple rule helps: when something new comes in, decide on one thing that goes out. Our guide to minimalist living in Indian homes has more habits that make next year’s clear-out smaller.

The whole checklist at a glance

When	What to do
Three weeks before	Make guest, puja, shopping and budget lists; declutter; start the deep clean with fans, high places and fabrics; book services
Two weeks before	Deep clean the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms; buy clothes, gifts, diyas and decoration
One week before	Prepare the puja corner and clean brass and silver; test lights; plan decoration; make sweets that keep; finish cleaning
Dhanteras	Planned purchases; entrance diya; outdoor lights; fresh flowers
Choti Diwali	Rangoli; set up the puja chowki; cook ahead; iron clothes
Lakshmi Puja	Light cleaning; check muhurat; puja; diyas safely placed
Govardhan Puja	Annakut if your family makes it; compost old flowers
Bhai Dooj	Gifts and tilak thali ready; plan travel
After Diwali	Clean wax, oil and rangoli; pack lights and diyas; clear packaging

Frequently asked questions

When should I start preparing for Diwali?

Three weeks before is comfortable for most homes. That leaves one week each for decluttering and the first cleaning jobs, the kitchen and shopping, and the puja corner and decoration.

What is the first thing to do before Diwali?

Make your lists and declutter. Clearing out first means less to clean and less to put back, and it shows you what you actually need to buy.

How do I prepare for Diwali if I am short on time?

Focus on what guests see and where the puja happens: the entrance, living room, kitchen counters, one bathroom and the puja corner. Bedrooms and wardrobes can wait until after the festival. Our Diwali cleaning checklist includes a three-day version.

What dates are the five days of Diwali this year?

Dhanteras on 6 November, Choti Diwali on 7 November, Lakshmi Puja on 8 November, Govardhan Puja on 10 November and Bhai Dooj on 11 November. Some calendars list Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj a day earlier, so check the panchang your family follows.

Sources

Hindu Tone, Diwali festival calendar: five days at a glance
Dekho Panchang, Govardhan Puja
Health Canada, Reduce your risk from toxic gases: never mix bleach with other cleaning products
US Food and Drug Administration, Are you storing food safely?
Nicobar Times, Real-time air quality data now available on CPCB portal and Sameer app