The complete Hindu calendar for 2026 — festivals, vrats, tithis & muhurat.

Hindu festivals follow a lunisolar calendar where dates are fixed by tithi (lunar day) and lunar month, not by the Gregorian solar date. Because a lunar month (~29.5 days) is shorter than a solar month, the same lunar tithi falls on a different Gregorian date each year — Diwali (Kartik Krishna Amavasya) can vary by up to 30 days year to year. Solar festivals like Makar Sankranti stay roughly fixed (Jan 14–15).

Major pan-India festivals include Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Maha Shivaratri, Dussehra, Navratri, Makar Sankranti, Ram Navami, and Hanuman Jayanti. Three are national holidays (gazetted) — Diwali, Holi, Janmashtami / Dussehra (varies). Regional festivals like Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Chhath (Bihar) are huge locally but not gazetted nationwide.

Diwali is celebrated on Kartik Krishna Amavasya — the new-moon night of the lunar month of Kartik. Specifically, it is the day when Amavasya tithi is active during pradosh kaal (evening, just after sunset) because Lakshmi Puja is performed at that time. If Amavasya spans two evenings, the day when pradosh has the longer Amavasya is chosen. The five-day Diwali festival begins on Dhanteras (Kartik Krishna Trayodashi) and ends on Bhai Dooj (Kartik Shukla Dwitiya).

A tithi can span more than 24 hours and be active on parts of two Gregorian days. For festivals tied to a specific kaal (time of day) — e.g. Krishna Janmashtami (midnight), Ganesh Chaturthi (madhyahna / noon), Karva Chauth (moonrise) — some traditions observe it on day 1 and others on day 2 depending on when the tithi was active during the relevant time-window. Smarta and Vaishnava sects sometimes choose different days for the same festival.

Yes — tithi start/end times shift with longitude, so the muhurat for Lakshmi Puja in Delhi will differ by 30–60 minutes from Chennai. Use our Panchang page to enter your city and see exact tithi rollover, pradosh kaal, abhijit muhurat and other kaals. From any festival detail page, click 'View Panchang for this date' to jump directly to the muhurat calculator for that festival date.

Gyaras is the colloquial name for Ekadashi — the 11th tithi of every lunar fortnight. It occurs twice every month (Shukla and Krishna paksha). It is a fast for Lord Vishnu — grains, rice and lentils are avoided. Only fruits, milk and vrat-friendly foods are eaten. The fast is broken next morning on Dwadashi (Baras) within the prescribed Parana time.

Punam (Purnima) is the full-moon night — auspicious for charity, holy bath, Satyanarayan katha and most Jayantis. Amavas (Amavasya) is the new-moon night — powerful for Pitru Tarpan, shraddha rituals, and meditation. Somvati Amavas (Mon) and Shani Amavas (Sat) are considered especially auspicious.

Vikram Samvat is a Hindu era started by King Vikramaditya in 57 BCE. It runs 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar and forms the basis of most North Indian panchangs. Shaka Samvat (started 78 CE) is India's official national calendar and runs 78 years behind the Gregorian.