Diwali 2026 Date: When Is Diwali and the Full Five-Day Calendar

Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Dhanteras, the first day of the five-day festival, is Friday, 6 November 2026.

That is unusually late. Diwali normally lands somewhere between mid-October and mid-November, and in 2025 it fell in October. This year there is a specific reason for the shift, and it is worth understanding if you are planning travel, shopping or deliveries around the festival.

This page gives the full five-day calendar, the Lakshmi Puja window, the regional differences, and what the dates mean for anyone who needs to plan ahead.

Diwali 2026: The Full Five-Day Calendar

A note on the last two days: panchangs occasionally differ on Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj by a day, because the tithi can straddle two solar days depending on your location's sunrise. Dhanteras and the main Diwali date are consistent across sources. If your family follows a particular panchang, check it for days four and five.

What Each of the Five Days Is For

Dhanteras (6 November). The day of Dhanvantari, associated with health and prosperity. Traditionally the day for buying metal — gold, silver, or simply a new steel utensil. Homes are cleaned and the first diyas are lit at the doorway.

Naraka Chaturdashi / Choti Diwali (7 November). Marks Krishna's defeat of Narakasura. In the South this is the main day, beginning with the Abhyanga Snan — a pre-dawn oil bath — followed by new clothes and sweets.

Diwali / Lakshmi Puja (8 November). The darkest night of the lunar month, lit deliberately. Lakshmi and Ganesha are worshipped at dusk, account books are opened for the new financial year in many trading communities, and the house is lit end to end.

Govardhan Puja / Annakut (9 November). Commemorates Krishna lifting Govardhan hill. A mountain of food — annakut, literally "hill of food" — is offered at temples. In Gujarat this is also Bestu Varas, the new year.

Bhai Dooj (10 November). Sisters apply tilak and pray for their brothers' wellbeing; brothers give gifts in return. The closing day of the festival.

Lakshmi Puja Timing on 8 November 2026

Lakshmi Puja is performed during Pradosh Kaal — the period beginning at sunset on Amavasya night. Across most of India this falls roughly between 5:45 pm and 8:00 pm IST on Sunday, 8 November.

The exact window is genuinely different for every city, because it is calculated from local sunset. Published muhurat times for 2026 vary by twenty to forty minutes depending on which panchang and which city you look at — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata all differ. Anyone giving you one national timing to the minute is rounding off something that is not national.

For your own city, check a panchang that lets you set the location, such as Drik Panchang, rather than relying on a single quoted time.

Why Diwali Is So Late in 2026

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar. Twelve lunar months run about eleven days shorter than a solar year, so without a correction the festivals would drift backwards through the seasons — Diwali would eventually land in summer.

The correction is Adhik Maas, an extra lunar month inserted roughly every three years to bring the calendars back into alignment. 2026 is an Adhik Maas year: an additional month falls in the first half of the year, which pushes everything after it later in the solar calendar.

That is why Diwali 2026 sits on 8 November instead of mid-October. It also means the following year swings back — Diwali 2027 falls on Friday, 29 October 2027.

Regional Differences

Diwali is not observed identically across India, and the "main" day differs by region.

South India. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, the principal day is Naraka Chaturdashi — Saturday, 7 November 2026, not the 8th. The day begins before sunrise with the Abhyanga Snan oil bath. If you are sending anything to family in these states, it needs to arrive a day earlier than you might assume.

West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. The Amavasya night of 8 November is observed as Kali Puja rather than Lakshmi Puja.

Gujarat. Diwali marks the end of the year. Bestu Varas, the Gujarati new year, follows on 9 November 2026, which is also Govardhan Puja.

Maharashtra. The festival often begins a day earlier with Vasu Baras, and Padwa is observed on the day after Diwali.

How the Diwali Date Is Decided

Diwali is fixed to Amavasya — the new moon — of the month of Kartik, and specifically to the Amavasya tithi that is in effect during Pradosh Kaal.

A tithi is a lunar day, and it does not line up neatly with a 24-hour solar day: it can start mid-afternoon and end the following morning. When Amavasya spans two evenings, panchangs apply rules about which evening carries the puja. This is the mechanical reason two calendars sometimes disagree by a day, and why the disagreement is usually about the outer days of the festival rather than Diwali itself.

A Note on Ghee Diyas

Traditionally, the lamps lit for Lakshmi Puja burned ghee, not oil. Most households now use oil or wax for cost and convenience, and there is nothing wrong with that — but if you are lighting a few lamps at the puja thali specifically, ghee is the traditional choice.

Practically: a ghee diya burns with a steadier, warmer flame and less smoke than most lamp oils, and the wick needs less adjusting. A small quantity goes a long way — a few spoonfuls will keep a thali of lamps burning through the puja. Many families use ghee for the puja lamps and oil for the rest of the house, which is a sensible compromise.

What These Dates Mean for Planning

Diwali landing on a Sunday, with Dhanteras on a Friday, gives most households a full weekend — but it also compresses the practical window.

Gifting. Most exchange happens between 4 and 8 November. Anything being couriered has to arrive before that, not during it.

Deliveries. Courier volumes across every Indian logistics network spike in the two weeks before Diwali, and delivery estimates that hold in September do not hold in late October. For 2026, aim to place individual orders by 28–30 October, and bulk or corporate orders by mid-October.

Travel. A Friday-to-Tuesday festival means the travel rush starts around Wednesday 4 November and returns the following weekend.

Purchases. Dhanteras on Friday 6 November is traditionally the day for buying metals and utensils, and it falls on a working day this year.

If you are planning festive gifting specifically, our Diwali gift hamper guide covers sizes, budgets, corporate bulk orders and order cut-off dates in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Diwali in 2026?
Diwali is on Sunday, 8 November 2026. It is the third day of the five-day festival, which runs from Dhanteras on Friday, 6 November to Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, 10 November.

What date is Dhanteras 2026?
Dhanteras falls on Friday, 6 November 2026.

What date is Bhai Dooj 2026?
Bhai Dooj falls on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, two days after Diwali. Some panchangs place it on 11 November depending on how the tithi falls locally.

Why is Diwali in November in 2026 instead of October?
2026 is an Adhik Maas year. An extra lunar month is inserted into the Hindu calendar roughly every three years to keep it aligned with the solar year, and that pushes the festivals that follow it later. Diwali 2027 returns to October, on Friday, 29 October.

What time is Lakshmi Puja on Diwali 2026?
Lakshmi Puja is performed during Pradosh Kaal, beginning at sunset — broadly 5:45 pm to 8:00 pm IST on 8 November 2026. The exact window depends on your city's sunset time, so check a location-specific panchang rather than a single national figure.

Is Diwali celebrated on 7 or 8 November 2026?
Both, depending on where you are. Most of North, West and Central India observes Diwali on Sunday, 8 November. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, Deepavali is observed on Saturday, 7 November, on Naraka Chaturdashi.

When is Diwali 2027?
Diwali 2027 falls on Friday, 29 October 2027 — back in October, because the Adhik Maas correction does not apply that year.

About This Page

We are Ratnaya Organics, a family farm in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, making A2 bilona ghee from Rathi cows. We keep this page updated each year because we get asked the date question constantly in the run-up to the festival, and because ghee and Diwali are genuinely connected — the diyas lit for Lakshmi Puja have traditionally burned ghee, not oil.

If you are choosing a festive gift, our Diwali hamper guide is the more useful page. If you are comparing which ghee to buy, we have written an honest breed comparison that does not conclude our own breed wins.

For bulk or corporate festive orders — 50 jars and above, with company branding and delivery to multiple addresses — get in touch with your quantity and delivery date. Lead time during festive season is around three weeks.