Holi 2026 is on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, on the Krishna Pratipada tithi, in New Delhi. The tithi runs from 17:08 on 3 March to 16:49 on 4 March.
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.
Purnima: 17:56 on 2 March to 17:08 on 3 March
Bhadra covers the whole first evening and lasts past midnight, while Purnima runs through most of the next day, so the fire is lit on the second evening.
Pratipada: 17:08 on 3 March to 16:49 on 4 March
Holi, the festival of colours, is the first day of the dark half of Chaitra, the morning after the Holika Dahan bonfire on Phalguna Purnima. It marks the arrival of spring and is kept across India and by Indians everywhere. It is also called Dhulandi, Rangwali Holi and Phagwah, and in Braj, around Mathura and Vrindavan, the celebrations run for days.
Two accounts meet in Holi. The first is Prahlada's: the night before, Holika's fire failed to harm him, and the morning is the joy that followed. The second belongs to Braj, where Krishna, teased for his dark skin, is said to have coloured Radha's face on his mother's advice, and the play of colour between them became the festival. In Barsana the women answer with sticks in Lathmar Holi.
The day begins with colour: dry gulal and coloured water are thrown and smeared on friends, family and strangers alike, to drums and songs of the season. Ash or an ember from the Holika fire is touched to the forehead in some homes. In the afternoon people bathe, put on clean clothes and visit, and sweets are shared, gujiya above all, with thandai to drink.
Holi is the morning after Holika Dahan, the first day of the dark half of Chaitra, so its date follows the night of the bonfire.
Short answers about Holi, for New Delhi.
Want every vrat and festival on your phone, for your city?
Add to my calendarHoli is the morning after Holika Dahan. The bonfire belongs to the night of Phalguna Purnima, and the colours to the next day, the Pratipada of the dark half of Chaitra.
Almost always, since it follows the full moon, but the Holika Dahan night and so the Holi morning are set by the Purnima at your city's sunset, so this page works them out for the city you choose.
On Wednesday, 4 March 2026 in New Delhi.
Save each birth once. Every calculator then opens already worked out for you, your parents, your partner and your children.
