Diwali Party Playlist: Puja, Dinner and Dance Songs

The short answer

Diwali 2026 is Sunday, November 8. A Diwali party has three music moments, and they need three different things:

1. Puja and aarti: no playlist. The family sings, with one recording queued as backup. Everything else is off.
2. Dinner: older Hindi film songs and slow modern ones, low enough to talk over.
3. Dance: Bollywood and Punjabi songs everyone can move to, from your aunties to your coworkers.

Then three checks: leave out the Holi songs, leave out the drinking songs while elders and children are in the room, and listen before you play a "Diwali song", because one of the best known is about loneliness.

Who this is for

Maybe this is the first year you are hosting Diwali instead of your parents. Maybe you volunteered for the office, campus or neighborhood celebration and somebody said "just play some Bollywood". Either way, the room will have grandparents, small kids, and probably a few people at their first Diwali, and you want the music to work for all of them.

Diwali is five days. In 2026 that runs from Dhanteras on Friday, November 6, through Diwali itself on Sunday, November 8, to Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, November 10. Many South Indian families celebrate Deepavali on the morning of the day before, and Gujarati families mark the new year the day after. Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas and Jains mark the nirvana of Mahavira on the same night. If your party is the weekend before or after, that is normal, especially outside India.

The music moment that matters most is the one most people get wrong: the puja.

A running order you can copy

This is how most home parties go. Office events usually skip the puja and stretch the dinner block.

The puja is usually at dusk, at a time families take from a panchang (the Hindu calendar). Ask the host for the exact time, and do not let the dance playlist run into it.

The puja and the aarti

At home, Diwali puja honors Lakshmi, with Ganesha worshipped first. It ends with the aarti: someone waves a plate with a lit lamp in circles in front of the deities while everyone sings and someone rings a small bell.

The aartis families sing most often:

• "Om Jai Jagdish Hare", the best-known aarti, sung at almost every Hindu puja
• "Om Jai Lakshmi Mata", the Lakshmi aarti, which is the one that belongs to Diwali night
• "Jai Ganesh Deva", the Ganesha aarti, often sung first

Ask before you play anything. Many families sing without a recording, and a speaker over the top of them is unwelcome. Others use one recording so younger guests can follow. If you do play one:

• Make it its own playlist with only that song, so nothing plays after it when the aarti ends.
• Pick a recording without a long instrumental opening. The family starts singing when the plate is lit, not after a minute of music.
• Never use an aarti as background music. Not at dinner, not on shuffle. It is a prayer, and the elders will notice.

At an office or school event, do not stage a puja yourself. If a colleague's family offers to lead one, let them choose the aarti and how it is played. Otherwise skip the devotional songs entirely and play the dinner and dance blocks.

At a Sikh Bandi Chhor Divas gathering, the same rule applies to kirtan: shabads are sung at the gurdwara, and they do not go on a party playlist.

Dinner: songs to talk over

Familiar, melodic and not too fast. Mix decades so the grandparents and the cousins each get their era.

Classics

• "Lag Jaa Gale", Lata Mangeshkar, from Woh Kaun Thi? (1964)
• "Pehla Nasha", from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992)
• "Tujhe Dekha To", from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
• "Kal Ho Naa Ho", Sonu Nigam (2003)
• "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", the title song (2001). In the film, it plays when the family does the aarti on Diwali, and many families still think of it as a Diwali song

Newer

• "Ilahi", Arijit Singh, from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
• "Kun Faya Kun", A. R. Rahman, from Rockstar (2011)
• "Kesariya", Arijit Singh, from Brahmastra (2022)

Instrumental

• Shehnai by Bismillah Khan. The shehnai is the sound of auspicious occasions in North India, and it works under conversation in a way vocals do not
• Sitar by Ravi Shankar or Anoushka Shankar

Songs about Diwali itself. There are fewer than you would expect. "Happy Diwali" from Home Delivery (2005) and "Aayi Hai Diwali" from Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya (2001) are the cheerful ones. Play them early, when people are arriving.

Dance: songs everyone can move to

Open with the songs that need no Hindi and no steps, so the first-timers join in. Then go newer.

Openers anyone can dance to

• "Tunak Tunak Tun", Daler Mehndi (1998)
• "Mundian To Bach Ke", Panjabi MC
• "Jai Ho", A. R. Rahman, from Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• "Naatu Naatu", from RRR (2022), the Telugu song that won the Oscar for Best Original Song
• "Lungi Dance", from Chennai Express (2013)

The family-wedding favorites

• "Bole Chudiyan", from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)
• "Mauja Hi Mauja", from Jab We Met (2007)
• "Desi Girl", from Dostana (2008)
• "Badtameez Dil", from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
• "London Thumakda", from Queen (2014)
• "Gallan Goodiyaan", from Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)

Newer

• "Kala Chashma", from Baar Baar Dekho (2016)
• "Morni Banke", from Badhaai Ho (2018)
• "What Jhumka?", from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023)
• "Tauba Tauba", Karan Aujla, from Bad Newz (2024)

If the younger guests want what is big right now, look at what is charting in India this week. Our guide to the top songs in any country shows how. For how to pace a dance block once it starts, see how to build a party playlist.

Songs to leave off

Most music mistakes at a Diwali party come from search results that look festive and are not.

• Holi songs. "Rang Barse" from Silsila, "Balam Pichkari" from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and "Holi Khele Raghuveera" from Baghban are all over "festival" playlists. They are about the spring festival of colors, and playing them on Diwali is like playing a Fourth of July song at Christmas.
• "Ek Woh Bhi Diwali Thi" from Nazrana (1961). It has Diwali in the title and it is sung by Mukesh, so it lands on Diwali lists. It is a sad song about a man alone while everyone else celebrates.
• Drinking songs, while elders and kids are in the room. "Chaar Botal Vodka" and "Daaru Desi" are fun at a late-night party. They are the wrong choice with a puja plate still on the table. Save them for after the families leave, if at all.
• Item numbers with suggestive lyrics. "Munni Badnaam Hui" and "Sheila Ki Jawani" are catchy and grandparents know exactly what they say.
• Heartbreak songs. "Channa Mereya" is one of the most played Hindi songs of the last decade, and it is about watching the person you love marry someone else.
• Remixes. "DJ remix" versions of film songs often add sirens, shouting and minutes of build-up. Search for the original film version, and play it through once before the party.

If you are not sure what a song is about, read the translated lyrics before it goes on the list. The section below shows how.

Building it in Trending Music

Trending Music is our app, so weigh this section accordingly. You can find every song above in it and build the playlists for free.

1. Make three playlists: "Dinner", "Dance" and "Aarti" with just one song in it. Search for the first song, tap the ••• on its row (or press and hold the row), choose Add to Playlist, then New Playlist, type the name and tap Create. For every song after that, choose Add to Playlist and pick the playlist under Your Playlists.
2. Read the lyrics in English. While a song plays, open the player and switch to the Lyrics tab, then tap the globe button and choose Translate to English. It is the fastest way to check a song you only know by its chorus. Pronunciation guide in the same menu shows how to say each line, which helps guests who want to sing along with an aarti or a chorus. Lyrics are not available for every recording.
3. Turn off Autoplay in the app's Settings > Playback before the party. It keeps similar music playing when a playlist ends, which is what you do not want after the aarti.

One honest catch. The free version of Trending is supported by ads, and it can show a full-screen ad as a new song starts. During dancing nobody minds. During the aarti it is a real problem, so for that one recording use Premium, which removes ads, or whatever app the family already uses. The three-playlist plan works in any app.

What songs are played on Diwali?

At home, the aarti during Lakshmi Puja, usually "Om Jai Lakshmi Mata" and "Om Jai Jagdish Hare". At the party afterwards, Hindi film songs: classics such as the "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" title song for dinner, and dance songs such as "Bole Chudiyan", "Gallan Goodiyaan" and "London Thumakda". "Happy Diwali" from Home Delivery is one of the few film songs actually about the festival.

When is Diwali in 2026?

Diwali is on Sunday, November 8, 2026, with Lakshmi Puja that evening. The five days run from Dhanteras on November 6 to Bhai Dooj on November 10. The exact puja time depends on your city, so check a local panchang.

Is it OK to play Bollywood songs at an office Diwali party?

Yes. Upbeat film songs are what most Diwali parties play. Skip devotional songs and aartis unless a colleague leads a puja, and leave out drinking songs and Holi songs, which belong to a different festival.

Before November 8

Ask the family which aarti they sing and whether they want a recording at all. Make the one-song aarti playlist first, then dinner, then dance. Check every song you do not know with translated lyrics, and take out the Holi songs. Then turn off Autoplay and let the diyas do the rest.

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