When is Diwali?
The answer
Sunday, 8 November 2026
The new moon of Kartika. Lakshmi puja at dusk.
Lakshmi Puja Muhurat
The window
5:54 PM – 7:50 PM
- Lasts
- 1h 56m
- Sunset
- 5:31 PM
- Pradosh Kaal
- 5:31 PM – 7:55 PM
Pradosh Kaal runs six ghatikas — three muhurtas, 2h 24m — from the local sunset, which is what Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharma Sindhu say. The window above is the part of it where a FIXED sign is rising and the Amavasya is still running. Sthir means not moveable, and the tradition is plain about why it is wanted: what is invited during a fixed lagna stays.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Kartika Krishna Amavasya
This one is kept at DUSK, not at sunrise. The tithi can be running at dawn on a day it has already left by evening — which is how a calendar computed the ordinary way lands a day late.
And after that
Friday, 29 October 2027
Kartika Krishna Amavasya
6:35 PM – 7:06 PM
Tuesday, 17 October 2028
Kartika Krishna Amavasya
7:19 PM – 8:13 PM
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Kartika Amavasya — the darkest night of the year, which is why it is the night of lamps. Rama came home to Ayodhya today after fourteen years and the city lit lamps in rows: deep-avali. Lakshmi rose from the churning of the ocean on this night, and Mahavira attained nirvana on it. The puja is done in Pradosh kaal, and inside that a fixed lagna is looked for — the tradition is plain about why: what is invited during a fixed sign stays. This is also what settles the date every year. Diwali is the evening on which Amavasya is running during Pradosh — even if the next morning's sunrise still carries it.
The story behind it
The return
Rama, Sita and Lakshmana came back to Ayodhya at the end of fourteen years. Ravana was dead.
A moonless night
The night they arrived was the Kartika amavasya — no moon at all.
Rows of lamps
The city set clay lamps in rows on every roof, every doorway, every ghat so the road would not be dark. That row is what deepavali means.
Lakshmi
The second story is the churning of the ocean — Lakshmi rose from it on this night and garlanded Vishnu. That is why she is invited today.
Bali and Vamana
In the third, Vishnu as Vamana asked Bali for three paces of ground and sent him below — but gave him these days of the year for his own. That is why in the south and in Maharashtra the days are tied to Bali Pratipada.
What to keep ready
- New images of Lakshmi and Ganesha — Lakshmi seated, Ganesha on her left
- Clay lamps and mustard oil; one big lamp of ghee
- Lotus, marigold, batasha, khil
- A silver coin, cowries, lotus seeds
- The ledger or a new book and a new pen, for the kalam pujan
- Roli, akshat, kalava, paan, supari, clove, cardamom
- Panchamrit, Ganga water, a kalash
- Sweets — batasha above all — and a coconut
- A broom, if one was not bought on Dhanteras
How the puja is done
1
Cleaning and rangoli
Finish the cleaning during the day and put rangoli and a mango-and-ashoka toran at the door. Lakshmi does not enter an unclean house — that is not a saying, it is this day's rule.
2
The hour
The puja is in Pradosh kaal, and inside it in a fixed lagna — in most of north India that is Vrishabha. Take the timing from a panchang before you sit.
3
Setting up
A chowki facing east or north, red cloth, the images placed with Ganesha and Lakshmi in the order your family keeps. The kalash in front.
4
The sixteen offerings
Invocation, seat, bath, cloth, ornament, scent, flower, incense, lamp, food — the sixteen upacharas in order.
5
Kubera and the ledger
Kubera worshipped at the safe or the cash box; a swastika drawn on the ledger and the new pen. This is where traders begin their year.
6
The lamps
After the puja, lamps in every corner, at the doors, on the roof, by the tulsi and by the water. Two at the main door without fail.
7
Aarti and prasad
Ganesha's aarti first, then Lakshmi's. Share khil and batasha, and leave one lamp burning through the night.
What to do
- Do the puja in a fixed lagna inside Pradosh kaal. The date itself follows that rule — Diwali is the evening on which Amavasya runs at Pradosh.
- Lamps at the main door without fail, and leave one burning all night.
- Choose a seated Lakshmi, not a standing one; seated is the form that stays.
- Take new images of Lakshmi and Ganesha each year; the old ones go into water or under a tree.
- Worship the ledger and the pen — the business year is counted from here.
- The cleaning is finished before the puja, not after.
What not to do
- Do not sweep at night on this day and do not put rubbish out — it counts as sending Lakshmi out.
- Do not lend today and do not send money out of the house.
- No iron vessels and no black cloth in the Lakshmi puja.
- Do not blow the lamps out after the puja — let the oil finish.
- Gambling, drink and meat are all out of place tonight, whatever the habit has become.
- Do not worship a chipped or broken image, and look at the direction of Ganesha's trunk before you buy one.
The aarti
Om Jai Lakshmi Mata
ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता, मैया जय लक्ष्मी माता।
तुमको निशिदिन सेवत, हरि विष्णु विधाता॥
उमा रमा ब्रह्माणी, तुम ही जग माता।
सूर्य चंद्रमा ध्यावत, नारद ऋषि गाता॥
दुर्गा रूप निरंजनि, सुख सम्पत्ति दाता।
जो कोई तुमको ध्यावत, ऋद्धि सिद्धि धन पाता॥
तुम पाताल निवासिनि, तुम ही शुभदाता।
कर्म प्रभाव प्रकाशिनि, भवनिधि की त्राता॥
जिस घर तुम रहती हो, ताँहि में हैं सद्गुण आता।
सब सम्भव हो जाता, मन नहीं घबराता॥
तुम बिन यज्ञ न होते, वस्त्र न कोई पाता।
खान पान का वैभव, सब तुमसे आता॥
शुभ गुण मंदिर सुंदर, क्षीरोदधि जाता।
रत्न चतुर्दश तुम बिन, कोई नहीं पाता॥
महालक्ष्मी जी की आरती, जो कोई नर गाता।
उर आनंद समाता, पाप उतर जाता॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.