Hindu festival dates 2026

The 4 festivals below are dated for 2026, each with the rule that decided the day — not just the tithi, but the period of the day that tithi has to be running in.

Why a festival needs more than a tithi

A tithi rarely fills a civil day. It can begin in the afternoon and end the following morning, so on two consecutive days the same tithi is running at some hour. Naming the festival therefore takes a second rule: which part of the day the tithi has to be running in.

Diwali is the clearest case. The amavasya must be running at pradosha, the twilight after sunset, because that is when the lamps are lit — so Diwali is often not the day the amavasya touches sunrise, and a rule that took the sunrise tithi would print the wrong day.

What is not on this list, and why

These are computed and held back. Three of them are held back because the day our rule gives disagrees with the published almanacs — caught, not guessed — and the rest because nobody has checked them yet.

• Naraka Chaturdashi — we compute 8 November 2026; the almanacs print the 7th.
• Govardhan Puja — we compute 10 November 2026; the almanacs print the 9th.
• Bhai Dooj — we compute 11 November 2026; the almanacs print the 10th.
• Karva Chauth — unchecked.
• Durga Ashtami — unchecked.
• Kartika Purnima — unchecked.
• Chhath Puja — unchecked.
• Rama Navami — unchecked.
• Raksha Bandhan — unchecked.

A festival date that cannot be checked is not worth printing. Each will appear here when its rule has been traced and its day reproduces the almanacs.

How a tithi is computed · The pradosha rule, and the text it comes from