Panchang
The calendar that follows the Moon
Today's tithi, the year's vrat dates, and how to read any of it yourself. This page answers when — the ritual guides answer how.
— days computed— IST timings— source
Panchang · Festival Calendar
Diwali Panchang
Five days, and only two of them are fixed by the calendar rather than by a tithi that moves. Here is which is which, and what it changes for your week.
8 November 2026 · Kartik Amavasya · Delhi-NCR
Scripturally sourcedRegion awareFear-free
Listen to this guide — coming soon
SOURCEAstro Panchang · Delhi-NCR · 2026Tithis are computed for Delhi-NCR and shift by city. Where a tithi spans two mornings, the day the observance falls on is decided by which morning it covers, which is why two of these five days are later than the calendar suggests.
Most years the Diwali week is simple: five days, one after another. 2026 is not one of those years. Amavasya runs past noon on the Monday, which pushes two of the five days later than people expect, and it is worth knowing before you book anything.
The Diwali week, 2026Delhi-NCR
Dhanteras - Kartik Krishna Trayodashi
Tue 6 Nov
Naraka Chaturdashi · Choti Diwali
Wed 7 Nov
Diwali · Lakshmi Pujan - Amavasya
Thu 8 Nov
Govardhan Puja · Annakut - Partipada
Sat 10 Nov
Bhai Dooj
Sun 11 Nov
Dharma vs Pratha
The days are computed. What is kept on them is a different question, and the texts answer some of it and not the rest.
Named in text
- Lamps offered through Kartik, singled out as especially meritorious
- A lamp at the house entrance facing south, in the early night of the thirteenth
- Lamp arrangements made according to one’s means
- Lakshmi worshipped at nightfall on the Dipavali night
DHARMA · 4/5 · PURANIC
Skanda Purana, Karttikamasa-mahatmya 7.4–5
Scored out of five on how directly the text states it
Cultural, not text
- The five days kept as a single named cluster
- Buying metal or gold on Dhanteras
- Govardhan kept on the day after Diwali whatever the tithi does
- The annakut built to a particular scale
- The Vrishabha lagna preferred for Lakshmi Puja
PRATHA
Scored out of five on how widely it is attested — real and valid, and not scripture
What this means for your plans
If you are travelling, note that the week is six days long this year rather than five. Dhanteras on the Friday to Bhai Dooj on the Wednesday, with the Monday sitting between Diwali and Govardhan as a quiet day.
- Treat Monday 9 November as a free morning - snan and daan, nothing fixed
Myths & Facts
BHRANTI
Myth: “Diwali is on Kartik Amavasya - no, it is Ashvina Amavasya”
Fact: Both are right and they are the same night. A purnimanta month ends at the full moon, so its dark fortnight comes first and takes the name of the month that follows — the north calls this Kartik. An amanta month ends at the new moon, so the same fortnight closes the previous month - the south and west call it Ashvina. One night, two calendars, no disagreement about when to light the lamps.
BHRANTI
Myth: “Govardhan Puja is always the day after Diwali”
Fact: It is kept on pratipada, and pratipada does not always begin in time. In 2026 amavasya runs until past noon on the Monday, so the first morning pratipada covers is the Tuesday. Many households keep Govardhan the day after Diwali regardless, which is long-standing practice but the computed date and the customary one come apart this year.
BHRANTI
Myth: “Lakshmi Puja must fall inside the Vrishabha lagna or it does not count”
Fact: The window that matters is pradosh kaal, the stretch after sunset. The Vrishabha lagna is a preference held inside that window by households who follow lagna, and it is not a condition. The Skanda Purana’s instruction for the lamps on this night is to make them according to your means, which is the opposite of a rule you can fail.
Five tithis, six days, and one evening that turns on an hour. The rest of the week is not a sequence of deadlines, it is a run of days with a lamp on each of them, and the texts that describe it are more interested in the lamp than in the clock.
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