Is it okay to wish someone Happy Diwali if I'm not Hindu?

Yes. Diwali greetings aren't restricted to Hindus. "Happy Diwali," "Shubh Diwali," and "Diwali Mubarak" are all welcome from anyone who wants to wish someone well during the festival. What matters is matching the warmth of the moment and not faking knowledge of the religious specifics you don't have.

What's the difference between Diwali and Deepavali?

They're the same festival. Deepavali is the Sanskrit-rooted form (deepa = lamp, avali = row, so "row of lamps"), and Diwali is the more common Hindi-language shortening. South Indian households often say Deepavali; North Indian households more often say Diwali. Both are correct.

What does "Diwali Mubarak" mean and who says it?

Mubarak is an Urdu/Persian word meaning "blessed" or "auspicious," so Diwali Mubarak is "blessed Diwali." It's said widely across India, especially in Punjabi, Sindhi, and Urdu-speaking households, and is used by Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and others as a perfectly standard Diwali greeting.

What should I write in a Diwali card to a coworker who celebrates?

Keep it warm and short, name them, wish them rest and time with family, and skip the religious imagery you don't know well. Something like "Happy Diwali, Priya, wishing you and your family a beautiful festival and a real break this week" lands warmer than a generic "festival of lights" line and doesn't overreach.

Is it appropriate to send a Diwali greeting to a whole team where only some people celebrate?

Yes, as long as the wording acknowledges the people celebrating without performing the festival for everyone else. "Happy Diwali to everyone on the team marking the festival this week, wishing you light, rest, and time with family" is the right register. Group cards work especially well here because each signer writes from their own relationship to the day.

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Holiday Card Messages

74 Diwali Wishes & Messages to Send (Said Properly)

Daniel Pierce

May 23, 2026

The Diwali I remember most clearly is the one in 2007 when my nani made kaju katli on the kitchen floor in Lucknow and my cousin Rohit set off a chakri that spun sideways into a bucket of water on the balcony. Mum still talks about the smell. Most of the Diwali wishes you find online sound nothing like that night. They borrow words without checking what they mean, mash registers together, and end up generic enough to send for any festival. What you'll find here is sorted by who you're writing to, uses the actual greetings people say at home, and stops short of claiming things about a tradition that isn't yours to claim.

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A quick, respectful primer on Diwali

Diwali (also written Deepavali) is the festival of lights. It runs across five days, with the main night usually on the new-moon (amavasya) of the Hindu month of Kartik, somewhere between mid-October and mid-November on the Gregorian calendar. The exact dates shift every year.

It is a Hindu festival in origin. For many Hindus, the main night marks Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. Jains observe Diwali as the anniversary of Lord Mahavira reaching nirvana. Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas on the same day, marking Guru Hargobind's release from imprisonment. Some Newar Buddhists also mark the day. The shared thread across all of them is light defeating darkness, but the stories underneath are different, and lumping them together is a small disrespect you can avoid.

How it actually looks: rows of small clay oil lamps (diyas) along doorways and balconies; rangoli patterns on the floor in chalk or coloured powder; new clothes; sweets (mithai), especially ladoos, barfi, kaju katli, gulab jamun; the house cleaned top to bottom in the days before; family gathered; gifts exchanged; firecrackers (less so in recent years, by choice in many households). The day before the main night is usually for sweets and prep. The night itself is for Lakshmi Puja in many Hindu households, a prayer to the goddess of prosperity. The day after is for visiting family and friends.

The greetings you'll hear: Shubh Diwali ("auspicious Diwali"), Happy Diwali, Diwali Mubarak (literally "blessed Diwali," used widely across India and especially in Punjabi and Urdu-speaking households), and Saal Mubarak, "happy new year," which is said the day after Diwali in Gujarati households where Diwali coincides with the new year on the Vikram Samvat calendar. All four are fine to use. None of them require you to be Hindu. The most useful unpopular opinion I'll offer in this whole piece: "festival of lights" is the line that gives you away as someone writing from the outside. Skip it. Use one of the four real greetings above instead.

Traditional Diwali blessings

These are the standard, widely-said lines, the ones you can write to a grandparent, an aunty, your neighbour, or anyone who'd be charmed by the proper greeting rather than a clever one. They lean on the actual phrases people use, not made-up imagery.

"Shubh Diwali."
"Diwali Mubarak to you and your family. May your home be warm and your family close this week."
"Happy Diwali. Wishing prosperity, peace, and good health to you and everyone under your roof."
"Shubh Deepavali. Sending warm wishes for a beautiful festival and a brighter year ahead."
"Saal Mubarak."
"Wishing you a Diwali full of laughter, good food, and the people you love around you."
"Happy Diwali to your whole family. May Lakshmi bless your home with prosperity and your hearts with peace."
"Shubh Diwali. May the diyas you light tonight carry every good wish you have for the year."
"Diwali Mubarak. Health, happiness, a quiet week, a louder week, whichever you need."
"Happy Diwali. Sending love."
"Saal Mubarak. May the new year be kinder than the last, and may your family stay strong and together."
"Shubh Diwali to you and yours."
"Happy Diwali. May your home be full of light this week and your fridge full of mithai for the rest of the month."
"Wishing you a Diwali bright enough to last the whole winter."

Diwali wishes for family

For family the lines can lean longer and more specific. Name a memory, a sweet someone makes, the way the house looks during Diwali, the call you're going to miss if you're not there. Sentiment is welcome here; it's home. A few of the lines below assume you live far from the people you're writing to, because most of us, eventually, do.

"Happy Diwali, Mum."
"Shubh Diwali, Papa. I keep thinking about your laddoos and the year you let me light the first diya. Sending all my love."
"Diwali Mubarak to my favourite chacha and chachi. The kaju katli you send every year is the only reason October still feels like Diwali to me."
"Happy Diwali, didi. Hoping the kids let you sit down for at least five minutes during the puja this year."
"Saal Mubarak, dadi. Wishing you a year of good health, every aarti you want to do, and a house full of grandkids who finally show up."
"Shubh Diwali, bhaiya. Light a diya for me on the balcony, and one for the parking lot where we used to do fireworks."
"Happy Diwali to the whole family. The group photo on the WhatsApp tonight is non-negotiable. I'll be calling at exactly puja time."
"Diwali Mubarak, nani. I'm wearing the suit you sent. Picture coming. Eat something, then eat one more."
"Happy Diwali, beta. We miss you on the balcony lighting the diyas. The new flat has them this year too, in your honour."
"Shubh Diwali to my favourite cousin. Tell your mum the gulab jamun set the bar I'm still trying to clear in my own kitchen."
"Diwali Mubarak, mama-mami. Wishing you a year of fewer hospital visits and many more loud family dinners."
"Happy Diwali, my love. First Diwali in our own home. I'll do the rangoli, you do the diyas, and we'll both pretend we know what we're doing."
"Shubh Diwali, papa. The kheer recipe still lives in my head."
"Happy Diwali, mum. Tell Rohit not to set anything on fire this year."
"Diwali Mubarak, bhabhi. Send the rangoli photo. Mine is wonky."
"Saal Mubarak, dadu. Wishing you a year of long walks, slow tea, and the cricket match going the way you want for once."
"Happy Diwali, beta. Light a diya, video-call us during the puja, and don't skip the sweets because of your diet, not tonight."
"Shubh Diwali, jiju. Glad you're with us this year. The mithai trolley has your name on it."
"Diwali Mubarak, mausi. The mithai shop in Hazratganj still does your barfi."
"Happy Diwali, my love. Year three in this flat. Same diyas, slightly better rangoli."
"Shubh Diwali, didi. Tell jijaji to leave the laptop alone for one night. The work can wait."
"Saal Mubarak to my whole crazy family. Group call after the puja. Phones on, faces in, no excuses."

Diwali wishes for friends

Friend register can be warmer, sillier, more honest. Mention the specific friend thing, the year you all went home together, the sweet they always bring back to the dorm, the WhatsApp call you owe them. The lines below assume you and the friend you're writing to have history; if you don't, borrow from the traditional list above and add their name.

"Diwali Mubarak, dost."
"Happy Diwali. Sending you all the love and reminding you that the laddoos you sent me last year were eaten in two days, not five."
"Diwali Mubarak. Hoping your mum's kitchen is on full overdrive and you remember to actually eat something other than sweets."
"Shubh Diwali, yaar. May this year bring you the promotion, the sleep, and the holiday you've been talking about since March."
"Happy Diwali. May you get the home leave, the rest, the hugs from your nani, and at least one nap on the sofa nobody disturbs."
"Diwali Mubarak, dost. I miss your house at Diwali more than I miss most of my own holidays. Save me one barfi."
"Shubh Diwali. Wishing you a year where the good news outnumbers the bad news, and your fridge stays full of mithai."
"Happy Diwali, friend. Light a diya for the goals we said out loud and another for the ones we're still too scared to name."
"Diwali Mubarak. The fact that you'll send me sweets in the post even though I'm in another country is exactly why I love you."
"Shubh Diwali. May the year be brighter than the rangoli your sister always shames the rest of us with."
"Happy Diwali to my chosen-family. Saving the WhatsApp call for after the puja so we can talk properly."
"Diwali Mubarak. May the firework ban not stop you, your dad, and the entire colony from doing what you always do."
"Shubh Diwali, yaar. Light one for us."
"Happy Diwali. Remember the year we ran out of diyas at midnight and walked to the petrol pump shop in our kurtas? Best one."
"Diwali Mubarak. Tell aunty her gulab jamun recipe is unbeatable, and that I am still trying."
"Shubh Diwali, oldest friend. I'm lighting a diya for the version of us who set off rockets in the wrong direction in 2008, and one for whoever we are now."
"Happy Diwali. Hope this year is the one where the bad news takes the year off."
"Diwali Mubarak. Eat extra mithai on my behalf."
"Shubh Diwali, friend. The card I owe you is in the post. Open it on Sunday with chai."
"Happy Diwali. Saving you the seat next to me at the next puja we're in the same city for."
"Diwali Mubarak. Send your mum my love and tell her the kheer she made in 2019 ruined every other kheer for me."
"Shubh Diwali, dost. Sending you a Diwali full of small, ordinary good things. The ones that actually stick."

Diwali wishes for coworkers (workplace, inclusive)

At work the register changes. You can be warm but you can't assume the person you're writing to celebrates Diwali in a Hindu way, in a Jain way, in a Sikh way, or at all, and you're often writing to a mixed group where some teammates celebrate and some don't. Keep things warm without theology, fit for a Slack message, an email, or a card the team signs, and acknowledge the festival without performing it. If you're writing for a card multiple coworkers will sign, our guide on holiday card messages covers the same register problem for the broader December cluster.

"Happy Diwali, Priya."
"Shubh Diwali, Arjun. Wishing you and your family a beautiful festival and a calm week away from your inbox."
"Diwali Mubarak, Karan. Looking forward to seeing the photos. Last year's rangoli set the bar very high."
"Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating on the team. Wishing you light, rest, and good food this week."
"Happy Diwali, Ananya. Take the long weekend properly. Slack will survive without you."
"Shubh Diwali, Rohan. Glad you're with family this year. We'll hold the fort till Monday."
"Diwali Mubarak from the whole team. Enjoy the puja, the food, and a few days off the laptop."
"Happy Diwali, Aisha. May the festival be calm, joyful, and filled with the kind of family chaos that's actually fun."
"Shubh Diwali to you and yours. Don't open this email till next week. That's an order."
"Wishing you a peaceful and bright Diwali, Vikram. Looking forward to hearing about the trip home."
"Happy Diwali, Meera. Have a wonderful festival, and a brilliant year ahead. We're lucky to work with you."
"Diwali greetings to everyone marking the festival on the team. Enjoy the week with your families. See you on the other side."
"Shubh Diwali, Sanjay. Hope you get a proper rest at home and come back with a story or three."
"Happy Diwali, Neha. Send photos of the rangoli when you have a moment. We are jealous already."
"Diwali Mubarak, Tanvi. Wishing you a calm week, a full table, and a fridge that takes the rest of the month to empty."
"Happy Diwali, first one with this team. Glad to be in your inbox. Even gladder to be out of it next week."

Turn it into a group card

Diwali messages often want to come from a whole group, the family scattered across three time zones, the friends from school who haven't lived in the same city in years, the team where four people celebrate and the rest want to wish them well without making a fuss. A single group card solves the geometry: one link, every voice, delivered on the morning of Diwali. A free group ecard with multiple signers works for this, and you can create a card online in a couple of minutes. For another festival in this register, the Eid wishes piece uses the same specificity rules, and for the religious-register question more broadly, the matching the family's beliefs, not your own note is the principle underneath every cultural greeting in this guide.

One last thing, off-topic and maybe just for me. The Diwali I described at the top, the 2007 one, was also the last year we were all in that flat in Lucknow before my nani moved in with my mausi. The chakri that ended up in the bucket is the part of the night everyone retells. The part I think about more often is the gulab jamun she made in a steel kadhai while sitting on a low wooden stool, because her knees were bad by then. I haven't had one as good since, and I don't think I will, and that's fine. Most of the food you remember best is the food you can't get back.

Frequently asked questions

Is it okay to wish someone Happy Diwali if I'm not Hindu?: Yes. Diwali greetings aren't restricted to Hindus. "Happy Diwali," "Shubh Diwali," and "Diwali Mubarak" are all welcome from anyone who wants to wish someone well during the festival. What matters is matching the warmth of the moment and not faking knowledge of the religious specifics you don't have.
What's the difference between Diwali and Deepavali?: They're the same festival. Deepavali is the Sanskrit-rooted form (deepa = lamp, avali = row, so "row of lamps"), and Diwali is the more common Hindi-language shortening. South Indian households often say Deepavali; North Indian households more often say Diwali. Both are correct.
What does "Diwali Mubarak" mean and who says it?: Mubarak is an Urdu/Persian word meaning "blessed" or "auspicious," so Diwali Mubarak is "blessed Diwali." It's said widely across India, especially in Punjabi, Sindhi, and Urdu-speaking households, and is used by Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and others as a perfectly standard Diwali greeting.
What is Saal Mubarak and when do you say it?: Saal Mubarak means "happy new year." It's said the day after Diwali, especially in Gujarati households, because Diwali coincides with the new year on the Vikram Samvat calendar in that tradition. If you're writing to a Gujarati friend or family member, Saal Mubarak the day after Diwali is the right note.
What should I write in a Diwali card to a coworker who celebrates?: Keep it warm and short, name them, wish them rest and time with family, and skip the religious imagery you don't know well. Something like "Happy Diwali, Priya, wishing you and your family a beautiful festival and a real break this week" lands warmer than a generic "festival of lights" line and doesn't overreach.
Is it appropriate to send a Diwali greeting to a whole team where only some people celebrate?: Yes, as long as the wording acknowledges the people celebrating without performing the festival for everyone else. "Happy Diwali to everyone on the team marking the festival this week, wishing you light, rest, and time with family" is the right register. Group cards work especially well here because each signer writes from their own relationship to the day.