Why Every NRI Should Light a Lamp Daily During Karthika Masam

In homes across America, Canada, the UK, and beyond, a quiet revolution is taking place each evening. As the sun sets over foreign landscapes, Non-Resident Indians are rekindling an ancient practice: lighting oil lamps during Karthika Masam. For many living far from their homeland, this simple act has become more than ritual—it’s a lifeline to identity, peace, and purpose in a fast-paced Western world.

The Sacred Foundation: Understanding Deepa Dharma

In Hindu tradition, the act of lighting a lamp—particularly during Karthika Masam—is considered one of the most auspicious practices. Ancient scriptures declare that lighting even a single lamp during this sacred month brings the merit of performing elaborate rituals. The Skanda Purana states that the divine presence is strongest during Karthika, making each lamp lit an offering that dispels both physical darkness and spiritual ignorance.

For NRIs, this practice carries additional weight. Separated from temples, joint families, and the ambient spirituality of India, the daily deepam becomes a personal temple—a sacred space carved out in studio apartments, suburban homes, and high-rise condos.

The Science Behind the Flame

Modern research validates what ancient wisdom has long known: lighting lamps has measurable effects on our environment and well-being.

Air Purification Through Traditional Oils: Traditional lamps use ghee (clarified butter) or sesame oil with cotton wicks. When burned, ghee releases negative ions that bind with pollutants and allergens, causing them to fall to the ground rather than remain airborne. A study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that ghee lamp smoke has antibacterial properties, reducing airborne pathogens by up to 94% in enclosed spaces.

This is particularly relevant for NRIs living in cities with air quality concerns or those with indoor allergies—common issues in Western urban environments with central heating and limited ventilation.

Circadian Rhythm Regulation: The warm, amber light of oil lamps (approximately 1800K color temperature) doesn’t disrupt melatonin production the way blue-spectrum LED and screen light does. Lighting lamps at dusk signals to your body’s internal clock that day is transitioning to night, supporting natural sleep cycles—crucial for those dealing with jet lag from frequent India visits or working across time zones.

Oxygen and Combustion Chemistry: The flame consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen through the combustion process of natural oils. While the effect is subtle, it contributes to a fresher indoor environment, especially in homes that remain closed during harsh winters or summer air conditioning.

Psychological Benefits: The Mind-Body Connection

Creating Sacred Pause: In the relentless pace of Western work culture, lighting a lamp requires stopping. You must find the oil, prepare the wick, strike a match, and watch the flame catch. This five-minute ritual interrupts the autopilot mode of modern life, creating what psychologists call a “pattern interrupt”—a break in habitual stress responses.

For NRIs juggling demanding careers, children’s activities, and cultural straddling, this daily pause becomes essential mental health hygiene.

Anchoring Through Ritual: Anthropological research shows that rituals reduce anxiety by creating predictability. When an NRI lights a lamp each evening at the same time, it becomes an anchor point—a reliable structure in an otherwise chaotic day. This is especially grounding for those far from family support systems.

Dr. Michael Norton’s research at Harvard Business School demonstrated that rituals performed before stressful events reduced anxiety and improved performance. The evening deepam can serve as a ritual that transitions you from work stress to home peace.

Meditation Through Fire-Gazing: Trataka, or steady gazing at a flame, is a yogic practice that quiets mental chatter. The flickering lamp naturally draws the eye, and watching it for even two to three minutes induces a light meditative state. Brain scans show this practice reduces activity in the default mode network—the part of the brain responsible for worry and rumination.

For NRIs dealing with immigration stress, cultural identity questions, or the isolation of living abroad, this built-in meditation practice offers daily relief.

Spiritual Significance in the Diaspora Context

Mobile Temple Concept: Many NRIs don’t have access to temples for daily worship or live hours away from the nearest one. The lamp becomes a portable deity presence. Hindu philosophy teaches that the divine is present in the flame—Agni, the fire god, carries our prayers upward. Your apartment becomes a temple, making daily worship accessible regardless of location.

Teaching Children in a Western Context: Second-generation Indian Americans and ABCDs (American-Born Confused Desis) often struggle with cultural identity. When parents light lamps daily, children absorb their heritage naturally. The simple question, “Why do we light a lamp, Amma?” opens conversations about values, philosophy, and family history.

This is far more effective than weekend “culture classes.” The daily lamp is a living, experiential transmission of tradition.

Maintaining Connection to Ancestral Practice: Many NRIs report feeling disconnected from their roots, especially during American holidays that dominate the social calendar. Lighting a lamp during Karthika Masam creates continuity with ancestors who performed the same act for generations. This temporal bridge across continents and centuries provides a sense of belonging that counters the rootlessness of immigrant life.

Practical Benefits for NRI Households

Natural Aromatherapy: Using camphor or adding a pinch of dried flowers to the oil releases natural aromatics. Unlike synthetic candles with harmful chemicals, traditional lamp oils offer genuine aromatherapeutic benefits without toxins—important for health-conscious NRIs who’ve adopted clean living practices.

Energy Efficiency: While seemingly minor, oil lamps during evening prayer time reduce reliance on electric lighting. Many NRIs maintain the lamp as the only light source during puja, creating an intimate atmosphere while marginally reducing electricity use—a sustainability consideration for environmentally aware families.

Emergency Preparedness: For NRIs in regions prone to power outages (Texas winter storms, California wildfire blackouts, East Coast hurricanes), maintaining lamp-lighting skills and keeping oil and wicks stocked provides practical emergency lighting—a spiritual practice that doubles as preparedness.

The Karthika Multiplier Effect

During Karthika Masam specifically, the benefits amplify:

Enhanced Discipline: Committing to daily lighting for a full month (versus sporadic practice) builds consistency. This discipline often spills into other life areas. Many NRIs report that their Karthika lamp commitment improved their meditation practice, exercise routines, or other positive habits.

Community Connection: The knowledge that millions worldwide are lighting lamps simultaneously creates psychological connectedness. NRI WhatsApp groups and social media communities share their daily lamp photos, creating virtual sanghas (spiritual communities) that combat isolation.

Festive Accumulation: Karthika includes major festivals like Diwali and Karthika Purnima. The daily practice makes these peak moments more meaningful rather than isolated events. You’re not just celebrating one day but maintaining a month-long spiritual intensity that mirrors the festival seasons in India.

Addressing Common NRI Concerns

“I live in a small apartment with smoke detectors”: Use a small brass lamp with a single wick and place it on a balcony or near an open window. Battery-operated detectors typically won’t trigger from a small oil lamp, but opening a window ensures no smoke accumulation. Some NRIs remove one detector during puja time (ensuring others remain functional) or use detector covers temporarily.

“My American spouse/roommates don’t understand”: Education bridges gaps. Explaining the practice’s meditation and air purification benefits often resonates more than purely religious explanations. Many non-Hindu partners and roommates come to appreciate the ritual’s calming effect on household atmosphere.

“I travel frequently for work”: Carry a small brass lamp in your luggage. Hotels allow candles, and a lamp is similar. Alternatively, maintain the practice on a photo or in your mind when physical lighting isn’t possible. The intention itself holds spiritual value.

“I forget every day”: Set a phone reminder for sunset. Link lamp-lighting to an existing habit—perhaps right after arriving home or before dinner preparation. After 21 days, it becomes automatic.

Beyond Karthika: Building a Sustainable Practice

Many NRIs begin with Karthika Masam and find the practice so beneficial they continue year-round, though perhaps with less frequency:

• Daily during Karthika and other sacred months
• Weekly on special days (Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays based on family tradition)
• Monthly on full moon or new moon
• Or simply whenever the spirit moves

The flexibility allows the practice to fit modern life rather than becoming a burden.

The Intangible Factor: Shakti in the Home

Beyond all scientific and psychological explanations exists something harder to quantify but universally reported by practitioners: homes feel different when lamps are lit regularly.

Visitors comment on the peaceful atmosphere. Children seem calmer. Couples report fewer conflicts during evening hours. While skeptics attribute this to placebo effect, does the mechanism matter if the results are real?

Ancient Vedic knowledge speaks of creating a sattvic (pure, harmonious) environment. The daily lamp ritual purifies not just air but subtle energies—what modern psychology might call “vibes” or “emotional atmosphere.”

For NRIs, this transformed home environment becomes a sanctuary from the aggressive, rajasic (active, agitated) energy of Western commercial culture—a daily reset to values of peace, devotion, and simplicity.

A Light in the Darkness: The Deeper Symbolism

On a symbolic level, the NRI experience itself mirrors the lamp’s meaning. We are flames of Indian culture burning in the darkness of geographic separation. Each lamp we light declares: “I have not forgotten. I carry the light forward.”

When an NRI lights a lamp in New Jersey, Texas, or California, they’re keeping an unbroken chain alive—one that stretches back millennia. They’re ensuring that the next generation inherits more than DNA; they inherit illuminated consciousness.

The lamp asks nothing but gives everything: light, warmth, purification, peace, and connection. In return, we offer five minutes, a few drops of oil, and our attention.

During Karthika Masam, when the spiritual dimensions are especially accessible, this exchange becomes even more potent.

Conclusion: An Invitation to Begin

If you’re an NRI who hasn’t yet established a daily lamp practice, Karthika Masam offers the perfect entry point. You don’t need elaborate setups—a simple brass lamp, cotton wick, and sesame oil or ghee suffice. You don’t need to be deeply religious or know complex mantras. The act itself is the prayer.

Start tonight. Light a lamp. Watch the flame steady itself. Feel something shift—in the room, in your breath, in your heart.

Over the month, notice the changes: how you feel at day’s end, how your home’s atmosphere transforms, how your children become curious, how you reconnect with parts of yourself that got lost in the immigrant journey.

The lamp you light tonight joins millions of flames across India and the global diaspora. Together, we’re not just maintaining tradition—we’re creating light, literally and metaphorically, in a world that desperately needs it.

In the end, perhaps that’s why every NRI should light a lamp daily during Karthika Masam: because we can. Because in the freedom of our adopted lands, we can choose our spiritual practices. Because lighting a lamp is how we remain Indians while becoming global citizens. Because in that small flame flickers everything we are and everything we hope to pass forward.

Light your lamp. The ancestors are watching. The future is waiting. And the divine is present in the flame.