Celebrating Diwali Abroad: Vastu Tips for NRI Homes in Dubai, London and the US

Yes. The Vastu ideas behind Diwali, light at the entrance, a clean home and a puja corner in the North-East, depend on direction and care rather than on Indian construction, so they work in Dubai, London or New Jersey as well as in Mumbai.

What changes is the building around you: sealed windows, sensitive smoke alarms, tenancy rules and a family that may be several time zones away. Our guide to Vastu for NRI homes abroad covers the general principles; this article is about the festival itself.

It depends on your building, so check before you light anything. Many apartment towers and rented homes abroad have sensitive smoke alarms, sprinkler systems and rules about open flames in tenancy agreements or building regulations.

Read your tenancy agreement or ask building management. If flames are restricted, electric or LED diyas give the same welcome at the door. If they are allowed, light one real diya in a single supervised spot, such as the puja corner, away from the alarm, curtains and balcony.

Never disable or cover a smoke alarm, and do not light lamps in corridors or on balconies where rules forbid it. Fireworks are often restricted to licensed public displays, so a community event is usually the way to see them.

Use the compass app on your phone. Stand near the centre of the flat, hold the phone flat and away from appliances, steel and speakers, and note where North is. Take two or three readings in different spots and use the one they agree on.

The North-East is the corner between North and East, called ईशान्य (Ishanya) in Vastu, and it is the traditional place for the mandir. A few degrees of difference between phones will not change which corner is which. Our direction finder can help you check.

Set it in the North-East, or on the North or East wall of the living room, and face North or East during the puja. In a rented flat this does not need a permanent mandir; a clean low table or chowki with a cloth is enough.

Keep the entrance clean and lit, since the main door is where Lakshmi is traditionally welcomed. A toran with removable hooks and a rangoli made with stickers or flowers will not damage a rented floor. Our guide to Lakshmi Puja direction explains where lamps traditionally go, and Vastu for apartments in Dubai, Singapore and London covers typical layouts.

Follow the muhurat calculated for your own city, not India's. मुहूर्त (muhurat, an auspicious window of time) for Lakshmi Puja is traditionally set within प्रदोष काल (Pradosh Kaal, the period after sunset), and sunset depends on where you are.

According to most panchangs, Lakshmi Puja in India falls on Sunday 8 November 2026. Abroad, the date can occasionally differ, because the tithi and local sunset fall differently against the calendar. Panchangs prepared for your city, and many local temples, publish the correct date and window. Please check one of these rather than converting India's time on your phone.

Each household performs its own puja at its own muhurat, and the call connects the family for the aarti or the greetings, rather than replacing the puja. Work out the time difference first; in November, Dubai is one and a half hours behind IST, London five and a half hours behind, and the US East and West coasts ten and a half and thirteen and a half hours behind.

Bring the familiar things into the home: the sound of an aarti, the smell of home cooking, an akash kandil in the window and sweets shared with neighbours. Explaining the festival to neighbours and colleagues who do not celebrate it, and inviting them in, is part of the joy for many families.

Local temples and community associations often hold Diwali gatherings, which help children grow up with the festival. The Diwali 2026 calendar lists the five days as most panchangs give them for India.

If you are setting up a new home abroad, or Diwali shows you that your flat has no clean, light corner for the mandir, a distant consultation can help.

Dr. Kimaya Parikh-Ambekar works with families abroad from floor plans and photographs, with video sessions fixed within working hours (Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 7 pm IST; see the best time for an online session across time zones), alongside on-site consultations from the Andheri East office across Mumbai. Remedies are non-structural and portable, which suits rented homes abroad.