Diwali 2026: Date, Lakshmi Puja Muhurat and the Full 5-Day Calendar, Explained

Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. That is the main night of Lakshmi Puja, and it sits in the middle of a five-day festival that runs from Dhanteras on Friday, 6 November to Bhai Dooj on Wednesday, 11 November.

This year, though, the calendar has two quirks that are already causing confusion. Choti Diwali appears on two different dates depending on which calendar you open, and Govardhan Puja falls on 10 November instead of the 9th that most people expect. Both are correct once you understand the tithis behind them, and this guide explains both.

Below you will find the exact Lakshmi Puja muhurat for Diwali 2026, the complete five-day calendar, and the short puja essentials most households actually need. All timings are for New Delhi in IST; other cities shift by roughly 10 to 30 minutes, so check your local panchang for the exact window in your city.

When is Diwali 2026?

Diwali, also called Deepavali, is celebrated on the Amavasya (new moon) tithi of the Kartik month. In 2026, the Amavasya tithi begins at 11:27 AM on 8 November and ends at 12:31 PM on 9 November, according to Drik Panchang.

Because the Amavasya tithi covers the evening of 8 November, and Lakshmi Puja is traditionally performed in the evening during Pradosh Kaal, the main Diwali and Lakshmi Puja day is Sunday, 8 November 2026. There is no second Diwali date this year; the confusion this time is about the days around it, not the main day itself.

The festival also marks the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile in Hindu tradition, which is why homes are lit with diyas to welcome light over darkness. Sikhs observe the same period as Bandi Chhor Divas, and Jains mark it as the day Lord Mahavira attained nirvana.

The Diwali 2026 five-day calendar

Here is the full five-day sequence for India in 2026, with the tithi logic that decides each day:

Notice what is missing: there is no festival day on Monday, 9 November. The Amavasya tithi runs into the afternoon of the 9th, which pushes Govardhan Puja, observed on Pratipada at sunrise, to the morning of 10 November. The gap day is a normal working day for most people, even though the Diwali week around it is full.

Lakshmi Puja muhurat for Diwali 2026

For New Delhi, Drik Panchang gives the Lakshmi Puja muhurat on 8 November 2026 as 5:54 PM to 7:50 PM. This is the Vrishabha Kaal window, the fixed-lagna period considered most auspicious for Lakshmi Puja, and it sits inside the wider Pradosh Kaal of 5:31 PM to 8:09 PM.

If you miss the Vrishabha window, performing the puja any time within Pradosh Kaal is still considered auspicious. Drik Panchang also lists evening Choghadiya muhurats running later into the night for households that cannot manage the main window.

Muhurat timings are calculated from your city’s local sunset and lagna, so they are not the same across India. As a rough guide, Mumbai’s Lakshmi Puja window falls around 6:27 PM to 8:27 PM, about half an hour after Delhi’s. Always use the muhurat computed for your own city rather than converting Delhi time, because a simple time conversion gives the wrong window. You can check your city on the Drik Panchang Diwali page.

Choti Diwali on 7 or 8 November? The tithi overlap, explained

This is the biggest source of confusion in the Diwali 2026 calendar. Some calendars list Choti Diwali (Naraka Chaturdashi) on Saturday, 7 November, and others on Sunday, 8 November. Both are describing the same tithi from different sides.

The Chaturdashi tithi begins at 10:48 AM on 7 November and runs into 8 November. Kali Chaudas, observed in the evening, therefore falls on 7 November. But the ritual most families associate with Choti Diwali, the pre-dawn abhyanga snan (the ritual oil bath taken before sunrise on Naraka Chaturdashi), happens at dawn on 8 November, because that is the sunrise the Chaturdashi tithi covers.

And since Amavasya also falls on 8 November, Choti Diwali’s morning rituals and the main Diwali Lakshmi Puja land on the same day this year. So if one calendar says the 7th and another says the 8th, neither is wrong: the evening observance is on the 7th, the morning bath is on the 8th, and Diwali itself is on the evening of the 8th.

Why Govardhan Puja is on 10 November, not the 9th

Govardhan Puja is observed on the Pratipada tithi, the day after Amavasya, with the puja performed in the morning. This year Amavasya does not end until 12:31 PM on 9 November, which means at sunrise on the 9th the Amavasya tithi is still running and Pratipada has not begun.

Pratipada is the tithi present at sunrise on 10 November, so Govardhan Puja and Annakut fall on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, with a morning muhurat in Delhi of roughly 6:40 AM to 8:50 AM. The same day is celebrated as the Gujarati New Year, the start of Vikram Samvat 2083.

A few calendars and temple traditions observe Govardhan rituals on the evening of the 9th, which is why you may see both dates mentioned. For the standard morning puja, 10 November is the date given by Drik Panchang for India.

Short Lakshmi Puja essentials for home

You do not need an elaborate setup for Lakshmi Puja at home. The essentials most households arrange are idols or a picture of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha, a chowki covered with a clean red cloth, a kalash filled with water topped with mango leaves and a coconut, roli, haldi, rice, flowers, incense sticks, and ghee diyas for the aarti.

For the offering, keep panchamrit, sweets, kheel-batashe, fruits, paan and supari ready, along with coins and, traditionally, your account books or a pen, which many families place before the deities as a symbol of honest earnings. Light diyas around the home after the puja, starting at the entrance and the place of worship.

Preparation is half the ritual, and it starts days earlier with the home itself. If you are planning the deep clean before Dhanteras, our Diwali home cleaning checklist breaks the whole job down room by room so nothing is left for the last evening.

Frequently Asked Questions