Festival
Diwali 2026
Also known as Deepavali · the Festival of Lights
Diwali 2026 at a glance
Diwali 2026 is on Sunday 8 November. Lakshmi Puja is that evening, after sunset. The five days run from Dhanteras on Friday 6 November to Bhai Dooj on Wednesday 11 November.
When it falls
Five days · Kartik Krishna Trayodashi → Shukla Dvitiya (a five-day arc)
2026
- DhanterasFri, 6 Nov 2026
- Naraka ChaturdashiSun, 8 Nov 2026
- ★ Lakshmi PujaSun, 8 Nov 2026
- Govardhan PujaTue, 10 Nov 2026
- Bhai DoojWed, 11 Nov 2026
Also: 2027 · 29 Oct
Lakshmi Puja time in your city
The puja is done in the evening, in the window after sunset called Pradosh Kaal (sunset plus a fifth of the night, about two and a half hours in Delhi in November and nearer three in London), while Amavasya (the new moon) is still running. The best part of that window is when Vrishabha (Taurus) is rising. It is one of the four "fixed" signs, and the tradition holds that Lakshmi invited in a fixed sign stays. Sunset falls at a different time in every city, so the puja time does too.
London
Sunday, 8 November 2026 · times in GMT
9 Nov 07:02
In London, Lakshmi Puja falls on the same date as in India this year.
See all cities in one table
| City | Date | Lakshmi Puja muhurat |
|---|---|---|
| London | 8 Nov | 16:35 – 18:12 |
| Leicester | 8 Nov | 16:35 – 18:09 |
| New York | 8 Nov | 17:04 – 18:51 |
| New Jersey | 8 Nov | 17:06 – 18:53 |
| Chicago | 8 Nov | 16:55 – 18:41 |
| Houston | 8 Nov | 17:52 – 19:46 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | 8 Nov | 17:22 – 19:12 |
| Toronto | 8 Nov | 17:17 – 19:02 |
| Vancouver | 8 Nov | 17:54 – 19:33 |
| Sydney | 8 Nov | 20:06 – 21:33 |
| Melbourne | 8 Nov | 20:39 – 22:02 |
| Perth | 8 Nov | 19:23 – 20:52 |
| Auckland | 8 Nov | 20:38 – 22:02 |
| Singapore | 8 Nov | 19:21 – 21:14 |
| Dubai | 8 Nov | 17:59 – 19:55 |
| Delhi | 8 Nov | 17:56 – 19:50 |
Why the date can differ where you live
The new moon happens at one moment for the whole world, but sunset doesn't. Diwali is kept on the evening when the new moon is running just after local sunset. In most years that gives the same date everywhere. In some years, though, the new moon has already ended by sunset in one place and is still running at sunset in another, and the lamps are lit on different nights. A family in Toronto and their cousins in Ahmedabad can both be right: each is reading the sky where they stand. The city table above checks this for every city, every year.
Significance
Diwali — from dipavali, "a row of lamps" — is the most widely kept festival of the Hindu year, and its heart is a single, deliberate gesture: meeting the darkest night with light.
Its central night falls on Amavasya (the new moon), when the moon has thinned to nothing. Rather than wait for the moon to return, the tradition answers the dark by making its own light — a diya (small clay lamp) in every window, every doorway, every sill. The festival gathers several threads at once: the return of Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, the welcoming of Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity and well-being) into a home clean and bright enough to deserve her, and, for Jain families, the nirvana of Mahavir. They share one instinct — that light is something you choose, especially when it is dark.
It is, above all, a homecoming festival: lights set out so that what has wandered, human or divine, can find its way back.
The five days
Dhanteras
Krishna Trayodashi
The week opens with health and honest prosperity. On this tithi (lunar day), the story goes, Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, rose from the churning of the ocean carrying the pot of amrit, the nectar of long life. Families buy something of metal, a silver coin or a new steel vessel, as a token of well-being to come. At dusk a single lamp is set out facing south for Yama, the lord of death, so that no one in the house goes before their time.
More on Dhanteras →Naraka Chaturdashi
Krishna Chaturdashi · also Choti Diwali
The dawn that breaks a long night: Krishna's defeat of the demon Naraka, who had imprisoned thousands. It is kept with an oil bath before sunrise (abhyanga snan) that washes the old year off the body, then new clothes and the first lamps. In South India this is the main day of Deepavali. In Gujarat the night before is Kali Chaudas, when households guard against ill-luck and many pray to Hanuman or Kali. Some years it falls on the same day as Lakshmi Puja.
Lakshmi Puja
Krishna Amavasya · also Diwali night
Diwali night itself, on the new moon. The house is cleaned top to bottom, rangoli (coloured floor patterns) laid at the threshold, lamps lit at dusk, and Lakshmi invited in, with Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, worshipped first. Gujarati and Marwari business families bless their new account books (Chopda Pujan) at the same time, and in Bengal this is the night of Kali Puja.
Lakshmi Puja time for your city ↑Govardhan Puja
Shukla Pratipada
The first day of the bright fortnight: Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan on one finger to shelter his village from Indra's storm. Temples and homes offer the annakut, a "mountain of food", in gratitude for what sustains. The same day is Bestu Varas, the Gujarati New Year, greeted with Saal Mubarak, and in the south and west it honours King Bali (Bali Pratipada).
Bhai Dooj
Shukla Dvitiya
The week closes between sisters and brothers. The story is of Yama visiting his sister Yamuna, who fed him and marked his forehead, and his blessing that any brother so honoured on this day would be protected. A sister applies a tilak, they share a meal, and they bless each other's long life. It is also called Yama Dwitiya, and Bhau Beej in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Doing Lakshmi Puja at home
You don't need a priest or a temple. A clean corner, a few lamps and a quiet half hour are enough.
- Clean and prepare. Sweep the house, the entrance most of all, and lay a rangoli at the door.
- Set the place. Spread a red or yellow cloth on a low table and set out an image of Lakshmi with Ganesha.
- Light the lamps as the muhurat begins: one before the images, then others through the house and at the door.
- Ganesha first, then Lakshmi. Offer flowers, kumkum (red powder), rice, sweets and a coin to each.
- Aarti, the waving of the lamp with a song, then share the prasad (the blessed food). Leave the door lamp burning.
What you'll need: clay diyas with ghee or oil and cotton wicks; a Lakshmi and Ganesha image; a red or yellow cloth; kumkum, turmeric and rice; flowers or a marigold garland; mithai (sweets); a few coins, silver if you have them; incense and camphor; rangoli colours.
How different families keep it
- Gujarati: Chopda Pujan, blessing the new account books, on Diwali night; Bestu Varas, the New Year, on Govardhan Puja day; and Labh Pancham, when work and trade restart, five days into the new year.
- Bengali: Kali Puja on the same new-moon night, the goddess in her fierce form, in place of Lakshmi.
- South Indian: Deepavali's main day is Naraka Chaturdashi, with the oil bath before dawn, new clothes and fireworks.
- Sikh: Bandi Chhor Divas, Guru Hargobind's release from Gwalior Fort with 52 imprisoned kings, marked with lights at the Golden Temple.
- Jain: Mahavir's nirvana, his final liberation, on the same night; the Jain new year begins the next day.
The timing, explained
Diwali is reckoned by the moon, not the Western calendar, which is why its dates move each year. In this almanac the lunar month is read Amanta (new-moon to new-moon), and Diwali's central night is the Amavasya that ends the month of Ashwin — the night before the month of Kartik begins. (Under the Purnimanta reckoning used in parts of north India the same night is named "Kartik Amavasya"; the night is identical, only the month-label differs.)
The day after that new moon is Kartik Shukla 1 — the first day of the bright fortnight — which begins the new year in the Vikram Samvat calendar. So Diwali night sits exactly on the hinge of the old year and the new.
Questions people ask
Is Diwali on the same date in the UK, US and India?
Usually, but not always. Diwali is kept on the evening when the new moon is running at local sunset, and sunset happens at different moments around the world. In some years that moves the date by a day in one country. The city table on this page works it out for each city.
What time should I do Lakshmi Puja?
In the evening, after sunset, while the new moon is still running. The best window is when Taurus (Vrishabha), a fixed sign, is rising; it usually lasts about an hour and a half to two hours. Choose your city in the table above for the exact time.
Why does Diwali fall on a different date every year?
It follows the moon, not the solar calendar. Diwali night is the new moon that ends the lunar month of Ashwin, and a lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar one, so the date moves through October and November.
When is the Gujarati New Year?
On Kartik Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright fortnight after the Diwali new moon. It is the same day as Govardhan Puja: usually the day after Lakshmi Puja, sometimes two days after when the new moon runs long.
What should I buy on Dhanteras?
Traditionally something of metal: gold, silver, or a new steel or brass vessel for the kitchen. It is a token of well-being for the year, not an obligation to spend.
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