Abhyanga snan
Rise before dawn, in the period when the Moon is still in the sky but the Sun has not risen. Massage the whole body with sesame oil, then rub it with ubtan, a paste of gram flour, turmeric and fragrant herbs. During the bath, the apamarga plant is waved round the head three times. Bathe with warm water, and put on new clothes.
In parts of South India and Maharashtra this is the main day of Diwali, with fireworks at dawn and a bitter fruit (kareet) crushed underfoot as a sign of Narakasura's death.
Yama tarpana and worship
After the bath, offer water with sesame to Yama, facing south, naming his fourteen names. Worship Krishna, and in some regions Kali or Hanuman, with flowers, incense and sweets.
The evening lamps
At dusk light fourteen lamps around the house, at the door, the kitchen, the well and the courtyard, and a lamp for Yama facing south, to keep away untimely death. The day leads into the Lakshmi Puja of Diwali.
Why the oil bath
Narakasura, the demon king of Pragjyotisha, had imprisoned sixteen thousand women and terrorised the gods. Krishna killed him with Satyabhama at dawn on this day, and after the battle bathed with oil to cleanse himself. The dying demon asked that the day be remembered with lamps, and that one who bathed before dawn on it should not go to hell (naraka). The fourteen lamps of the evening are for the fourteen Yamas and the ancestors.