Kali Chaudas / Naraka Chaturdashi

Kali Chaudas in Gujarat falls on the fourteenth lunar day before Diwali and overlaps with the wider Naraka Chaturdashi tradition. One major story recalls Krishna's battle with Narakasura, a powerful ruler who had imprisoned many people and created terror. Krishna, with Satyabhama playing an important role in several retellings, defeated Narakasura and freed the captives; the day therefore became associated with release from darkness and destructive forces before the main Diwali night. In Gujarat the name Kali Chaudas also carries traditions of protection from negative influences and worship connected with Hanuman, Kali or family deities according to local custom. Early-morning oil bath traditions associated with Naraka Chaturdashi are common in many regions of India. The day should not be reduced to fear of the occult: its broader religious meaning is purification, courage and removing harmful tendencies so that the household can enter Diwali with clarity and auspiciousness.

Kali Chaudas / Naraka Chaturdashi is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.

The bath is taken before sunrise, with oil and ubtan. Vada and other fried food is offered at a crossroads or a Kali temple. Hanuman temples fill up in the evening, and in Gujarat the night is when a house is thoroughly cleaned out for the last time before Diwali.

The same tithi is Naraka Chaturdashi across the south and much of the north, kept for Krishna's killing of Narakasura and marked with an oil bath before sunrise. Gujarat's reading of the night as Kali's is the regional one; Bengal's Kali Puja falls on the amavasya that follows.