Hindu Festivals 2026 — Dates for New Delhi
From 18 October to 31 December 2026 this calendar lists 19 of the main festivals and observances: Dussehra — 20 October (Tue); Karwa Chauth — 29 October (Thu); Diwali — 8 November (Sun); Chhath Puja — 15 November (Sun).
October 2026 Ashwin · Kartika
Durga Ashtami
Monday, 19 October 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Ashwin Shukla Ashtami · 18 October 08:29 – 19 October 10:52
- Decided by
- sunrise — 06:24
- Rule
- Ashwin Shukla Ashtami at sunrise, joined to Navami, not pierced by Saptami: at two sunrises the first, complete day; the day before when it lasts under a ghatika (24 minutes) after sunrise, or when Navami is current at no sunrise.
Times for New Delhi (IST)Panchang for this day
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Mahashtami (joined to Navami, never pierced by Saptami; Dharma Sindhu for two sunrises, a short Ashtami and a kshaya Navami)
Dussehra (Vijayadashami)
Tuesday, 20 October 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Ashwin Shukla Dashami · 20 October 12:51 – 21 October 14:12
- Decided by
- the afternoon (aparahna) — 13:14–15:30
- Rule
- Ashwin Shukla Dashami that holds in the afternoon (aparahna); on two days, the first.
- The tithi also touches the afternoon (aparahna) on 21 October 2026; this calendar keeps 20 October 2026.
Times for New Delhi (IST)Panchang for this day
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Vijayadashami (the afternoon, aparahna)
Sharad Purnima (Kojagara)
Sunday, 25 October 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Ashwin Purnima · 25 October 11:57 – 26 October 09:42
- Decided by
- Nishita kaal (midnight) — 23:40 – 00:31 (26 October)
- Rule
- Ashwin Purnima that holds at Nishita, midnight — the Kojagara night of Lakshmi.
- The Purnima at sunrise (Ashwin Purnima, for the vrat and the holy bath) is on 26 October 2026.
Times for New Delhi (IST)Panchang for this day
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Kojagara (the Purnima at midnight)
Karwa Chauth
Thursday, 29 October 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Krishna Chaturthi · 29 October 01:07 – 29 October 22:11 (Ashwin in the amanta calendar)
- Decided by
- moonrise — 20:17
- Rule
- Krishna Chaturthi (Kartika in North India, Ashwin amanta) that is current at moonrise.
Times for New Delhi (IST)Panchang for this day
Source
North Indian almanac practice: the Krishna Chaturthi at moonrise
November 2026 Kartika
Ahoi Ashtami
Sunday, 1 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Krishna Ashtami · 1 November 14:52 – 2 November 13:11 (Ashwin in the amanta calendar)
- Decided by
- Pradosh kaal (after sunset) — 17:36–20:12
- Rule
- Krishna Ashtami (Kartika in North India) that holds in the evening Pradosh kaal, when the stars are seen.
Times for New Delhi (IST)Panchang for this day
Source
North Indian almanac practice: the Krishna Ashtami in Pradosh kaal
Dhanteras
Friday, 6 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Krishna Trayodashi · 6 November 10:31 – 7 November 10:48 (Ashwin in the amanta calendar)
- Decided by
- Pradosh kaal (after sunset) — 17:33–20:10
- Rule
- Krishna Trayodashi (Kartika in North India) that holds in Pradosh kaal, after sunset (Yama deepam).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on the Yama deepam of Trayodashi (in Pradosh kaal)
Narak Chaturdashi (Chhoti Diwali)
Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Krishna Chaturdashi · 7 November 10:48 – 8 November 11:28 (Ashwin in the amanta calendar)
- Decided by
- moonrise to sunrise (before dawn) — 05:41–06:38
- Rule
- Krishna Chaturdashi (Kartika in North India) that is current between moonrise and sunrise — the time of the oil bath (abhyang snan).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
North Indian almanac practice: the Krishna Chaturdashi current between moonrise and sunrise, for the oil bath
Diwali (Lakshmi Puja)
Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Amavasya · 8 November 11:28 – 9 November 12:32 (Ashwin in the amanta calendar)
- Decided by
- Pradosh kaal (after sunset) — 17:32–20:09
- Rule
- Amavasya (Kartika in North India, Ashwin amanta) that holds in Pradosh kaal, after sunset.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Deepavali (Lakshmi Puja: Amavasya in Pradosh kaal)
Govardhan Puja
Tuesday, 10 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Shukla Pratipada · 9 November 12:32 – 10 November 14:01
- Decided by
- sunrise — 06:39
- Rule
- Kartika Shukla Pratipada in the morning: the Pratipada at sunrise, or the day it begins when it is current at no sunrise.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Bali Pratipada and Govardhan (the Pratipada in the morning)
Bhai Dooj
Wednesday, 11 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Shukla Dwitiya · 10 November 14:01 – 11 November 15:54
- Decided by
- the afternoon (aparahna) — 13:10–15:20
- Rule
- Kartika Shukla Dwitiya (Yama Dwitiya) that holds in the afternoon (aparahna); on two days, the later one (Dwitiya joined to Tritiya).
- The tithi also touches the afternoon (aparahna) on 10 November 2026; this calendar keeps 11 November 2026.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the ruling on Yama Dwitiya (the afternoon, aparahna); Nirnaya Sindhu: the yugma rule of paired tithis (for example Dwitiya with Tritiya, Chaturthi with Panchami, Ashtami with Navami)
Chhath: Nahay Khay
Friday, 13 November 2026
- Tithi at sunrise
- Kartika Shukla Chaturthi · 12 November 18:10 – 13 November 20:43
- Time
- sunrise — 06:42
- Rule
- Day 1 of Chhath, two days before the evening arghya: a bath and one pure meal.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Custom of Bihar and Purvanchal: the evening arghya on the Shashthi current at sunset, with the days around it
Chhath: Kharna (Lohanda)
Saturday, 14 November 2026
- Tithi at sunrise
- Kartika Shukla Panchami · 13 November 20:43 – 14 November 23:24
- Time
- sunset — 17:28
- Rule
- Day 2 of Chhath: a day-long fast broken at sunset with kheer prasad; the 36-hour fast begins.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Custom of Bihar and Purvanchal: the evening arghya on the Shashthi current at sunset, with the days around it
Chhath Puja (Sandhya Arghya)
Sunday, 15 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Shukla Shashthi · 14 November 23:24 – 16 November 02:02
- Decided by
- sunset — 17:28
- Rule
- Kartika Shukla Shashthi that is current at sunset, when the evening arghya is offered to the setting Sun.
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Custom of Bihar and Purvanchal: the evening arghya on the Shashthi current at sunset, with the days around it
Chhath: Usha Arghya
Monday, 16 November 2026
- Tithi at sunrise
- Kartika Shukla Saptami · 16 November 02:02 – 17 November 04:20
- Time
- sunrise — 06:44
- Rule
- Day 4 of Chhath: arghya to the rising Sun, then the fast is broken (parana).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Custom of Bihar and Purvanchal: the evening arghya on the Shashthi current at sunset, with the days around it
Dev Uthani Ekadashi
Friday, 20 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Shukla Ekadashi · 20 November 07:16 – 21 November 06:32
- Decided by
- the day it runs (it is current at no sunrise) — 07:16 – 06:32 (21 November)
- Rule
- Kartika Shukla Ekadashi (Prabodhini), Smarta rule: the Ekadashi at sunrise; at two sunrises the first; at none, the day it begins.
- The tithi begins after sunrise and ends before the next sunrise (a kshaya tithi), so it is kept on 20 November 2026, the day it runs.
- Dashami is still current at Arunodaya on 20 November 2026, so Vaishnavas (ISKCON) fast on 21 November 2026 (the gauna Ekadashi).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu: the rulings on Ekadashi (Smarta: the Ekadashi at sunrise; Vaishnava: an Ekadashi touched by Dashami at Arunodaya is not kept)
Tulsi Vivah
Saturday, 21 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Shukla Dwadashi · 21 November 06:32 – 22 November 04:57
- Decided by
- sunrise — 06:48
- Rule
- Kartika Shukla Dwadashi at sunrise (custom; some families hold it on the Ekadashi evening).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
Custom: the Kartika Shukla Dwadashi at sunrise (some families keep the Ekadashi evening)
Kartik Purnima
Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Purnima · 23 November 23:43 – 24 November 20:24
- Decided by
- sunrise — 06:50
- Rule
- Kartika Purnima at sunrise — the day of the holy bath (Kartik snan).
Times for New Delhi (IST)
Source
North Indian almanac practice: the Kartika Purnima at sunrise
Dev Deepawali (Varanasi)
Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- Deciding tithi
- Kartika Purnima · 23 November 23:43 – 24 November 20:24
- Decided by
- Pradosh kaal (after sunset) — 17:08–19:47
- Rule
- Kartika Purnima that holds in Pradosh kaal at Varanasi, when the ghats are lit (custom of Kashi).
Times for Varanasi (IST)
Source
Custom of Varanasi (Kashi): the Kartika Purnima in Pradosh kaal there
How a festival date is decided
A Hindu festival is tied to a tithi, a lunar day: the time the Moon takes to move 12 degrees ahead of the Sun. A tithi can begin and end at any hour, so it often covers parts of two calendar days. That is why a festival date is not simply "the day of the tithi".
Each festival has a rule that names the time of day its tithi must cover. Lakshmi Puja on Diwali needs Amavasya in Pradosh kaal, the first part of the night. Janmashtami needs Ashtami at Nishita, around midnight. Ram Navami and Ganesh Chaturthi need their tithi at midday, Dussehra and Bhai Dooj in the afternoon (aparahna), Karwa Chauth at moonrise, and Narak Chaturdashi between moonrise and sunrise. Many fasts and bath days simply take the tithi that is current at sunrise, the udaya tithi.
The festival falls on the day whose window the tithi covers. When it covers the window on two days, or on neither, the festival's rule has a tie-break, and the card for that festival says which day this calendar keeps and the other day the tithi also touches.
The time windows used here
Sunrise and sunset are the standard ones printed in almanacs: the upper edge of the Sun on the horizon, with the usual allowance for refraction, at New Delhi. The day from sunrise to sunset is split into five equal parts; midday (madhyahna) is the third and the afternoon (aparahna) the fourth. The forenoon (purvahna) runs from sunrise to the middle of the day.
Pradosh kaal is the first fifth of the night after sunset: at New Delhi about 2 hours in midsummer and about 2 hours 45 minutes in midwinter. Nishita is the eighth of the night's fifteen muhurtas, the stretch around midnight. Arunodaya is the 96 minutes before sunrise. Moonrise is the moment the centre of the Moon reaches the horizon; Narak Chaturdashi's window runs from the moonrise before dawn to sunrise. Every time on this page is Indian Standard Time.
When the deciding tithi begins or ends inside the window, a card prints the part of the window the tithi covers first, then the whole window. Janmashtami and Ram Navami are the exceptions: their window is the hour of birth, so it is printed whole; the tithi's start and end are on the card too.
Amanta and purnimanta month names
North India counts a lunar month from one full moon to the next (purnimanta). Maharashtra, Gujarat and the South count from new moon to new moon (amanta). The bright half of a month has the same name in both. In the dark half, the North already uses the next month's name: the night of Diwali is Kartika Amavasya in Uttar Pradesh and Ashwin Amavasya in Maharashtra. It is the same night, with two names.
The cards give the North Indian name first and add the amanta name when it is different, so you can match the date with the calendar your family uses.
Why another calendar may show a different day
Place matters. Sunrise in Kolkata comes between half an hour and an hour before sunrise in New Delhi, depending on the season, so a tithi that ends just before sunrise in Delhi can still be current at sunrise further east. The dates here are for New Delhi; most of North India keeps the same days, but a festival on the edge of its window can move by a day elsewhere.
Tradition matters too. This calendar follows the Smarta practice most North Indian homes use. ISKCON and other Vaishnava calendars use their own rules for Ekadashi, Janmashtami and Ram Navami and sometimes keep the next day; where that happens, the card says so. Some festivals also have regional dates, such as Hanuman Jayanti in parts of South India. For a household ritual, your family priest or local temple calendar has the final word.
Sources and how this calendar is made
The rules are the classical rulings of Nirnaya Sindhu (Kamalakara Bhatta, 17th century) and Dharma Sindhu (Kashinath Upadhyaya, 18th century), as North Indian almanacs apply them. Where no classical ruling is cited for a day, such as Karwa Chauth or Guru Purnima, the card says it follows North Indian almanac practice; days kept by custom, such as Chhath, Lohri, Holi, Tulsi Vivah and Dev Deepawali, are marked as custom. The Sun and Moon positions come from the Swiss Ephemeris with the Lahiri ayanamsa. Before a year goes live, every date is checked against a published panchang for New Delhi.
Muhurat guides
Wedding dates and the days for entering a new house follow season rules of their own. These guides explain the ones that matter in 2026–27.
- Simhastha Guru 2026–27 and wedding dates — Jupiter in Leo: what the books say, and the wedding seasons in both views
- Kharmas 2026–27 — the dates to the hour, what is avoided and what is fine
- Why muhurat dates differ — nine reasons two lists of dates do not match
Questions about the festival dates
- When is Diwali in 2026?
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) is on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Lakshmi Puja's rule needs Amavasya in Pradosh kaal, the time after sunset, and Kartika Amavasya (8 November 11:28 – 9 November 12:32) holds that evening's whole Pradosh kaal (17:32–20:09 at New Delhi).
- When is Dhanteras in 2026?
- Dhanteras is on Friday, 6 November 2026. Its rule, the Yama deepam, needs Kartika Krishna Trayodashi in Pradosh kaal, and the tithi holds that evening's whole Pradosh kaal (17:33–20:10 at New Delhi).
- What are the Chhath Puja dates in 2026?
- Nahay Khay on Friday, 13 November 2026, Kharna on Saturday, 14 November 2026, the evening arghya (Sandhya Arghya) on Sunday, 15 November 2026 and the morning arghya (Usha Arghya) on Monday, 16 November 2026. The main day is the one when Kartika Shukla Shashthi is current at sunset (17:28 at New Delhi).
- Why do some calendars give a different day for Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026?
- This calendar keeps the Smarta day, Friday, 20 November 2026. The tithi begins after sunrise and ends before the next sunrise (a kshaya tithi), so it is kept on 20 November 2026, the day it runs. Dashami is still current at Arunodaya on 20 November 2026, so Vaishnavas (ISKCON) fast on 21 November 2026 (the gauna Ekadashi).
- Are these festival dates the same all over India?
- They are computed for New Delhi and hold for most of North India. Because sunrise and moonrise times change from place to place, a festival whose tithi ends close to its window can fall a day apart in another city, and South Indian and Vaishnava calendars follow some rules of their own.
- How are these dates worked out?
- From the positions of the Sun and Moon (Swiss Ephemeris, Lahiri ayanamsa) the calendar finds when each tithi starts and ends, then applies each festival's rule for the time of day the tithi must cover, at New Delhi. The deciding tithi, its window, the source of the rule and any second possible day are printed with every festival.