Diwali in a home abroad: a small mandir and a dressed door in a flat outside India

Diwali without the market down the road

At home, the week before Diwali meant a trip to the bazaar: a toran, a new pair of Shubh-Labh, diyas, rangoli colours. Abroad, the Indian grocery may have diyas and sweets, but the door pieces are harder to find, and what there is rarely looks like what your mother hung.

You can still dress the door and set up the puja the way it was done at home. It takes a little planning, because the pieces have to travel.

The door of a flat

Most flats abroad open onto a shared corridor, and some buildings have rules about what goes on the outside of the door. Two ways round it:

• Hang the pair on the inside of the front door. It is the first thing you see when you come home, and nobody in the building can object. A small adhesive hook on each side holds a pair.
• Use tiles instead of hangings. The Pink glass Shubh-Labh tiles (₹199) are two square tiles that stick beside the door frame or stand on a shelf, with no thread and no hook.

If the outside of the door is yours to dress, a pair with movement looks right on a plain modern door. The Royal blue Shubh-Labh with pearl jhumka (₹219) was picked for a door that is not red and gold, and the Kundan teardrop Shubh-Labh with pearl tassels (₹289) has long tassels that swing when the door opens.

A mandir on one shelf

There is rarely room for a full mandir in a rented flat. A single shelf, a corner of a sideboard or the top of a bookcase is enough.

The Lakshmi-Ganesh-Saraswati temple box (₹450) is built for this. Lakshmi, Ganesh and Saraswati share one gilded frame inside a wooden-look case, so the box itself is the mandir. Open it for Lakshmi Puja, close it to keep the dust off the rest of the year.

For a first flat, or a home that already has its own murti, the Ganesh pocket temple, gift box (₹450) sits beside it as the place to start any puja.

Diyas in a building with smoke alarms

Many flats abroad have smoke alarms that go off easily, and some tenancy agreements forbid open flames. If yours is strict, use battery diyas inside and keep real ones for a balcony or the doorstep. If you do light real diyas, keep them away from the alarm and from curtains, and never leave them burning in an empty flat.

When to do what

In India, Lakshmi Puja is on the evening of 8 November this year, a Sunday, two days after Dhanteras. Temples abroad publish their own puja times for your city, so check with yours for the muhurat in local time.

A parcel from India takes time to reach you, so order in October. Tell us the latest day it can arrive when you message.

For the bag and the car

A Diwali abroad often comes with a long drive to the temple or to family in another city. A temple with charan paduka travels in its own small magnetic box: the Hanuman one or the Krishna one, ₹249 apiece, sized for a dashboard or a handbag.

Getting the pieces to you

Choose on the Festive & Pooja page, then send your list and your address abroad to +91 63531 35986 on WhatsApp. The prices are in rupees with GST included; the courier is sorted out in that same chat.

Sending some to your family in India at the same time? Put both addresses in one message. How ordering from abroad works has a ready-made WhatsApp message, and the hours we answer in London, Dubai, New York and Sydney.