Diwali in 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November, with the principal Lakshmi Puja performed during the evening Pradosh Kaal that coincides with Kartika Amavasya. The five-day cycle opens with Dhanteras on Friday 6 November and closes with Bhai Dooj on Tuesday 10 November. Below is what each of the five days marks, when the Lakshmi Puja window sits within 8 November, and why the date shifts each year on the Gregorian calendar.
The 2026 date in one paragraph
Diwali is fixed to the Amavasya (new moon) of the lunar month of Kartika, traditionally the darkest night of the year before the moon begins waxing again. In 2026 Kartika Amavasya falls on the night of Sunday 8 November. Lakshmi Puja is performed during Pradosh Kaal, the period beginning roughly at sunset, with the most cited window for north India between 5:30 PM and 8:00 PM IST. Sthir (fixed-sign) Lagnas inside that window, principally Vrishabha, are treated as the most auspicious sub-windows. Drik Panchang publishes location-specific timings; the exact muhurat shifts by 10 to 20 minutes between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
The five days, in order
- Dhanteras (Fri 6 Nov 2026): Trayodashi of Kartika Krishna Paksha. Households buy gold, silver, copper or steel utensils, and a new broom. Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, is also invoked on this day.
- Naraka Chaturdashi / Choti Diwali (Sat 7 Nov 2026): Marks Krishna’s killing of the demon Narakasura. In Tamil and Telugu households this is the principal Diwali, with an oil bath before dawn.
- Diwali / Lakshmi Puja (Sun 8 Nov 2026): Kartika Amavasya. Evening Lakshmi-Ganesha-Saraswati puja, lighting of diyas, the family meal.
- Govardhan Puja / Annakut (Mon 9 Nov 2026): Kartika Shukla Pratipada. Krishna’s lifting of Govardhan hill is remembered with a mountain of food offered at home shrines and at Vaishnava temples.
- Bhai Dooj (Tue 10 Nov 2026): Kartika Shukla Dwitiya. Sisters apply tilak and feed their brothers; the bond is treated as the equivalent of the Raksha Bandhan exchange in reverse.
Why the date moves each year
The Hindu lunisolar calendar tracks both the solar year (which fixes the seasons) and the lunar month (which fixes the tithis). Amavasya, the new moon, recurs every 29.5 days, so the Gregorian date of Kartika Amavasya drifts by roughly 11 days each year and is then corrected by inserting an Adhik Maas every two or three years. 2026 is in fact an Adhik Maas year, with the intercalary month inserted in Jyeshtha (May-June), which is why several other festivals around the lunar calendar fall on slightly later Gregorian dates than in 2025.
For context, Diwali 2025 fell on 20 October. The 2026 date of 8 November is therefore about 19 days later: an 11-day lunar drift plus an additional shift caused by the lunar month in which the intercalary correction lands.
The Lakshmi Puja window on 8 November
The puja is performed after sunset, during the Pradosh Kaal that overlaps the Amavasya tithi. The three sub-windows most often quoted in published muhurats are:
- Pradosh Kaal: roughly sunset to 2 hours 24 minutes after sunset. In Delhi on 8 Nov 2026 this is approximately 5:35 PM to 8:00 PM.
- Vrishabha Lagna (fixed sign): a roughly 90-minute window inside Pradosh that is treated as the prime slot. In Delhi it falls within the Pradosh window above.
- Mahanishita Kaal: the deep-night window around midnight, used by Tantric and Shakta households for separate Kali Puja.
Drik Panchang and other location-aware panchangs publish exact start and end times for each window by city; the bands above are the all-India approximate. For what it’s worth, the Vrishabha Lagna window inside Pradosh is the one most household priests will guide families toward, because it combines an auspicious lagna with the unbroken Amavasya tithi.
What the day actually marks across traditions
Diwali is not a single-story festival. The three principal narratives, each rooted in a different scriptural source:
- Rama’s return to Ayodhya: the Ramayana tradition holds that Rama, Sita and Lakshmana returned from fourteen years of exile on Kartika Amavasya, after the defeat of Ravana, and the citizens of Ayodhya lit rows of lamps to welcome them. This is the dominant North Indian framing.
- Krishna’s victory over Narakasura: the Bhagavata Purana account, dominant in Tamil and Telugu households, places the Naraka Chaturdashi bath the morning before. Lakshmi Puja in the evening of the next day extends the same victory cycle.
- Lakshmi’s emergence from the Samudra Manthana: the Vishnu Purana tradition has Lakshmi rising from the churning of the ocean of milk on Kartika Amavasya. Households invite her in by cleaning thoroughly, lighting lamps and keeping doors open.
Jain and Sikh traditions observe the same date for separate reasons: Jains mark the nirvana of Mahavira (527 BCE by Jain reckoning), and Sikhs observe Bandi Chhor Divas, marking Guru Hargobind’s release from Gwalior Fort in 1619.
Common questions
Is Lakshmi Puja done on the same date all over India?
Yes, the date is Kartika Amavasya, which is the same lunar moment everywhere. The exact clock time of the Pradosh window varies by location because sunset varies. In Mumbai sunset is roughly 30 minutes later than Kolkata on the same date, so the Pradosh window in Mumbai begins about 30 minutes later. Households use the panchang for their city.
Why is the broom bought on Dhanteras?
The broom (jharu) is treated as a representation of Lakshmi in household practice, because she sweeps away poverty and disorder. The Dhanteras purchase tradition pairs the new broom with the new metal vessel and the new gold or silver token. In many households the old broom is retired only after the new one is bought and a small puja done.
Do South Indian households celebrate the same five days?
Partially. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Naraka Chaturdashi (7 November in 2026) is the main day; the predawn oil bath and new clothes are completed by sunrise. Lakshmi Puja the next evening is observed too, but the centre of gravity is the morning of Naraka Chaturdashi rather than the night of Amavasya. Bhai Dooj is observed as Yama Dwitiya.
When does the puja muhurat go up on the panchang sites?
Drik Panchang, mPanchang and AstroSage publish location-specific muhurats from roughly six months ahead of Diwali, and update closer to the date. For 8 November 2026, the muhurat is already available on Drik Panchang under the Lakshmi Puja page. Always cross-check the city dropdown; the default is often Delhi.
One limitation worth noting
Exact muhurat minutes published this far ahead can shift by a few minutes once the panchang publishers finalise close to the date, because the Pradosh window depends on the precise local sunset. This article uses the published 2026 figures for Delhi from Drik Panchang; for your own city, check the panchang’s city-specific page closer to early November 2026.
For deeper background, see the Wikipedia overview of Diwali and the Drik Panchang page for 2026 Lakshmi Puja timings by city.
