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Hindu Festival Calendar

Major Hindu festivals based on Vedic Panchang (Tithi-based dates)

No results found.

Dates computed for New Delhi. A festival is fixed by the tithi current at a particular moment of the local day, so the civil date can differ by location - change the city above if you are observing elsewhere.

January 2026

5
Tue13
Bhogisolar

The day before Thai Pongal, the first of Pongal's three days.

Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, p. 106 (Government of India, 1955): "Bhogi (S. India - on the day before Pongal)". Pongal, the South Indian counterpart of Makara-sankranti, is kept three days: Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p. 222.

Tamil Nadu (Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28)
Wed14
Makar Sankrantisolar

Sun enters Capricorn. Harvest festival celebrated across India.

Solar, not tithi-determined: the civil day on which the Sun's sidereal longitude first enters Makara. The four regional sankranti-to-civil-day conventions are a separate rule set and are not applied here.

Wed14
Thai Pongalsolar

Tai 1, the first day of the Tamil solar month Tai: the Sun's entry into Makara, dated by the Tamil rule.

The Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit, The Indian Calendar (1896), Art. 28(2a): an ingress after sunrise and before sunset opens the month that day, one after sunset the next. Pongal, the South Indian counterpart of Makara-sankranti, is kept three days: Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p. 222. Kane V.i pp. 657-658: an ingress by day is kept that day, one at night the next.

Tamil Nadu (Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28)
Thu15
Mattu Pongalsolar

The day after Thai Pongal, the third of Pongal's three days.

Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, p. 106 (Government of India, 1955): "Mattu Pongal (S. India - on the day after Pongal)". Pongal, the South Indian counterpart of Makara-sankranti, is kept three days: Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p. 222.

Tamil Nadu (Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28)
Fri23
Vasant Panchamitithi

Festival of spring. Worship of Goddess Saraswati.

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73, quoting the verse Nirnaya Sindhu quotes at p.18 - "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act."

February 2026

1
Sun15
Maha Shivaratritithi

Great night of Lord Shiva. Fasting and a four-prahara night vigil.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 pp.229-230, from Madhava's Kalanirnaya (cross-referenced to Nirnaya Sindhu pp.222-224) - a four-rung ladder: (1) the Caturdashi covers BOTH pradosha and nisitha on one day -> that day; (2) it covers nisitha on both days or on neither -> pradosha decides; (3) it covers pradosha on both or on neither -> nisitha decides; (4) each day covers exactly one -> conjunction with Jaya (the 13th) decides, per the Padma verse Hemadri quotes (Kane p.202): "Sivaratri and Bali's day should be observed on the day when the tithi is mixed with the preceding tithi."

March 2026

4
Mon2
Holi (Holika Dahan)tithi

Festival of colours. The bonfire is lit on the Phalguna Purnima at dusk.

Dharmasindhu (Kāśīnātha Upādhyāya, 1790), Phālguna-māsa, Holikā-nirṇaya - Nirṇaya Sāgara Press 1888, pp.94-95

Many almanacs print 3 March 2026: they move the fire to the second evening because Pūrṇimā runs three and a half praharas into 3 March 2026, without the Dharmasindhu's further test that pratipad be increasing (this year it is decreasing), and they read the eclipse rule only as 'an eclipse does not bar the rite'; with the Moon rising eclipsed on 3 March 2026 after Pūrṇimā has ended, both the Dharmasindhu and the Nirṇaya Sindhu keep the fire on 2 March 2026.

Hours: 01:26-02:35 (3 Mar) - Bhadrā-puccha (the rung names it first)

Thu19
Ugadi / Gudi Padwatithi

Hindu New Year (Chaitra Shukla Pratipada).

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: the anchor is the division of the day at which the act is prescribed. For a vrata whose prescribed time is the day as a whole, that division is the day, so the tithi current at sunrise governs.

Thu26
Ram Navamitithi

Birth of Lord Rama, at midday. Chaitra Shukla Navami.

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73, quoting the verse Nirnaya Sindhu quotes at p.18 - "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act."

Tue31
Mahavir Jayantitithi

The birth of Mahavira, Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi: the day whose sunrise the trayodashi holds.

Acaranga Sutra II.15.6 and Kalpa Sutra 96 (tr. H. Jacobi, Sacred Books of the East vol. 22, 1884, pp.191 and 251): in Caitra, in the second fortnight, on the 13th (the Kalpa Sutra says the 14th), the Moon in Uttaraphalguni. CRC 1955 p.102, Caitra S 13: "Mahavira jayanti (Jain)". The sunrise anchor (Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73), not the CRC's default madhyahna, which would give 2026-03-30 and 2027-04-18 at Delhi.

April 2026

6
Thu2
Hanuman Jayantitithi

Birth of Lord Hanuman. Chaitra Purnima.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: the anchor is the division of the day at which the act is prescribed. For a vrata whose prescribed time is the day as a whole, that division is the day, so the tithi current at sunrise governs.

Tue14
Puthandu (Tamil New Year)solar

Cittirai 1, the Tamil solar new year: the Sun's entry into Mesha, dated by the Tamil rule.

Sewell & Dikshit, The Indian Calendar (1896), Art. 52 (p. 31): in Bengal and the Tamil country the civil year begins "with the first day of the month Mesha, as determined by the practice of the country (See above Art. 28)"; Art. 24 fn.: Mesha is "Sittirai in the Tamil country". The Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit, The Indian Calendar (1896), Art. 28(2a): an ingress after sunrise and before sunset opens the month that day, one after sunset the next.

Tamil Nadu (Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28)
Tue14
Vishusolardate contested

The Malayalam solar new year: the Kani is prepared the night before and seen at dawn (Travancore State Manual p. 366).

Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual (1906) vol. II ch. IX p. 366: "Vishu which falls on the first day of Medam (April) which is the astronomical new year's day". Medam 1 by the Malabar rule, Sewell & Dikshit, The Indian Calendar, Art. 28(2b): an ingress in the first three-fifths of daylight opens the month that day, else the next.

Kerala (Malabar rule)
Wed15
Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)solar

Baishakh 1, the Bengali new year: the Sun's entry into Mesha, dated by the Bengal rule.

Sewell & Dikshit, The Indian Calendar (1896), Art. 71 (p. 43): the Bengali San begins at the Mesha sankranti and its first month "is here called Vaisakha"; Art. 52 (the civil new year); Art. 28(1a), the Bengal rule: an ingress before midnight opens the month the next day, after midnight the day after that; the tithi tie-break within 24 minutes of midnight, Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, p. 244 (Government of India, 1955).

Bengal (Bengal rule)
Wed15
Vishusolardate contested

The Malayalam solar new year: the Kani is prepared the night before and seen at dawn (Travancore State Manual p. 366).

Kerala's observed day: the first sunrise after the Mesha ingress - the day of the Government of Kerala's 2026 holiday list (G.O. (P) No. 15/2025/GAD) and of Drik Panchang in 2024-2027. No text giving this rule was located; it is shown, labelled, because Kerala keeps it.

Kerala: the day kept (no rule located)
Sun19
Akshaya Tritiyatithi

Extremely auspicious day. Vaishakha Shukla Tritiya.

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73, quoting the verse Nirnaya Sindhu quotes at p.18 - "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act."

May 2026

2
Fri1
Buddha Purnimatithi

The Vaishakha Purnima of the Hindu lunar calendar, listed as Buddha Purnima: the later day at whose sunrise the purnima stands.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.357 (the Buddhadvadashi entry, pp.356-357: "Buddhapurnima, Vai. shu. 15"); CRC 1955 p.102, Vaishakha S 15: "Buddha purnima, Vaishakhi purnima". The day is the sunrise purnima, the later of two.

Sat16
Vat Savitri Amavasyatithi

The fast and the worship of the banyan on the Jyeshtha amavasya of the purnimanta reckoning (amanta Vaishakha), taken joined with the chaturdashi before it.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.81: the amavasya form, from the Nirnayamrita's Bhavishya, kept by the westerners (pashcatyah). It reports Madhava's later day for an 18-ghatika chaturdashi and rejects it - the former even with an 18-nadi vedha "is the good path" - and closes "this decision is to be known for the amavasya too". So the Dharmasindhu's three-muhurta rule (NSP 1888 p.41) is applied as for the purnima: the day the amavasya begins if it has more than three day-muhurtas before sunset, else the next day. CRC 1955 p.102: "Savitri amavasya (Orissa)"; p.109: purvaviddha.

The westerners (pashcatyah, Nirnayasindhu p. 81); CRC 1955 p. 102: Orissa

June 2026

1
Mon29
Vat Purnimatithi

The fast and the worship of the banyan on the Jyeshtha purnima: on the day the purnima begins if more than three muhurtas of daylight are left, else on the next day.

Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.41: the purnima joined with the chaturdashi, if it lasts more than three muhurtas before sunset, else the next day; and for the fast a purnima pierced by an 18-nadi chaturdashi is still the day, the 18-nadi vedha belonging outside the Savitri-vrata. Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.81: the purnima form is followed by the southerners (dakshinatyah). CRC 1955 p.102 labels it "(Deccan)"; p.109 makes it purvaviddha. Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i pp.91-93.

The southerners (dakshinatyah, Nirnayasindhu p. 81); CRC 1955 p. 102: Deccan

July 2026

2
Thu16
Rath Yatratithi

The car festival of Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya. The Nirnayasindhu's verse sets Rama (Balarama) on the car with Bhadra (Subhadra): the Puri car festival. Joined with Pushya it is especially commended.

Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.41: "ashadhashukladvitiyayam pushyanakshatrayutayam kevalayam va shriramasya rathotsavah" - on Ashadha Shukla 2 joined with Pushya, or on the tithi alone. Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.82, the Tithitattva's Skanda verse ("tasyam rathe samaropya ramam vai bhadraya saha") and "rkshabhave tithau karya" - without the nakshatra, on the tithi. CRC 1955 p.102: "Rathayatra (paraviddha, special when combined with nakshatra Pushya)". The civil day is the later one at whose sunrise the dwitiya stands (Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73); the CRC's default madhyahna would give 2026-07-15 against Puri's 07-16.

Wed29
Guru Purnimatithi

Day to honour teachers and gurus. Ashadha Purnima.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: the anchor is the division of the day at which the act is prescribed. For a vrata whose prescribed time is the day as a whole, that division is the day, so the tithi current at sunrise governs.

August 2026

6
Sat15
Hariyali Teejtithi

Shravana Shukla Tritiya, the Gauri fast; the Nirnayasindhu's Madhushravanika. Taken joined with the chaturthi: the later day at whose sunrise the tritiya stands.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.105: "tritiya nabhasah shukla madhushravanika smrta / bhadrasya kajjali krshna shukla ca haritalika / caturthimishrita" - each of the three is taken joined with the chaturthi (para), and with Madhava "even if it is there only a muhurta, the Gauri-vrata is on the later day". Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.55 goes further: a muhurta or less; a kshaya tritiya is taken joined with the dvitiya. So: the later civil day at whose sunrise the tritiya stands, however briefly; when it holds no sunrise, the day it runs in.

Mon17
Nag Panchamitithi

Worship of serpent gods. Shravana Shukla Panchami.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: the anchor is the division of the day at which the act is prescribed. For a vrata whose prescribed time is the day as a whole, that division is the day, so the tithi current at sunrise governs.

Wed26
Onam (Thiruvonam)solar

Thiruvonam of the Malayalam month Chingam: the day in Chingam whose midday the Moon spends in Shravana (Thiruvonam).

Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, p. 106 (Government of India, 1955): "Onam Day: - Śravaṇa nakṣatra of solar Bhādrapada (madhyāhna vyāpinī)", with the page's Note: "If the determinants occur twice i.e., at the beginning and end of a solar month, the second occasion is generally adopted." The CRC's solar Bhadrapada is Simha, the Malayalam Chingam. Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual (1906) vol. II ch. IX p. 365: "the Tiru-onam day in the month of Chingam". Madhyahna is one ghatika either side of local midday (CRC p. 101); Chingam begins by the Malabar rule (Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28(2b)).

Kerala (Malabar rule)
Thu27
Raksha Bandhantithidate contested

Festival of the brother-sister bond, tied in the afternoon. Shravana Purnima.

Nirṇaya Sindhu (Kamalākara Bhaṭṭa, 1612), Śrāvaṇa-māsa, Rakṣābandhana - Nirṇaya Sāgara Press 1901, pp.96-97

Hours: 21:33-05:57 (28 Aug) - At night, once Bhadrā ends

Fri28
Raksha Bandhantithidate contested

Festival of the brother-sister bond, tied in the afternoon. Shravana Purnima.

Dharmasindhu (Kāśīnātha Upādhyāya, 1790), Śrāvaṇa-māsa, Rakṣābandhana - Nirṇaya Sāgara Press 1888, pp.48-49

Hours: 13:39-16:13 - Aparāhṇa, free of Bhadrā

Mon31
Kajari Teejtithi

Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya of the purnimanta reckoning (amanta Shravana Krishna 3), the Nirnayasindhu's Kajjali: the later day at whose sunrise the tritiya stands.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.105 ("bhadrasya kajjali krshna") and p.98 ("sa para grahyeti divodasiye" - the later day); Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.55 for the later day however brief the tritiya. The month is the purnimanta Bhadrapada: the Nirnayasindhu places the Kajjali in its Bhadrapada section before Janmashtami and the Bhadra amavasya, and CRC 1955 p.103 lists "Kajjali tritiya (paraviddha)" at amanta Shravana K 3.

September 2026

4
Fri4
Janmashtamitithi

Birth of Lord Krishna at midnight. Shravana Krishna Ashtami (purnimanta Bhadrapada).

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.134, from the Tithitattva (cross-referenced to Nirnaya Sindhu pp.128-130, Dharma Sindhu pp.64-67, Nirnayamrta pp.56-58) - a five-rung ladder: (1) Jayanti (Ashtami with Rohini at midnight) on one day -> that day; (2) Jayanti on two days -> the LATER; (3) no Jayanti -> Ashtami joined with Rohini; (4) Ashtami with Rohini on two days -> the LATER; (5) no Rohini at all -> Ashtami at midnight, and if that holds on two days or on neither -> the LATER day.

Mon14
Ganesh Chaturthitithi

Birth of Lord Ganesha, worshipped at midday. Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.74, the worked madhyahna-vyapini example for Vinayaka Chaturthi: the 4th present at midday and running into the 5th, but absent at midday the previous day, is taken with the 5th; the 4th mixed with the 3rd before noon and not present at midday is taken with the 3rd.

Mon14
Haritalika Teejtithi

Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, the Gauri fast, taken joined with the chaturthi: the later day at whose sunrise the tritiya stands, even for a muhurta or less.

Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.55: the tritiya joined with the chaturthi, on the later day even if it is there a muhurta or less ("tatra muhurtamatra tato nyunapi para grahya"); a kshaya tritiya is taken joined with the dvitiya, and a doubled one left for the later day however small. Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.105: the verse ("shukla ca haritalika / caturthimishrita").

Fri25
Anant Chaturdashitithi

Ganesh Visarjan day. Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturdashi.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: the anchor is the division of the day at which the act is prescribed. For a vrata whose prescribed time is the day as a whole, that division is the day, so the tithi current at sunrise governs.

October 2026

10
Sun4
Navaratra - Krishna Navami to Shukla Navami (Tithitattva alternative 1)tithi

The longest of the seven Tithitattva periods: from the 9th of the dark half of purnimanta Ashvina (amanta Bhadrapada) to the 9th of the bright half.

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (1).

Sun11
Navaratra - nine days, Shukla Pratipada to Navami (Tithitattva alternative 2)tithi

Ghatasthapana on Ashvina Shukla Pratipada, then a garland on every tithi to the 9th. Kane p.160: "This is a rite which is performed in the Deccan, Gujarat and Saurashtra even though the elaborate Durgapuja of Bengal finds no place there." Ghatasthapana is performed by day, not at night (Durgarcanapaddhati p.663).

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (2); Lingapurana via Kane p.159 ("three days (from 7th tithi) or nine days (from 1st to 9th)"); procedure loci Durgabhaktitarangini p.3, Nirnaya Sindhu p.767, Vrataraja pp.63-66, Purushartha-cintamani pp.66-67, Durgarcanapaddhati p.663.

Fri16
Durgapuja items - Shashthi to Dashami (Devipurana schedule)tithi

A schedule of ITEMS rather than a fasting period: the Devipurana assigns bodhana, the entry of the plants, fast/puja/homa, the great worship and the leave-taking to the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th tithis, each joined to a nakshatra. The tithi governs; the nakshatra is a bonus.

Devipurana via the Kalaviveka, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.159. Precedence: the Lingapurana ("even if there be no Mula-nakshatra, one should enter the bilva branch in the house on the seventh … but if the nakshatras exist on the tithis specified there is increase of the results") and Devala & Lalla ("even if the nakshatra did not exist on the tithi specified, one should follow the tithi laid down") - TITHI WINS OVER NAKSHATRA.

Fri16
Navaratra - Shashthi to Navami (Tithitattva alternative 3)tithi

The four-day period, from the 6th tithi of Ashvina Shukla to the 9th.

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (3) - 6th to NINTH, not to the tenth.

Sat17
Navaratra - three days from Saptami (Tithitattva alternative 4)tithi

The abridged three-day form. Kane p.159: "If a person is unable to celebrate the festival for nine days, he should do so for three days beginning from the 7th tithi of Ashvina-sukla."

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (4); the abridgement is stated at Kane p.159 and rests on the Lingapurana's "three days (from 7th tithi) or nine days".

Mon19
Mahashtami alone (Tithitattva alternative 6)tithi

The single-day form kept on Ashvina Shukla Ashtami only.

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (6).

Mon19
Navaratra - Mahashtami to Mahanavami (Tithitattva alternative 5)tithi

The two-day form, the 8th tithi of Ashvina Shukla to the 9th.

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (5).

Tue20
Dussehra / Vijayadashamitithi

Victory of good over evil, observed in the afternoon. Ashvina Shukla Dashami.

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73, quoting the verse Nirnaya Sindhu quotes at p.18 - "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act."

Tue20
Mahanavami alone (Tithitattva alternative 7)tithi

The single-day form kept on Ashvina Shukla Navami only.

Tithitattva, quoted by Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 p.154, alternative (7).

Thu29
Karva Chauthtithi

Wives fast and offer arghya to the Moon after moonrise. Ashvina Krishna Chaturthi.

Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 (list of vratas), citing Nirnaya Sindhu p.196: Karaka Chaturthi, for women only, on Karttika Krishna 4 - which is Ashvina Krishna 4 by the amanta reckoning this engine uses - with arghya to the Moon AFTER MOONRISE. The rule is therefore the civil day whose computed moonrise instant falls inside the Chaturthi; the customary gloss "about eight ghatikas after sunset" is a nominal figure, not the computation.

November 2026

12
Sun1
Ahoi Ashtamitithi

Kartika Krishna Ashtami of the purnimanta reckoning (amanta Ashvina Krishna 8), decided at moonrise: the day whose moonrise falls inside the ashtami; if two do, the second.

CRC 1955 p.104, amanta Ashvina K 8: "Ahoyi ashtami (Gujerat) (current at moonrise), Karashtami (Maharashtra). If occurs on two successive days, it is to be observed on the second day."

Gujarat, as CRC 1955 p. 104 prints it; Karashtami in Maharashtra
Fri6
Dhanterastithi

Festival of wealth, observed at dusk. Ashvina Krishna Trayodashi (purnimanta Kartik).

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73 - acts for the devas by day are begun in the morning even if the tithi is viddha there, while vratas performed in the evening or night go on the tithi existing in the evening or night, even if viddha.

Sun8
Lakshmi Puja (Divali)tithi

Lakshmi is worshipped on the night of the Ashvina amavasya. The Krtyatattva: "when there is 14th tithi in a portion of the day and there is amavasya on the night of that day Lakshmi should be worshipped and (that night) should be known as Sukharatrika."

Bhavisyottara 140.14-29; Krtyatattva; Kane HDS V.1 pp.199-200.

Sun8
Naraka Chaturdashitithi

The oil bath at daybreak on the 14th of the dark half. Kane p.196: "On the 14th of the dark half of Ashvina (or of Karttika in the purnimanta reckoning) persons afraid of Hell should take an oil bath at the time of daybreak."

Bhavisyottara ch.140; Kane HDS V.1 pp.196-198.

Mon9
Bali Pratipada / Govardhan Pujatithi

The worship of Bali on Kartik Shukla Pratipada, whose proper time is night. Kane p.202: "If the pratipad is mixed with amavasya or dvitiya, the worship of Bali … should be performed on pratipad mixed with amavasya."

Bhavisyottara 140.47-73; Kane HDS V.1 p.202.

Wed11
Bhai Doojtithi

Brother-sister festival, kept in the afternoon. Kartik Shukla Dwitiya.

General pervasion rule (no per-vrata text located): Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73, quoting the verse Nirnaya Sindhu quotes at p.18 - "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act."

Sun15
Chhath - the evening offering (Sandhya Arghya)tithi

The offering to the setting Sun on Kartika Shukla Shashthi, at a riverbank; the fast runs to the next dawn's offering. The Maithili Varshakritya calls the rite Vivasvat-shashthi.

CRC 1955 p.104, amanta Karttika S 6: "Surya shashthi, Chhat (Bihar)", under the general rule of p.101 - the tithi covering madhyahna, one ghatika either side of local midday; "if this time is not covered by the tithi on any day, the festival is to be observed on the succeeding day of the tithi" - and p.109 (shukla 6 is para, so of two covered days the later). The two offerings, at evening and at the next dawn: Varshakritya (Patna print, 1998) pp.100-101.

Bihar and Mithila (CRC 1955 p. 104: "Chhat (Bihar)")
Mon16
Chhath - the dawn offering (Usha Arghya)tithi

The offering to the rising Sun on the morning after the evening offering, which closes the fast.

Varshakritya (Patna print, 1998) pp.100-101: the evening arghya is offered with the resolve to offer again, and the same is done at dawn before the leave-taking - so the dawn offering is the sunrise after the evening one, whose day CRC 1955 pp.101-104 fixes.

Bihar and Mithila (CRC 1955 p. 104: "Chhat (Bihar)")
Fri20
Dev Uthani Ekadashitithi

Lord Vishnu wakes from cosmic sleep. Kartik Shukla Ekadashi.

Sunrise-anchored here because this engine emits the SMARTA date, which is the day whose sunrise falls inside the Ekadashi (Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.1 pp.113-115). The Vaishnava arunodaya-vedha rule produces a different date in some years and is a separate rule set, not applied to this row.

Tue24
Karthigai Deepamsolar

The lamps of the Tamil month Karttikai: the evening the Moon is in Krittika at dusk.

Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, p. 106 (Government of India, 1955): "Kṛttikā Dīpam: - Observed in Kṛttikā nakṣatra of saura Mārgaśīrṣa (pradoṣavyāpinī)", with the page's Note: "If the determinants occur twice i.e., at the beginning and end of a solar month, the second occasion is generally adopted." Saura Margashirsha is Vrischika, the Tamil month Karttikai, begun by the Tamil rule (Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28(2a)). Pradosha: the first three muhurtas of the night.

Tamil Nadu (Tamil rule, Sewell & Dikshit Art. 28)
Tue24
Kartika Purnimatithi

The full moon of Kartika, taken on the later day at whose sunrise it stands. Joined with Krittika it is especially meritorious; with Rohini the Dharmasindhu calls it Mahakarttiki.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.162: "karttiki paurnamasi para grahya", on the Dipika's "amapaurnamasyau pare"; and the Kashikhanda on seeing Karttikeya "karttikyam krttikayoge". Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.84: joined with Krittika, and with Rohini "mahakarttiki". The day is the later civil day at whose sunrise the purnima stands.

Krittika holds at sunrise on this day: the joining the text commends.

Tue24
Tripurotsava - the lamps at dusktithi

The Tripura lamps are lit at dusk on the Kartika purnima: on the day whose dusk the purnima covers, which can be the day before the purnima's own day.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.162, from the Bhargavarcanadipika: "purnamasyam tu sandhyayam kartavyas tripurotsavah"; Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.84 puts the Tripura lamps "asyam eva", with that verse in its footnote. Dusk is read as pradosha, the first three muhurtas of the night.

December 2026

1
Tue1
Kalabhairava Jayanti (Kalashtami)tithi

Kartika Krishna Ashtami of the amanta reckoning (purnimanta Margashirsha Krishna 8). Three texts date it three ways and each is shown: the Nirnayasindhu at midday, the Kaustubha (through the Dharmasindhu) at pradosha, the CRC over the night.

Nirnayasindhu (NSP 1901) p.163: madhyahna-vyapini, and on both days the former; it records and rejects a ratri-vyapini view. Dharmasindhu (NSP 1888) p.84: the Kaustubha's pradosha-vyapini - on both days, or partly, the later - and where the earlier day has only pradosha and the later only madhyahna, pradosha decides, "by the conduct of many of the learned". CRC 1955 p.104: "Kalashtami (ratrivyapini, paraviddha), Kalabhairava jayanti". Kane, History of Dharmasastra V.i p.365 (Bhairavajayanti, worshipped at night).

Related calendars

Month-by-month Hindu calendarNavratri datesDiwali dates

How a Hindu festival date is actually fixed

A Hindu festival is dated by the tithi in force at the particular part of the day its rite is prescribed for, not by whichever tithi happens to be running at sunrise.

Kane states the rule in History of Dharmasastra V.i p.73: "That tithi which covers up the time (such as morning), noon, whole day &c. at which a religious act is prescribed to be done is the proper one for that act." This page applies that rule to twenty-one festival rules for any year you select, at the city you select.

In arithmetic that is an intersection of two intervals rather than a lookup. The tithi is an interval with a computed start and end. The prescribed window - purvahna, madhyahna, aparahna, pradosha, nisitha, or the day as a whole - is also an interval, a division of the local daylight or night arc. The test is whether the tithi covers the window.

Where no day is covered end to end, the fallback is the day on which the tithi merely exists in the window, then the tithi's own day, and finally, for a kshaya tithi that holds at no sunrise at all, the Hindu day it lives in. The rung actually used is named on the row, so a fallback is never mistaken for the primary rule.

Why the city can move the date by a day

The prescribed windows are proportional divisions of the local daylight and night arcs, so they open and close at different clock times in different places, while a tithi boundary is a single instant everywhere. A tithi can therefore cover one city's pradosha and miss another's on the same evening, and the civil date moves with it. That is why the page states the city it computed for instead of implying one national date.

One window on this page is deliberately not proportional. The arunodaya that governs the Naraka Chaturdashi oil bath is four fixed ghatikas, exactly 96 clock minutes, before sunrise, because that is what the almanacs count; making it proportional would let the bath drift with the season. Mixing the two units is the commonest way a festival date goes wrong by a day.

One festival, several dates, and why all of them are shown

Some festivals are not one day. Divali is emitted as a sequence of separately dated rows - Naraka Chaturdashi, Lakshmi Puja on the Ashvina amavasya, Bali Pratipada and Govardhan Puja, and Bhai Dooj - because Kane's own summary is that "Taken all in all Divali spreads over about five days". Compressing that into a single date would throw away the structure the sources give it.

Where the texts genuinely disagree, the alternatives are all rendered rather than one being picked. Navaratra is shown against the seven schedules the Tithitattva lists, from the nine days of Shukla Pratipada to Navami down to Mahashtami or Mahanavami alone, plus the Devipurana's Shashthi to Dashami sequence of Durgapuja items.

Janmashtami, by contrast, is emitted as a single date, because Kane's five-rung ladder for it resolves every tie to the later day and his Janmashtami chapter never uses the Smarta and Vaishnava split he applies to Ekadashi.

What the calendar covers, and how it is laid out

The list runs from Makar Sankranti through Vasant Panchami, Maha Shivaratri, Holi and Holika Dahan, Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Akshaya Tritiya, Guru Purnima, Nag Panchami, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Anant Chaturdashi, Navaratra and Durgapuja, Dussehra and Vijayadashami, Karva Chauth, Dhanteras, Divali, Bhai Dooj and Dev Uthani Ekadashi. Several of those expand into more than one dated row.

Results are grouped by month with the weekday beside each date, today is badged, and past dates in the selected year are dimmed rather than hidden, so a year reads backwards as easily as forwards. Each entry carries its type and a short description drawn from the rule that dated it, and the year selector covers ten years starting two years before the present one.

What this page does not claim

It dates observances. It does not say what a festival will bring anyone, and it does not rank one day as better than another, because the works it follows are nirnaya texts: their subject is which day an act belongs on, and nothing beyond that.

Where a classical tie-break exists but the pages settling it were not opened, both candidate days are rendered instead of one being guessed. Kane names the loci for the tie-break of a 14th mixed with the 13th and the amavasya and then writes that it "is passed over here", so both days appear and the note on the row says why.

Months are named in the reckoning each source uses, which is why Naraka Chaturdashi is the 14th of the dark half of Ashvina, or of Karttika in the purnimanta reckoning.

Frequently asked questions

Select the year above and the page computes the whole Divali sequence for your city. Lakshmi Puja is dated to the Ashvina amavasya taken in the pradosha window, following the Krtyatattva's rule that when the 14th tithi holds in a portion of the day and the amavasya holds on the night of that day, Lakshmi is worshipped then. Naraka Chaturdashi, Bali Pratipada with Govardhan Puja, and Bhai Dooj are each dated by their own rule and shown as separate rows.

Almost always because of the anchor or the place. Many almanacs date a festival by the tithi at sunrise; this page dates it by the tithi that covers the window the rite is actually prescribed for, which for an evening or night observance is a different test and can give a different day. And because those windows are divisions of the local daylight and night arcs, the same festival can fall on different civil dates in two cities on the same tithi.

When the rite's prescribed time is the day as a whole. Kane's rule keys the date to the part of the day the act is prescribed for, so a day-long observance is properly taken on the tithi prevailing at sunrise, while an evening or night observance is taken on the tithi existing in the evening or night even when it is mixed with another tithi. This page applies sunrise matching only in the first case and names the reading it used on each row.

Because the Tithitattva lists seven schedules for it and they are not equivalent: nine days from Shukla Pratipada to Navami, a Krishna Navami to Shukla Navami reckoning, Shashthi to Navami, three days from Saptami, Mahashtami to Mahanavami, Mahashtami alone and Mahanavami alone. The page renders each as its own labelled row, alongside the Devipurana's Shashthi to Dashami sequence of Durgapuja items, rather than picking one and presenting it as the tradition.

No, a single date is emitted. Kane's ladder for Janmashtami (V.i p.134, from the Tithitattva) resolves every tie to the later day: Jayanti on one day fixes that day, Jayanti on two days takes the later, then Ashtami joined with Rohini, and failing that Ashtami at midnight. The modern two-date Janmashtami is sampradaya practice, and Kane's chapter on it never uses the Smarta and Vaishnava distinction he draws for Ekadashi, so it is not a rule this engine can cite.

The year selector covers ten years, beginning two years before the present one, and each year is computed from scratch for the city you have selected rather than read from a fixed list of dates. Changing the city recomputes every date in the year, because a festival's civil date depends on the local windows.

Each rule is stated in the reckoning its own source uses, and the page keeps that rather than converting it. Naraka Chaturdashi, for instance, is the 14th of the dark half of Ashvina, which is the 14th of the dark half of Karttika in the purnimanta reckoning; the two name the same fortnight. Where a rule spans a drift window across the Gregorian year, the fortnight is selected from the almanac's own masa rather than from fixed calendar months.

No. It settles dates, which is what the nirnaya literature it follows is about. Nothing on this page predicts an outcome or ranks one festival against another, and where the sources leave a question open the page shows the alternatives instead of resolving it on the reader's behalf.