Festival Guide 2026

Diwali 2026: Dates in India and the USA, Lakshmi Puja Muhurat

Diwali, the festival of lights, falls on Sunday 8 November 2026 in both India and the United States. The five day festival runs from Dhanteras on 6 November to Bhai Dooj, which is 10 November in the US and 11 November in India. Below are the date tables for both regions, the Lakshmi Puja muhurat for Los Angeles, New York and Delhi, and the method to find the right window in any other city.

Diwali 2026 dates, India and USA

Lakshmi Puja muhurat

Lakshmi Puja is performed in Pradosh Kaal, the evening period that begins at sunset, while Amavasya tithi prevails. The most valued part of that evening is the window when Vrishabha (Taurus), the fixed earth sign, is the rising sign, the lagna. A fixed lagna inside Pradosh is traditionally chosen so that Lakshmi, once welcomed, stays. Amavasya runs from 7 November, 10:07 PM Pacific Time to 8 November, 11:08 PM Pacific Time (in India, from 8 November, 11:37 AM to 9 November, 12:38 PM IST), so the whole Pradosh evening of 8 November is inside Amavasya in all three cities below.

All times are for Sunday 8 November 2026, local time.

Find the window in your own city

The same method works for any city. First, find your local sunset on 8 November: Pradosh Kaal runs from sunset through the first fifth of the night, roughly the first two and a half hours. Second, inside Pradosh, choose the part when Vrishabha lagna is rising; in most northern hemisphere cities in November, that is the first one and a half to two hours after sunset. Third, confirm that Amavasya is running, which it is through the whole evening of 8 November across India and the Americas. Our daily panchang computes sunset, tithi and Rahu Kaal for your city, and the muhurat page lists the auspicious windows of the day.

Why Diwali dates shift between India and the US

Hindu festival dates are set by tithis, the step by step phases of the Moon, judged at one fixed moment of the local day: sunrise for Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj, sunset for Diwali and Dhanteras. A tithi begins and ends at a single absolute instant for the whole planet, but sunrise and sunset fall on different local dates across time zones. So a tithi that covers sunrise in India on one date can cover sunrise in America on the previous date.

This year the shift is only partial. Diwali itself is on 8 November in both regions, because Amavasya covers the evening Pradosh in India and in the US on the same civil date. The sunrise based days around it are the ones that move: Naraka Chaturdashi, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj fall a day earlier in the US. When two websites give two different Diwali season dates, check which region, and which rule, sunrise or sunset, each one used before fixing your day.

The sky on Diwali night: Venus retrograde

One transit colours this Diwali. Venus, the planet of wealth, beauty and harmony, and the graha linked with Goddess Lakshmi herself, is retrograde on Diwali night. Venus turned retrograde in early October 2026 and turns direct again around 15 November 2026, about a week after Diwali. A retrograde Venus Diwali is traditionally read as a time to value what you already have, to repair relationships and settle accounts, and to keep festival spending thoughtful rather than showy. The puja emphasis this year sits well on gratitude, cleanliness and honest books.

Prepare for Diwali

Frequently asked questions