Diwali 2026: Lakshmi Puja muhurat in your city

The sky behind the Lakshmi Puja muhurat

Amavasya: the lunar day

A lunar day (tithi) is the time the Moon takes to gain 12 degrees on the Sun. Amavasya is the thirtieth and last, from 348 degrees until the exact new moon. In 2026 it runs from Sun, Nov 8, 11:28 AM to Mon, Nov 9, 12:32 PM IST. Lakshmi Puja is held on the evening that falls inside it, which is Sunday, November 8 in India and almost everywhere else.

Pradosh Kaal: the first fifth of the night

The night from sunset to sunrise is divided into fifteen muhurtas. The first three, a fifth of the night, are Pradosh Kaal, the twilight hours when the puja is done. In New Delhi the Sun sets at 5:31 PM and Pradosh Kaal lasts until 8:08 PM. Because it starts at your own sunset, every city has its own Pradosh Kaal.

Vrishabha Kaal: Taurus rising in the east

Within Pradosh Kaal, the most auspicious time is when Vrishabha (Taurus) is the lagna, the sign rising on the eastern horizon. Vrishabha is one of the four sthir (fixed) signs, and tradition says that worship in a fixed lagna makes Lakshmi stay. The sign here is the sidereal one used in Indian astrology (Lahiri ayanamsa), so it lines up with the real stars: as Vrishabha Kaal begins, the Pleiades (Krittika) and the orange star Aldebaran (Rohini) are coming up over the eastern horizon. That is the sky drawn at the top of this page. In New Delhi Vrishabha rises from 5:55 PM to 7:51 PM, entirely inside Pradosh Kaal, so the Lakshmi Puja muhurat is the whole of Vrishabha Kaal.

Nishita Kaal and Simha lagna

The middle of the night, Nishita Kaal, is the time for Kali Puja and for tantric Lakshmi worship. In New Delhi it runs from 11:41 PM to 12:29 AM, and Simha (Leo), another fixed sign, rises from 12:26 AM to 2:43 AM.

The Sun in Tula

Kartika is the lunar month in which the Sun is in Tula (sidereal Libra). On Diwali evening it stands at about 21 degrees of Tula, with the new Moon beside it. Every Amavasya is a meeting of the Sun and Moon; this one, in Tula, is Diwali.

What you can see in the sky on Diwali night

With no Moon, Diwali night is one of the best of the month for stars, if you can get away from the lamps and fireworks. In the early evening Taurus and the Pleiades climb in the east, Cassiopeia and the Andromeda Galaxy are high in the north and northeast from northern latitudes, and Orion rises a few hours later. See what is up from your city on tonight's sky and the planets tonight.

Why the date of Diwali changes

Because Diwali follows the Moon, it moves through the solar calendar: usually between mid-October and mid-November. Diwali 2027 is on Friday, October 29, 2027, and Diwali 2028 on Tuesday, October 17, 2028. Outside India the date can occasionally differ by a day, because the Amavasya evening falls on a different local date. In 2026 that does not happen: the USA, Canada, the UK, the Gulf, Singapore and Australia all keep Sunday, November 8.

One night, many traditions

• Lakshmi Puja: the goddess of prosperity is welcomed into a clean, lamp-lit home in the evening muhurat. One tradition says Lakshmi emerged from the churning of the cosmic ocean (Samudra Manthan) on this new moon.
• Rama's return: in North India the night celebrates Rama, Sita and Lakshmana coming home to Ayodhya.
• Kali Puja: in Bengal, Odisha and Assam the goddess Kali is worshipped at midnight on the same Amavasya.
• Deepavali in the South: in Tamil Nadu and much of South India the main celebration is on Naraka Chaturdashi, with an oil bath before dawn, marking Krishna's victory over Narakasura.
• Bandi Chhor Divas: Sikhs celebrate the release of Guru Hargobind from Gwalior Fort, with lights at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
• Jain Diwali: the night Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, attained nirvana at Pavapuri.
• Tihar: in Nepal the five-day festival honours crows, dogs, cows and brothers, with Lakshmi Puja on the new moon.

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