Festival calendar

Hindu festival dates change because they follow the lunar calendar, while the dates on a phone follow the solar Gregorian calendar. A festival is tied to a tithi of a lunar month, for example Diwali to the amavasya of Kartik. A lunar year is about 11 days shorter than a solar year, so the same tithi lands on a different Gregorian date each year, and an extra month is added every few years to keep seasons in step. This is also why the festival calendar here gives each festival its own date for each year.

Because a tithi does not begin and end with the calendar day, it can cover two sunrises, and the rule for a festival may look at a different time of day. Diwali, for instance, goes by the amavasya in the evening pradosh time, Karwa Chauth by the moonrise, and many fasts by the tithi at sunrise. Regional traditions also choose differently, so one almanac may name one day and another may name the next. Check which rule your family follows.

Amavasya is the new moon night, when the Moon is not visible, and Purnima is the full moon night, when it is fully lit. Amavasya closes the waning (krishna) half of the lunar month and Purnima closes the waxing (shukla) half, so each comes roughly every fortnight. In astronomical terms, they are when the Moon and Sun are at 0 and 180 degrees from each other. Diwali falls on an amavasya, while Holi, Guru Purnima and Raksha Bandhan are linked to a purnima.

A vrat is a vow or observance, usually a day of fasting or restraint kept for a deity, and it is a personal choice, not an obligation. The day is set by the tithi, or sometimes the weekday. Ekadashi is kept on the eleventh tithi of each fortnight, and pradosh vrat when the thirteenth tithi is present in the evening. The tithi that is running at sunrise decides many of them, so the date can differ in some cities. Anyone with a health condition should check with a doctor before fasting.

Adhik Maas is an extra lunar month added to the Hindu calendar roughly every three years, so that the lunar calendar stays aligned with the seasons. It happens because twelve lunar months are about 11 days shorter than a solar year, and the gap builds up. A month with no solar sankranti in it is counted as the extra one. It is also called Purushottam Maas or Mal Maas, and it is the reason a festival can fall a few weeks later one year than the year before.

Diwali in 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November, and Dhanteras is two days earlier on 6 November. Diwali is the amavasya of the Kartik month, but the Lakshmi puja day is the one on which the amavasya is present in the evening pradosh kaal after sunset, not simply the day the tithi starts. On 8 November the tithi is still chaturdashi at sunrise and amavasya begins during the day. For your own city's timings, use the panchang page for your city.

The festival calendar on this site gives one date for each festival, the same across India, so it does not change by city. Each festival page also shows the day's Delhi panchang when the date is within two days, and every one of our city pages shows the timings for that city: sunrise, sunset, tithi end times and Rahu Kaal. For a puja that depends on a local time, such as moonrise or sunset, open your own city's panchang page.

The festival calendar on this website lists upcoming festivals and vrats with their dates, so you can look them up any time. In the Mera Guru Ji app, the Aaj screen shows the festival on the day it falls, with the tithi and panchang for your place. We have not built a separate festival reminder notification, so if you want one, save the date in your phone's own calendar or alarm.