Happy Diwali
Bestu Varas — the first morning of the new year, as Vikram Samvat 2083 begins.
Diwali is the light we carry out of the dark; Bestu Varas is the fresh page we open after it. May your new year begin the way ours did this weekend — with a full house, full plates, and the people you love within arm’s reach. We wish you health that holds, work that prospers, and a home where the diyas never quite go out.
With love, Sandhya & Prabhat
Tap anywhere in the night sky to launch one yourself.
Why Gujarat wakes up to a New Year
In Gujarat, Diwali is not quite the end of the festival — it is the last night of the old year. The next morning, Kartik Shukla Pratipada, is Bestu Varas (also called નૂતન વર્ષ, Nutan Varsh): the first day of the Gujarati calendar, when Vikram Samvat 2083 begins. Families greet each other with Saal Mubarak, dress in new clothes, visit temples and elders, and touch the feet of their elders for blessings.
On Diwali night, traders and families perform Chopda Pujan — the account books are placed before Lakshmi, Ganesha and Sharda and blessed. On Bestu Varas the fresh chopda is opened with શુભ લાભ — Shubh Labh, “auspicious beginnings, auspicious gains” — written on its first page, and temples offer Annakut, a mountain of food, to the deity. Five days later, Labh Pancham marks the first full working day of the new year. A new year, here, starts with light, gratitude, and a clean page.
Sandhya’s tip: end the link with ?to=Aunty to greet someone by name.
Made with love for Diwali and Bestu Varas, Vikram Samvat 2083.