Designer: Samir Bharadwaj/Papernautic
Text-Based instructions by Samir Bharadwaj and Lindy van der Merwe - copyright 2025 by the authors and
accessorigami.com
Excellent visual instructions by Papernautic is available at
papernautic.com
or you can also visit Samir's Youtube channel for folding this and various other easy models.
papernautic on youtube
If you have any questions regarding this model, please feel free to contact accessorigami@gmail.com or Samir directly via the channels listed above.
Description:
This is a 3D diya or Indian Diwali oil lamp with a flame. The lamp is triangular in shape, with a flat base and three upright walls forming the hollow part, the container/cup/bowl shape that holds the oil in the actual oil lamp.
At the narrow end of the figure the flame is standing upright, as if originating from within the lamp.
The flame has a beautiful twisted, upwards-tapering shape, representing the way it wlooks in real life.
It was such a privilege to work with the designer of this model It was wonderful to create, with his help, through origami, such an interesting object I had never encountered before.
We hope others will enjoy learning about and folding this model as well.
Paper to be used: A square of any size that will hold creases well.
Folding level: Easy/Beginner
Instructions
Step 1
Place a square color side down in the diamond orientation - with the points left and right, top and bottom.
Step 2
Fold the left point over to the right, to create a central vertical crease line.
Unfold.
Step 3
Fold the top edges of the diamond shape inwards to meet the central vertical crease.
Leave folded.
The result will be a kite shape with folded left and right sides and the unfolded point will be nearest you.
Step 4
Take the point nearest you and fold it away from you, using the bottom edges of the previous folds as a guide.
Leave folded.
Result: The bottom of the model will now be straight with the folded-up small triangle covering the bottom center of the large, tall triangle.
Step 5
Using the edges of the small triangle you just folded up as a guide:
5.1 Fold the left side of the tall triangle over to the right to form a valley crease.
To do this, start at the bottom left corner, crease all the way to the right top edge and then unfold.
5.2 Fold the right side of the tall triangle over to the left to form a second valley crease.
To do this, start at the bottom right corner, crease all the way to the left top edge and then unfold.
Result: The two new valley folds will cross at the tip of the small triangle you folded up earlier and extend to the left and right outer edges of the shape.
Step 6
Fold the tall triangle in half by bringing its left bottom point over to meet the right bottom point.
Reinforce the vertical crease on the left and leave folded.
Step 7
Hold the folded base with one hand and press down and to the right on the tapered top of the now thinner tall triangle.
The paper should open slightly and you should be able to squash the point and pull down towards the right at an angle.
This is an inside reverse fold and will happen along the valley folds you created in previous steps.
It will look like a bird's beak pointing right.
Step 8
Rotate the model to the left to let the beak be pointing straight up on the left side.
The folded, central crease of the tall triangle will now be horizontal, closest to you with a perfectly vertical edge formed on the right side of the model.
Step 9
With your left hand strengthen the angled bottom edges that form the inside-reverse fold (beak shape) on the bottom left corner of the shape.
Step 10
Unfold to be back at the tall triangle, rotating it so it is pointing away from you again.
Also unfold the smaller triangle at the base so it points down towards you, but keep the left and right sides folded.
You will recognize the kite shape from Step 3 once again.
Step 11
We will work on the sides of the kite shape now.
11.1 Unfold the left triangular flap of the kite shape.
Then, fold its edge inwards again, to meet the first diagonal crease you encounter.
Make a strong valley crease and leave folded.
11.2 Now, fold this thinner two-layered flap to the right, over on itself, like closing a book.
Result: There will now be a narrow folded flap on the left side of the shape that will have two layers.
11.3 Unfold the opposite side of the kite shape and repeat the same folds on the right to make it symmetrical.
Result: The outline of the top of the tall triangle will be unchanged, but the left and right flaps will be narrower and folded in on themselves.
At the center of the shape, there will be a space that has now been exposed as a flat single layer of the paper.
This space is narrow at its top and also extends downwards to the unfolded bottom point of the shape.
Step 12
Fold the bottom point of the shape upwards or away from you, so its tip touches the center of the first horizontal crease you encounter.
Crease and leave folded.
Result: The bottom, single-layered triangle of the kite is now folded in half, forming a straight edge nearest you and the folded triangle pointing away from you.
Step 13
Now, Fold the new bottom edge up again, along the existing bottom crease of the original tall triangle, enclosing the triangle and making sure the fold covers the long, narrow left and right side flaps you had created earlier in order to form a tight, tall triangle.
Result: The outline of the model will once again be triangular with four separate areas:
There will be the tall, narrow folded flaps on the left and right, with a single-layered triangle at the center; at the bottom of the shape will be the flap we just folded that forms a trapezoid shape, with a shorter top and a longer bottom edge and the left and right edges slanting upwards and inwards.
Step 14
Fold the left and right bottom corners of your tall triangular shape upwards and inwards to meet the upper corners of the trapezoid shape just mentioned.
Put in another way, we are folding all layers of the paper to create two small triangles with their points just touching the top edge of the trapezoid shape.
Step 15
Unfold the two corners and also unfold the trapezoid shape back downwards, but leave the bottom point folded as it was in Step 12.
Step 16
We will now start to form the three dimensional form of the diya, which as an oil lamp is essentially a container to hold the oil in the real object.
Focus on the long left and right side flaps of the model. As mentioned in Step 11.3 above, these flaps are made up of two layers, with a single-layered space between them.
Take first the left and then the right folded flaps of the structure and fold them over once more on themselves towards the central vertical line, so they lie flat.
The right flap will now slightly overlap the left flap. Make sure to reinforce the shape all the way along the left and right edges.
Step 17
17.1 Using the creases of the previous step, open up the side flaps again, but not all the way. You would like for the sides to stand at a 90 degree angle in relation to the central part of the model.
The sides will now stand upright and will have three layers.
17.2 Also fold the trapezoid shape at the bottom upright along the existing crease so it stands at a 90 degree angle to form the back wall of the diya.
Result: The model should still lie flat on the table, except for the two upright walls on the sides and one upright wall at the bottom of the triangular form, nearest to you.
Between the side walls and the bottom wall, you can feel two small, creased triangular flaps/loops of paper in the corners nearest to you.
Step 18
18.1 Working first with the looped flap on the left, press it flat against the inside of the left wall of the diya, creasing it so it stays upright and in place against the left side wall.
18.2 Now, gently unfold the left side wall flap, tucking in the looped flap in under it, before folding the side flap back into place again.
Result: The looped flap will be hidden now, locking the left side of the model securely into place so it forms a 3D box-like corner on the left.
18.3 Repeat steps 18.1 and 18.2 on the right side of the figure to make it symmetrical.
Step 19
Keeping the box structure you have just formed in place, start to form the flame by locating the folds you had formed previously when you made the beak shape in step 7.
You will find these two diagonal folds on the inside, flat bottom of the container, where they cross, nearer to the sharp point of the figure, furthest away from you.
Using these crease lines, make an inside reverse fold as you did before.
The folds will help you to bring the sides of the model together near its front, while the pointed end will rise up towards the ceiling.
Alternatively, if it helps you, you can turn the sharp end of the model towards you when performing this step, in which case you should hold the sides of the model and press the sharp point away from you, into an upright position. Just be careful that the two corners you have already created do not come undone.
If this does happen, you will have to recrease them again, before continuing with this step.
Result: You will have formed the bird beak structure again, but this time it will be pointing upwards towards the ceiling, forming the start of the flame.
Step 20
If you have not already done so, roatate the model so that the back wall is furthest away from you.
We are going to shape two main areas at the front of the diya in this step
Firstly, on the inside of the container, follow the line on the left and right edges of the diya, starting at the back wall, moving all the way to the front, where the flame will now be standing up. You will notice that The bottom will be flat with crisp edges towards the back corners, but the front will seem to be more rounded and to curve a little upwards, instead of being completely flat.
Reinforce this tendency by smoothing out the model from the inside. Do not try to press it flat towards the front.
This unevenness adds tension to the base and holds the structure of the
diya in place.
Secondly, on the outside, locate the bottom front of the model, where the flame is standing upright. There will be a space or an indentation where the two sides of the container meet.
With the fingers of one hand, pinch the left and right sides together at this point, so the gap is closed as much as possible and so the outside front of the diya forms a slope, resembling a boat shape.
Step 21
Now let’s form the flame and finish the model.
The inside reverse fold you made in Step 19 created a spike-like flame shape pointing upwards from the table. It has a single sharp folded edge at the back. At the front it has two edges which meet the vertical walls of the container forming the sloping shape already mentioned.
On the left side of the flame spike (this is an arbitrary choice, either side would work), fold the back edge of the flame spike towards you, against the front boat-like slope of the model. You are twisting the flame shape to lean more forward than it was before. Its thickness is doubled by this fold towards the base of the shape, and it partially locks the vertical sides which lead into the boat slope closer together.
Step 22
On the right side of the now folded flame spike, fold the point backwards towards you along an approximately vertical crease. This forms another new folded edge leading up from the front boat slope of the container and the point of the flame is now sloping slightly in your direction.
You are aiming to form the flame into a slightly 3D twisting, asymmetrical shape, resembling how it will look in real life.
The resulting flame should be flat, observed from the back or front. But it has a jagged edge shape with a pointed tip from the sides.
If you are finding the formation of the flame to be difficult or you are not sure if it is formed correctly, it could help to have someone confirm that the flame has a life-like appearance or to verify the formation of the flame by looking at the video or illustration, referenced at the start of this tutorial.
Step 23
Sharpen all the edge folds, tighten the corners, and your origami diya or paper Diwali oil lamp is ready to brighten your night.
Making origami accessible through text-BASED TUTORIALS.
For non-commercial use only.
Compiled by Lindy van der Merwe and Samir Bharadwaj - July 2025
This text copyright 2025 by accessorigami.com and the authors.
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