Naraka Chaturdashi 2026

Naraka Chaturdashi 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The day is Kartika Krishna Chaturdashi (amanta Ashwina Krishna), and the tithi is tested at sunrise — the instant of sunrise itself.

The date, and how it was decided

Naraka Chaturdashi 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026.

The day is Kartika Krishna Chaturdashi (amanta Ashwina Krishna). The tithi alone does not fix the date: a tithi rarely fills a civil day, so a festival names the period its tithi has to be running in. For Naraka Chaturdashi that period is sunrise, the instant of sunrise itself. The tithi running at sunrise names the day.

The abhyanga snana is taken at arunodaya — before sunrise, while the chaturdashi is still running. In 2026 the chaturdashi runs from 10:48 on 7 November to 11:28 on the 8th, so it covers the lamps at pradosha on the evening of the 7th and the bath before dawn on the 8th. Lists that print the five days as five consecutive dates put this on the 7th; the snana itself belongs to the morning of the 8th, the same day as Lakshmi Puja.

Sunrise in your city

The tithi running at sunrise names the day. It is set by the Sun at your own horizon, so it is not the same time across the country — the spread below is about forty minutes end to end.

This is the whole of sunrise, computed as the instant of sunrise itself at that city's own sunrise and sunset. Almanacs often also print a narrower muhurat inside it, chosen for a fixed sign rising rather than for the tithi; if you have seen a shorter window elsewhere, that is what it was, and it sits inside this one.

Other dates in 2026

Sharad Navratri · Vijayadashami · Dhanteras · Diwali · Govardhan Puja · Bhai Dooj

How a tithi is computed · Why the day starts at sunrise