The festival of lights - Diwali is almost here, knocking at our doors and we are all getting excited to binge on ‘Desi Ghee ke Laddoo’, wear ethnic clothes, light diyas around the house and be merry with family and friends. How about letting Amazon Echo devices and Alexa add to the festive cheer and brighten this Diwali for you even more. She certainly has some tricks up her sleeve – be it helping you with filling your house with music, last minute shopping, reminders, to-do lists, recipes in the kitchen, lighting in the house, playing aartis during puja and fun games to play with family. Alexa has got you covered.

Enjoy echo-friendly Patakhas
You can get the joy of bursting firecrackers this Diwali without polluting the environment. Too hard to believe! Well, Alexa can do that and a lot more. All you have to do is turn up the volume of your Amazon Echo smart speaker by saying “Alexa, volume 10” and follow it up with “Alexa, burst crackers”. You can also check out skills by saying “Alexa, open DiwaliCracker Game*” to hear sounds of specific fire crackers like Anar, Chakri or Laxmi Bomb.
* All skills are required to be enabled in the Alexa app before using.

Soak in devotion and mythology
What’s better than bringing in the spirit of Diwali with Aartis! Just ask, “Alexa, open Lakshmi Aarti*” or “Alexa, play Ganesh Aarti”. You can also listen to Ganesha aarti from the Shree Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai by saying “Alexa, start Siddhivinayak Darshan”. Alexa can also tell you the story behind Diwali when you ask questions such as “Alexa, what is Diwali”.

Have a one-on-one with Alexa
Alexa can also be your friend for fashion advice and help you decide what to wear, just ask “Alexa, what should I wear for Diwali”. If you are running out of ideas for gifting friends and family, ask “Alexa, give me a Diwali gift idea”. Impress all the seniors in the family by showing off of Alexa’s knowledge about the festival with questions such as “Alexa, what is the time for Diwali Lakshmi Puja?”. And, do not miss the Diwali special Rap in Alexa's voice, just ask “Alexa, give me the Diwali Rap”.

Get your house in order
Diwali certainly is a busy time considering all the cleaning, shopping and cooking. You can totally rely on Alexa to help you with to-do lists, ex “Alexa, add clean kitchen cabinets to my to-do list”; reminders ex. “Alexa, remind me to place diyas around home at 5:30 PM” and even voice shop on Amazon.in ex. “Alexa, I want to buy wow laddus” so that you’re at the top of your game. Try out new delicacies this Diwali by asking “Alexa, what food is prepared for Diwali?” or "Alexa, open Sanjeev Kapoor Recipes" to explore a wide range of traditional Indian recipes, to cook up a storm in your kitchen.

Light up your home with magic
Lights play the most indispensable role in setting the mood right for all the Diwali fun and frolic. Just plug any strand of lights into an Alexa-compatible smart plug and control them with your voice. You can choose smart plugs from Oakter, Anchor and TP-Link and smart bulbs from Philips Hue, Thrumm, Syska, TP Link and Yeelight. Then just say, "Alexa, turn the balcony lights on” or “Alexa, dim the lights to 50%”or “Alexa set the living room light to yellow” and see the magic happen.
You can even set up Routines to automate a series of customisable actions using a single voice command of your choice. Just say “Alexa, start Diwali” and Alexa can be programmed to switch on the lantern and balcony lights and play devotional music simultaneously.

Any celebration in an Indian family is incomplete without music and Diwali is no exception. Fine-tuned to deliver crisp vocals with dynamic bass response, Dolby processing and 360° omni-directional audio, Amazon Echo devices are sure to kick the music experience up a notch for you this Diwali! Just say “Alexa, play latest Bollywood hits” and get your feet tapping while you decorate the house or cook sweets and savouries for family! You can also group multiple Echo devices for synchronized music streaming in every room.

Make this Diwali extra special for your family and friends by getting the All-new Echo Dot, Echo, Echo Spot or All-new Echo Plus and spread the joy.