December 2026 festivals: dates and meaning

Kalabhairav Jayanti marks the appearance of Lord Kalabhairav, the fierce form of Shiva who is the guardian (kotwal) of Kashi. Every Krishna Ashtami is a Kalashtami dedicated to him, and the one in Margashirsha is the most important. In 2026 Ashtami lasts almost exactly the whole of Tuesday, 1 December.

Devotees fast, visit Kalabhairav temples, especially in Varanasi and Ujjain, and offer mustard oil lamps, black sesame, flowers and sweets. Reciting the Kalabhairav Ashtakam is common, and feeding dogs, Bhairav's vahan, is considered meritorious. Many keep a night vigil.

Utpanna Ekadashi celebrates the birth of Ekadashi Devi herself. The Padma Purana tells that a goddess emerged from Lord Vishnu to defeat the demon Mura while he slept, and Vishnu named her Ekadashi. For that reason many people begin their regular Ekadashi fasts from this day.

The fast is kept from grains and beans, with Vishnu puja, tulsi leaves and the Vishnu Sahasranama. Ekadashi is the tithi at sunrise on Friday, 4 December, and the fast is broken (parana) on the morning of 5 December during Dwadashi.

Pradosh Vrat is kept for Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati on every Trayodashi, twice a month, with the puja done in Pradosh Kaal, the period around sunset. When it falls on a Sunday it is called Ravi Pradosh, traditionally linked with good health and a long life. Trayodashi is running at sunset on Sunday, 6 December.

Devotees fast through the day, bathe again before sunset, and worship Shiva with abhishek of water, milk and honey, bel leaves, dhatura and a diya, followed by the Pradosh katha and Shiv aarti.

Masik Shivratri, "the monthly night of Shiva", falls on every Krishna Chaturdashi; the one in Phalgun is Maha Shivratri. The puja is meant for the night, ideally at Nishita Kaal around midnight, so the date is the day whose night has Chaturdashi. In 2026 Chaturdashi begins at 2:22 AM on 7 December and runs through that night, making Monday, 7 December the Masik Shivratri. Because it falls on a Monday, devotees of Shiva consider it especially auspicious.

Devotees fast, offer water, milk, bel leaves and white flowers to the Shivling, chant "Om Namah Shivaya" and keep awake through the night.

Margashirsha Amavasya is the new moon of Margashirsha, the month Lord Krishna calls his own in the Bhagavad Gita ("among months I am Margashirsha"). Like every Amavasya it is a day for remembering ancestors with tarpan and charity, and many take a holy dip in a river at sunrise.

Amavasya is the tithi at sunrise on Tuesday, 8 December and lasts until early morning on 9 December. Food, warm clothes and blankets are common gifts in this winter month.

Vivah Panchami celebrates the wedding of Lord Rama and Sita in Janakpur. It is a major festival in Ayodhya and in Janakpur in Nepal, where temples re-enact the wedding with a procession (baraat), jaimala and the rituals of a Hindu marriage, and the Ramcharitmanas is recited.

Panchami is the tithi at sunrise on Monday, 14 December. Interestingly, many families in Mithila and Uttar Pradesh avoid fixing their own weddings on this day, remembering the hardships Sita faced after her marriage.

Dhanu Sankranti is the day the sun moves into the sidereal sign of Dhanu (Sagittarius). In 2026 this happens in the morning of Wednesday, 16 December by our New Delhi calculation. It begins the solar month of Dhanurmasa, Margazhi in the Tamil calendar, when Andal's Tiruppavai is sung in Vishnu temples before dawn. In the Punjabi calendar the month of Poh begins, so the day is also Poh Sangrand.

In North India the month until Makar Sankranti is called Kharmas, and many families avoid weddings, griha pravesh and other new beginnings during it. A holy bath, sun worship and charity are traditional on the Sankranti day.

Three observances meet on Sunday, 20 December, when Ekadashi is the tithi at sunrise:

• Mokshada Ekadashi, "the Ekadashi that gives liberation". Its fast is believed to bring peace to departed ancestors as well as to the devotee.
• Gita Jayanti, the day Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The Gita is read aloud, often all eighteen chapters, and Kurukshetra holds the International Gita Mahotsav.
• Vaikuntha Ekadashi, the great Ekadashi of the South, kept in Dhanurmasa. At Srirangam, Tirumala and other Vishnu temples the Vaikuntha Dwaram, the northern "gate of heaven", is opened and devotees pass through it before dawn.

The fast is broken (parana) on the morning of 21 December during Dwadashi.

When Pradosh Vrat falls on a Monday, Shiva's own day, it is called Som Pradosh and is considered especially fruitful for wishes and peace of mind. Trayodashi begins at about 5:36 PM on Monday, 21 December, just after sunset, so it is running during that evening's Pradosh Kaal.

The vrat is kept the same way as every Pradosh: a fast through the day, Shiva and Parvati puja in the evening with abhishek, bel leaves and a diya, and the Pradosh katha.

Margashirsha Purnima is the full moon that ends the month of Margashirsha. Purnima begins at about 10:47 AM on Wednesday, 23 December and lasts until just before sunrise on 24 December, so the Purnima vrat, the evening puja and the moonlit observances all fall on 23 December.

• Annapurna Jayanti: the day Goddess Parvati appeared as Annapurna, the giver of food, to end a famine. The kitchen is cleaned, the stove and grain stores are worshipped, and food is given to those in need. Her temple in Kashi is the centre of the celebration.
• Dattatreya Jayanti: the birth of Lord Dattatreya, who unites Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, celebrated especially in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat.
• Purnima vrat and Satyanarayan katha are kept in many homes, with a holy dip and charity.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and is a national holiday in India. Unlike the lunar festivals on this page, its date is fixed: Friday, 25 December 2026. Churches hold midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and services through the day, homes and streets are decorated with stars, cribs (nativity scenes) and Christmas trees, and plum cake is shared with neighbours.

Goa, Kerala, the Northeast, Mumbai and Kolkata, where Park Street lights up for the season, have some of the best-known celebrations, and across India the day has become a festival that people of every community enjoy together.

Sankashti Chaturthi, "the Chaturthi that removes troubles", is kept for Lord Ganesh on the Krishna Chaturthi of every month; in Paush it is known as Akhuratha Sankashti. The fast lasts from sunrise until moonrise and is completed by seeing the moon and offering it arghya, so the date is the day on which Chaturthi is running at moonrise.

In 2026 Chaturthi begins at about 8:05 PM on Saturday, 26 December, just before the moon rises in New Delhi, which makes 26 December the Sankashti day. Ganesh is worshipped with durva grass, red flowers and modak or til-gur laddoos, and the Sankashti katha is read before the fast is broken.