When Is Diwali 2026? Sunday, 8 November

Diwali 2026 kab hai? When is Diwali 2026?

दिवाली 2026 कब है? इस साल दिवाली रविवार, 8 नवंबर को है। लक्ष्मी पूजा शाम 5:54 से 7:50 बजे तक होगी (नई दिल्ली के अनुसार)।

Diwali 2026 is on Sunday, 8 November, the night of Kartik Amavasya. That's the new moon, the darkest night of the month, and Diwali means "row of lamps".

You might see 9 November on some calendars. Amavasya is still running on the morning of the 9th, so a calendar that labels each day by its sunrise tithi puts it there. Lakshmi Puja goes by the evening instead. Put 8 November in your calendar.

How the date is decided

Two conditions decide it. Amavasya has to be running, and it has to be running at sunset, because Lakshmi Puja is a twilight puja.

In 2026, Amavasya begins at 11:27 AM on 8 November and ends at 12:31 PM on 9 November. Pradosh Kaal on the 8th, about 5:31–8:09 PM in Delhi, sits entirely inside it. By sunset on the 9th, Amavasya is over.

Why the date moves every year

Diwali is on Amavasya, the new moon of Kartik, so it follows the moon. A lunar month is about 29.5 days. Twelve of them make about 354 days, 11 short of a solar year.

Left alone, festivals would slide 11 days earlier every year and drift through the seasons, the way Ramadan does. The Hindu calendar stops that by adding a leap month, Adhik Maas, about every 32–33 months. 2026 had one (Adhik Jyeshtha, 17 May–15 June), so Diwali landed on 8 November, 19 days later than 20 October 2025.

Diwali dates, year by year

What is the Lakshmi Puja muhurat, in plain words?

A muhurat is a good window to start something, worked out from the sun, the moon and the rising sign (lagna). For Lakshmi Puja you want two things at once. The first is Pradosh Kaal, the twilight after sunset, when Lakshmi is believed to visit homes. The second is a fixed (sthira) lagna, so the wealth you pray for stays put. Four lagnas count as fixed: Vrishchika, Kumbha, Vrishabha and Simha.

In 2026 the fixed lagna on Diwali evening is Vrishabha, 5:54–7:50 PM in New Delhi. It sits entirely inside Pradosh Kaal, about 5:31–8:09 PM. Light the first diya at 5:54 and you're on time.

If the evening won't work for your family, the same day has two more fixed-lagna options:

• Kumbha Lagna, 1:26–2:54 PM
• Simha Lagna, 12:25–2:42 AM on 9 November

Pradosh Kaal moves with your city's sunset. A lagna moves with your city's longitude and latitude, so Kolkata gets Vrishabha earlier than Delhi and Mumbai gets it later. For the exact minute outside Delhi, check a local panchang or ask your priest.

What is Choghadiya, and how is it different?

Choghadiya is a simpler system. It cuts daylight into eight equal parts and the night into eight more, and each part gets one of seven names. It started as a way to pick travel times. Because it's easy to work out, people now use it for all kinds of starts. It only needs sunrise and sunset, so the calculator above can show it for your city.

On Diwali night 2026 in New Delhi, Shubh, Amrit and Char run back to back from sunset to 10:27 PM. If the 5:54–7:50 PM muhurat slips past you, that stretch is the usual fallback. Your city's version is in the calculator above.

The five days: Dhanteras, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj

Dedicated countdowns and guides: Dhanteras 2026 · Choti Diwali 2026 · Govardhan Puja 2026 · Bhai Dooj 2026.

Lakshmi Puja is the main night, but Diwali runs five days, and three of them have their own muhurat. The times below are for New Delhi and shift with your city's sunrise and sunset.

Dhanteras: Friday, 6 November, 6:02–7:57 PM

Dhanteras falls on Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, which runs from 10:30 AM on the 6th to 10:47 AM on the 7th. Only the 6th has an evening inside it, and Dhanteras puja is an evening rite. The muhurat is the Vrishabha (fixed lagna) stretch inside Pradosh Kaal, which runs 5:33–8:09 PM.

The custom is to buy metal. Gold and silver carry the most weight, but a steel or brass utensil is the older, everyday version. It goes back to Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, said to have risen from the churning of the ocean holding a pot of amrita. A new vessel coming into the house echoes that. Buying something is a custom, though, not a requirement of the puja.

There's a second, quieter rite: the Yama Deepam. After sunset a single lamp is lit and placed outside the main door, facing south, Yama's direction. It's a prayer to keep untimely death away from the household. It's easy to forget on a busy evening, so leave the lamp and the oil by the door in the afternoon.

Govardhan Puja: Tuesday, 10 November, 6:40–8:50 AM

Govardhan Puja falls on Kartik Shukla Pratipada. The tithi opens at 12:31 PM on 9 November and closes at 2:00 PM on the 10th, so the 10th is the day with a morning inside it. Unlike most of Diwali, this is a morning rite, the Pratahkal muhurat.

It marks the day Krishna lifted Govardhan hill and held it up for seven days, sheltering Vrindavan from a deluge sent by Indra. The villagers had chosen to honour the hill and the cattle that fed them. At home, a small mound of cow dung or earth is shaped into the hill, decorated and circled with offerings. In temples the mound is food: Annakut, "mountain of food", traditionally the chhappan bhog of 56 dishes. Nathdwara, Vrindavan and Mathura are known for huge displays. The same tithi is Bestu Varas, the Gujarati New Year, when businesses open the account books blessed at Chopda Pujan.

Bhai Dooj: Wednesday, 11 November, 1:10–3:20 PM

Bhai Dooj falls on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya, from 2:00 PM on 10 November to 3:53 PM on the 11th. The tilak goes on in the Aparahna window, the fourth of five equal parts of daylight, so it shifts with your city's sunrise and sunset.

Its other name, Yama Dwitiya, carries the story. Yama visited his sister Yamuna on this day after a long separation. She welcomed him with a tilak, aarti and a meal. He promised that any brother who receives a tilak from his sister on this day would be spared untimely death. That's why the brother goes to his sister's home. In Maharashtra it's Bhau Beej, and in Bengal Bhai Phonta.

It isn't the same festival as Raksha Bandhan. On Rakhi the sister ties a thread on her brother's wrist. On Bhai Dooj there's no thread, just the tilak, aarti and meal. In parts of Maharashtra and Haryana, a sister who can't be with her brother offers the aarti to the moon instead.

Happy Diwali wishes, quotes & images

Tap any card to copy it into a message, story or card.

Happy Diwali images to download & share

Square images for WhatsApp status, Instagram and Facebook. Tap one to open it at full size, then save and share. You don't need to sign up.

How to say Happy Diwali (and whether you should)

Yes, "Happy Diwali" is the standard greeting, and it's fine to say whether or not you celebrate, like "Merry Christmas" or "Eid Mubarak". In Hindi, "Shubh Deepavali" (शुभ दीपावली) or "Diwali ki hardik shubhkamnayein" both work. In much of South India the festival is called Deepavali, so "Happy Deepavali" fits there.

Diwali is said di-VAA-lee, and Deepavali dee-PAH-vuh-lee. Send your message on the evening of Lakshmi Puja, Sunday 8 November. A message sent days early gets buried under everyone else's forwards.

Diwali gift ideas by budget and recipient

Each of the five days has its own gifting custom, and following it makes most of the decisions for you. Dhanteras, 6 November, is for metal, like gold, silver, steel utensils or an appliance. Lakshmi Puja, 8 November, is for sweets, diyas and decor, given when you visit. Bhai Dooj, 11 November, closes with gifts between siblings. Order anything perishable to arrive by 6 November, not the 8th. Couriers across India slow to a crawl in Diwali week.

Under ₹500

This is what you hand to neighbours, building staff, your team at work and the relatives who drop in unannounced. Buy in multiples and keep a few spare by the door.

₹500–₹2,000

The usual range for extended family, close colleagues and anyone whose sofa you'll be sitting on.

Over ₹2,000

For immediate family, in-laws and the Dhanteras purchase itself, where the custom of buying metal does most of the deciding.

By recipient

Links open a product search on a retailer's site in a new tab. They're plain search links, with no tracking or commission. Prices are rough starting points, not quotes.

Diwali 2026 FAQ