Diwali 2026 is on Sunday, 8 November 2026, on the Amavasya tithi, in New Delhi. The tithi runs from 11:28 on 8 November to 12:32 on 9 November. The Lakshmi Puja muhurat is from 17:55 to 19:51.
Timings for New Delhi, checked 26 October 2026.
Each event with its day and its time, worked out for New Delhi by the rule the tradition gives for it.
Trayodashi: 10:31 on 6 November to 10:48 on 7 November
Trayodashi: 10:31 on 6 November to 10:48 on 7 November
The lamp is lit for Yama after sunset, at the door of the house, facing south.
Chaturdashi: 10:48 on 7 November to 11:28 on 8 November
Amavasya: 11:28 on 8 November to 12:32 on 9 November
Amavasya: 11:28 on 8 November to 12:32 on 9 November
For worship at another hour: each fixed lagna and each run of good choghadiyas while Amavasya lasts.
Pratipada: 12:32 on 9 November to 14:01 on 10 November
Dwitiya: 14:01 on 10 November to 15:54 on 11 November
Diwali, or Deepavali, the row of lamps, is the Amavasya of Kartika (Ashwin in the south's reckoning), the darkest night of the month, and the centre of the five days from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. It is the best-known festival of India. Lakshmi Puja is made in the evening; houses, streets and temples are lit with lamps; in Bengal and Odisha the same night is Kali Puja; and for many traders it opens the new account year.
The Ramayana's account is that Rama returned to Ayodhya on this night after fourteen years away and his victory at Lanka, and the people lit rows of lamps to welcome him home. A second thread makes it Lakshmi's night: she is held to have come out of the churning of the ocean and to visit the homes that are clean and lit. Sikhs keep the day as Bandi Chhor Divas, for Guru Hargobind's release from Gwalior fort.
The house is cleaned through the week before, rangoli is drawn at the door and lamps of clay are set along the walls and windows. In the evening, in Pradosh, Lakshmi is worshipped with Ganesha: the images are set on a red cloth, a kalash is filled, and the puja is made with lamps, flowers, sweets, coins and the family's account books, which traders begin afresh as Chopda or Sharda Puja. Sweets are exchanged with neighbours and family, and lamps are kept burning through the night.
Diwali is kept on the day Amavasya is current in Pradosh, the evening hours after sunset, because Lakshmi Puja belongs to them; when Amavasya covers part of the Pradosh of two days, the second is chosen if it covers at least a ghati there. The muhurat is Pradosh while Vrishabha, a fixed lagna, is rising. Mahanishita, around midnight, and Simha lagna are the hours of the night's worship.
Short answers about Diwali, for New Delhi.
Want every vrat and festival on your phone, for your city?
Add to my calendarThe part of Pradosh, the evening hours after sunset, when Vrishabha lagna is rising and Amavasya is current. Vrishabha is a fixed sign, and the tradition prefers it so that Lakshmi, once welcomed, stays. It is worked out from your city's sunset and the rising signs, so it differs from one city to the next.
Yes. Mahanishita, the stretch around midnight, and Simha lagna are the night's hours for worship, kept above all for Kali Puja and tantric rites. Most households make the puja in Pradosh; for another hour the page also gives each fixed lagna and each run of good choghadiyas while Amavasya lasts.
On Sunday, 8 November 2026 in New Delhi.
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