Diwali 2026 Complete Calendar: Auspicious Puja Timings From Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj
Plan your five-day Deepotsav celebrations with the complete Diwali 2026 festival calendar, featuring exact dates, tithi schedules, and auspicious puja muhurats for Dhanteras shopping, Choti Diwali, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja, and Bhai Dooj tilak.
The grand five-day festival of lights, Deepotsav, brings a concentrated period of spiritual reverence, commercial prosperity, and family celebrations across India, prompting millions of households to align their preparations with exact astrological tithis. Spanning the sacred period from Dhanteras through Bhai Dooj, the festival calendar in 2026 presents unique astronomical confluences where specific rituals demand careful observance during evening Pradosh Kaal, while others require early morning or daytime muhurats. Vedic scholars and Panchang authorities have outlined the complete itinerary of the five major festivals to ensure worshippers perform traditional rites, major purchases, and charitable acts during the most spiritually charged windows.
Dhanteras to Choti Diwali: Pradosh Shopping Muhurat and Sacred Abhyanga Snan
The festive cycle initiates with Dhanteras (Dhanatrayodashi) on Friday, November 6, 2026, marking the sacred appearance day of Lord Dhanvantari alongside dedicated invocations to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Kubera. Celebrated during the Krishna Paksha Trayodashi of the Kartik month, the evening Pradosh period serves as the primary muhurat for conducting home prayers and purchasing auspicious assets such as gold, silver, brass utensils, and vehicle investments. The festivities continue into Narak Chaturdashi—widely observed as Choti Diwali, Roop Chaturdashi, Bhoot Chaturdashi, and Kali Chaudas—which falls on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Commemorating Lord Krishna’s vanquishing of the demon Narakasura, tradition ordains an auspicious pre-dawn Abhyanga Snan (sacred oil bath) alongside the customary lighting of a four-wicked earthen lamp (Yama Deepam) at dusk to seek protection from untimely mortality.
Diwali Lakshmi Puja: Amavasya Tithi Schedule and Evening Pradosh Window
The pinnacle of Deepotsav, the auspicious festival of Diwali, also coincides on Sunday, November 8, 2026, as the sacred Amavasya Tithi officially commences at 11:27 AM on Sunday and concludes the following afternoon at 12:31 PM on Monday, November 9. Because canonical Vedic scriptures mandate that Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha be worshipped when Amavasya prevails during the evening Pradosh Kaal and Sthir Lagna (fixed ascendant), the primary Lakshmi Pujan must be conducted on Sunday evening, November 8. Devotees illuminate their premises with mustard oil and desi ghee diyas during this twilight window to welcome spiritual enlightenment, eradicate negative domestic energies, and invoke enduring financial stability into workplaces and homes.
Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj: Annakut Offerings and Yama Dwitiya Tilak Timings
The post-Diwali sequence resumes with Govardhan Puja on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, observed on the Pratipada Tithi of Kartik Shukla Paksha. Commemorating the lifting of Mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna to shield the residents of Braj, devotees prepare the traditional Annakut—an elaborate mountain of vegetarian culinary offerings—and sculpt symbolic cow-dung Govardhan figures for morning circumambulation and prayer. The Pratipada Tithi concludes on November 10 at 2:00 PM, making early morning hours paramount for traditional outdoor rituals. Deepotsav formally concludes with Bhai Dooj, also revered as Yama Dwitiya, celebrating the sacred bond between brothers and sisters. The Dwitiya Tithi begins on the afternoon of November 10 at 2:00 PM and extends until 3:53 PM on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. Sisters perform the auspicious tilak ceremony during the daytime muhurat on November 11, praying for the longevity, health, and prosperity of their brothers to bring the festive season to a harmonious close.
