Diwali 2026
When Is Diwali 2026? Dates for Dhanteras, Diwali and Bhai Dooj
Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) 2026 is Sunday, 8 November 2026.
If a result told you 20 October, it is showing you last year’s date. Diwali 2025 was 20 October 2025; Tuesday, 20 October 2026 is Dussehra, not Diwali. This page exists so you can book the flight, the call, or the gift against the right Sunday.
The five days of Diwali 2026
Two columns, because the dates you see depend on where your calendar is computed.
| Day | In India | In the US* |
|---|---|---|
| Dhanteras (Dhantrayodashi) | Fri 6 Nov | Fri 6 Nov |
| Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) | Sun 8 Nov, morning | Sat 7 Nov |
| Lakshmi Puja (Diwali) | Sun 8 Nov | Sun 8 Nov |
| Govardhan Puja (Annakut) | Tue 10 Nov | Mon 9 Nov |
| Bhai Dooj | Wed 11 Nov | Tue 10 Nov |
*Drik Panchang, computed for New Delhi and for San Jose, California. A lunar day (tithi) is reckoned at local sunrise, and in 2026 the new moon begins at 11:27 am IST on 8 November and ends at 12:31 pm IST on 9 November. So in India, Naraka Chaturdashi shares 8 November with Lakshmi Puja — the oil bath at dawn, the puja after dusk — and Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj each fall a day later than a US calendar shows. If you are abroad but celebrating with your parents, use the India column. A panchang set to your own city is the final word.
The weeks before, for anyone planning from abroad
- Sun 11 Oct – Mon 19 / Tue 20 OctSharad Navratri. Nine nights of garba and Durga Puja. The ninth lands on the 19th or 20th, depending on your panchang.
- Tue 20 OctDussehra. The date many stale search results still label “Diwali”. It is not.
- Thu 29 OctKarwa Chauth. A sunrise-to-moonrise fast kept across North India. If your mother keeps it, the call home is at moonrise.
- Fri 6 NovDhanteras. If you are posting a parcel to India, work back from this day, not from Diwali.
Diwali across time zones
Lakshmi Puja is done after sunset in India, so the family video call happens on India’s evening, not yours. Take 7 pm IST as a reference clock time — not a muhurat, which varies by city and which your parents’ panchang decides — and the arithmetic is:
- San Jose · Vancouver (Pacific, UTC−8)India is 13½ hours ahead · 5:30 am Sunday
- New York · Toronto (Eastern, UTC−5)India is 10½ hours ahead · 8:30 am Sunday
- London (GMT, UTC+0)India is 5½ hours ahead · 1:30 pm Sunday
- Dubai (Gulf, UTC+4)India is 1½ hours ahead · 5:30 pm Sunday
- Sydney (AEDT, UTC+11)India is 5½ hours behind · 12:30 am Monday 9 Nov
US and UK clocks have already gone back by 8 November; Sydney’s have gone forward. In practice: from the West Coast you are up before dawn, from the East Coast it fits before work, and from London it is your lunch hour.
What people give on Dhanteras, Diwali and Bhai Dooj
Dhanteras is the buying day: gold or silver, even a single coin, or a new steel utensil for the kitchen. The name says it — dhan (wealth) on the teras (thirteenth lunar day).
Diwali evening is Lakshmi Puja at home: diyas along the balcony, rangoli at the door, new clothes, and boxes of sweets going out to neighbours and coming back in — kaju katli, soan papdi, besan ladoo.
Bhai Dooj closes the season. Sisters put a tika on their brothers’ foreheads and feed them; brothers come with gifts. It is the autumn twin of Raksha Bandhan.
If you are choosing what to send from abroad, we have written a longer guide: Diwali gifts for parents in India, 2026. And if you would rather ask than send, there is a list of 51 questions to ask your grandparents, five of them about their Diwali as a child.
If you can’t be at the table this Sunday
A gift that asks them to talk, in their own language
Katha is an Android app where an elder presses one button and talks; the story is transcribed in the language it was spoken — Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, twelve in all — and lands in a shared family album your whole family can listen to and comment on. You buy Katha Gift into your album, write a note, record a short voice intro if you like, and choose the chapter of questions they start with. Then you send the invite over WhatsApp whenever you choose — Diwali morning, say. Your parents tap it, hear your voice in the welcome, and record.
“What was your favorite festival growing up, and how did your family celebrate it?”
Give your parents Katha — $49, once. Every story they tell is saved, transcribed, and theirs to keep forever.
Diwali 2026 questions
- Is Diwali a public holiday in India?
- Yes. Diwali is a gazetted holiday in India: central government offices close, and most of the country takes the day with them. In 2026 it falls on a Sunday anyway, so your parents will have the whole household home.
- Why does the date of Diwali change every year?
- Because it is set by the moon, not the sun. Diwali is the amavasya (new-moon night) at the turn of the lunar months Ashwin and Kartik. A lunar month is about 29½ days, so the date slides earlier each year against the civil calendar until a leap month resets it, which keeps Diwali between mid-October and mid-November.
- When is Diwali 2027?
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) 2027 falls on Friday, 29 October 2027, computed for New Delhi by Drik Panchang.
- Should I send a Diwali gift before or after the day?
- Before, or on the day. Sweets and gifts go out in the run-up and on Lakshmi Puja evening itself, and the season only closes at Bhai Dooj. A parcel to India should be planned around Dhanteras (Friday, 6 November 2026); anything digital can land on Diwali morning.
The invite goes out when you choose — Diwali morning, or the night before. Your parents open it on the Android phone they already have.