November 2026 festivals: dates and meaning

Ahoi Ashtami is a fast mothers keep for the health and long life of their children, mostly in North India. It comes a week before Diwali, on the Ashtami that follows Karwa Chauth. Ashtami tithi begins in the afternoon of 1 November and runs through the evening, which is the time that matters for this vrat.

The fast usually lasts from sunrise until the stars appear. In the evening the family draws or hangs a picture of Ahoi Mata, often shown with a porcupine (sei) and her cubs, places a karwa of water before her, and listens to the Ahoi katha. The fast is broken after offering arghya to the stars, and in some families after moonrise, which is late on this night.

Dhanteras, or Dhanatrayodashi, opens the five days of Diwali. It honours Lord Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, who is said to have risen from the churning of the ocean holding a pot of amrit, so the day is also kept as National Ayurveda Day. Trayodashi is running at sunset on 6 November, which is when the evening puja is done.

Families buy something new for the home, traditionally gold, silver or a steel or brass utensil, as a sign of prosperity for the year ahead. In the evening they worship Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Kuber and Dhanvantari, and light a lamp facing south at the doorway, the Yama Deepam, in the hope of keeping untimely death away from the family.

The Chaturdashi before Diwali remembers Lord Krishna's victory over the demon Narakasura, who had imprisoned thousands of women. In 2026 Chaturdashi begins in the late morning of 7 November and ends late the next morning, so the observances are split across two days:

• 7 November, evening and night: Kali Chaudas in Gujarat and Maharashtra, when Maa Kali and Hanuman are worshipped to remove fear and negativity, and Choti Diwali, when the first row of lamps is lit at home.
• 8 November, before sunrise: the abhyang snan of Narak Chaturdashi, an oil bath before dawn, falls on this morning because Chaturdashi is the tithi at sunrise. In South India this morning is celebrated as Deepavali itself.

The day ends with Diwali Lakshmi Puja that same evening. Regional calendars may place Narak Chaturdashi on either date.

Diwali falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Its date, Amavasya timings and traditions are on our Diwali 2026 section.

Lord Vishwakarma is the divine architect and craftsman of Hindu tradition, said to have built Dwarka, Indraprastha and the weapons and chariots of the gods. In Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh his day is kept on the day after Diwali, which in 2026 is Monday, 9 November, and it is a holiday in several of these states.

Factories, workshops, garages and offices pause their regular work. Machines, tools and vehicles are cleaned and decorated with marigolds, a picture or idol of Vishwakarma is set up, and workers and owners perform the puja together before sharing prasad. For families who run a trade, and for carpenters, ironsmiths, masons and other artisans, it is one of the most important days of the working year. Where the day after Diwali is also kept as Govardhan Puja the two are often celebrated together; by our New Delhi Panchang, the Pratipada morning and Govardhan Puja fall on 10 November.

Not the same as Vishwakarma Puja in September: in Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar and Tripura, Vishwakarma Puja follows the solar calendar and is kept on Kanya Sankranti, around 17 September. The 9 November observance is the North Indian one linked to Diwali.

Govardhan Puja remembers Lord Krishna lifting Govardhan hill on his little finger to shelter the people of Braj from Indra's storms. Families shape a small Govardhan from cow dung or clay, decorate it with flowers, walk around it and worship cows. Temples prepare Annakut, "a mountain of food" of dozens of dishes, offered to Krishna and then shared.

Note on the date: some lists show 9 November. On 9 November, though, Amavasya runs until about 12:32 PM and Pratipada begins only after that, so the morning of Pratipada, when Govardhan Puja is done, is Tuesday, 10 November by our New Delhi calculation. In Gujarat the same day is Bestu Varas, the New Year, and in Maharashtra it is Bali Pratipada.

Bhai Dooj closes the Diwali festival with a celebration of brothers and sisters. The story goes that Yamraj visited his sister Yamuna on this day, and she welcomed him with tilak, aarti and a meal, so it is also called Yama Dwitiya. Sisters apply a tilak of roli and rice to their brothers' foreheads, do aarti, feed them sweets and pray for their long life; brothers give a gift in return.

Dwitiya covers the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 November, the time traditionally preferred for the tilak. The day is Bhau Beej in Maharashtra, Bhai Phonta in Bengal (where it is often kept on the date of the local calendar) and Bhai Tika in Nepal.

Chhath is the four-day worship of Surya and Chhathi Maiya, kept with great discipline in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai of Nepal, and wherever families from these regions live. Devotees, called vratis, keep a long nirjala fast and offer arghya to the setting and the rising sun while standing in a river or pond.

• Fri 13 Nov · Nahay Khay: a holy bath and a single sattvik meal of rice, chana dal and lauki.
• Sat 14 Nov · Kharna: a day-long fast ended in the evening with gur kheer and roti; the 36-hour nirjala fast begins after it.
• Sun 15 Nov · Sandhya Arghya: arghya to the setting sun at the ghat, with soop baskets of thekua, fruit and sugarcane.
• Mon 16 Nov · Usha Arghya: arghya to the rising sun, after which the vrat is completed.

Tulsi Vivah is the ceremonial marriage of the tulsi plant, worshipped as Goddess Vrinda, to Lord Vishnu in his Shaligram form or to Krishna. It follows Prabodhini (Dev Uthani) Ekadashi, when Lord Vishnu is said to wake from his four-month sleep, and it marks the start of the wedding season.

In 2026 Ekadashi runs from 7:16 AM on 20 November to early morning on 21 November, and Dwadashi is the tithi at sunrise on Saturday, 21 November, the day used for Tulsi Vivah here. Many families perform it on the evening of Ekadashi, 20 November, instead. The tulsi pot is decorated like a bride with a red chunri and bangles, a sugarcane mandap is built over it, and the wedding is completed with mantras, pheras and prasad.

Guru Nanak Jayanti, the Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, celebrates the birth of the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism. It is observed on Kartik Purnima, which is the tithi at sunrise on Tuesday, 24 November.

Celebrations begin two days earlier with an Akhand Path, the unbroken 48-hour reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, and Prabhat Pheris, early-morning processions singing shabads. The day before, a Nagar Kirtan led by the Panj Pyare carries the Guru Granth Sahib through the streets. On Gurpurab, gurdwaras hold kirtan and katha from early morning, serve langar to everyone who comes, and light up for the night. Guru Nanak's teachings of one God (Ik Onkar), honest work (kirat karni) and sharing with others (vand chhakna) are at the centre of the day.

Kartik Purnima closes the holy month of Kartik. It is also called Tripuri Purnima, after Lord Shiva's victory over the demon Tripurasura, and the gods are said to come down to the ghats of Kashi to celebrate it with lamps. That evening is Dev Deepawali, "the Diwali of the gods", when the riverfront ghats of Varanasi are lit with lakhs of diyas and the Ganga aarti draws huge crowds.

Purnima lasts until about 8:23 PM on 24 November, so it covers both the morning snan and the evening lamps of that day. Across India people take a dip in the Ganga or another holy river, give charity, and light lamps at temples and riverbanks. Kartik Purnima is also the day of the Pushkar fair in Rajasthan and of Boita Bandana in Odisha, when people float little boats in memory of ancient sea voyages.