Celebrating Diwali

A weekly digest of the Center’s latest research on religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world · Subscribe ↗ This weekend, Hindus and others around the world will celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. Diwali is one of the most popular religious holidays in India. In a 2019-2020 Pew Research Center survey, more than nine-in-ten Indian Hindus (95%) said they celebrate the festival, as did large majorities of the country’s Jains (98%), Sikhs (90%) and Buddhists (79%). Celebrating Diwali often involves performing ritual prayers, lighting oil lamps called diyas, and enjoying traditional sweets while spending time with loved ones. In the United States, Hindus make up roughly 1% of the population, according to the according to the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.