Diwali 2026 in India: Date, Five Days and Lakshmi Puja Muhurat

Key facts at a glance

Diwali 2026 in India: an overview

Diwali 2026, the great festival of lights, falls in India on Sunday, November 8, 2026, the day of the main Lakshmi Puja, on the Amavasya, the new-moon night, of the Hindu month of Kartika. But Diwali is not a single day; it is a radiant five-day festival, running in 2026 from Friday, November 6 to Tuesday, November 10, each day with its own meaning, from Dhanteras through the main Diwali night to Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj. Across India and the world, homes are cleaned and decorated, rows of lamps are lit, the goddess Lakshmi is worshipped, sweets are shared and families come together in the triumph of light over darkness.

This guide covers Diwali 2026 in India in full: the exact dates and the five days; the meaning and significance of the festival and each day; the Lakshmi Puja muhurat and how the festival is observed; the public holiday and how to plan your travel; how Diwali is celebrated across the regions of India; and the special celebrations of Diwali and Govardhan Puja in Braj, the land of Krishna. For the dates and muhurat in brief, see also our diwali 2026 guide.

From the ground (Gurudutt): The single most useful thing to know about Diwali 2026 is that the main night, when you light the lamps and do the Lakshmi Puja, is Sunday, November 8 and the puja is done in the evening after sunset, not at midday or midnight. The one honest caution is the muhurat: the window varies from city to city, so treat any single time as indicative and check a reliable local panchang for your own place. If you are thinking of coming to Braj, the day after Diwali, Govardhan Puja on November 9, is the grandest day here, celebrated at the Govardhan hill with the Annakut and it is beautiful beyond words, but book early, because the whole weekend fills up fast. See our Mathura Vrindavan tour Package  or message WhatsApp +91 7302265809. 

Diwali 2026 at a glance

Here are the essentials of Diwali 2026 in India in one place.

In one line: Diwali 2026 in India is on Sunday, November 8, the heart of a five-day festival running November 6 to 10, with the Lakshmi Puja in the evening muhurat and Govardhan Puja the next day.

When is Diwali 2026 and the five days

Diwali 2026 in India falls on Sunday, November 8, 2026, the main Lakshmi Puja, with the full festival spanning five sequential days in November 2026.

So the main Diwali is Sunday, November 8, 2026 and the festival runs from Dhanteras on November 6 to Bhai Dooj on November 10. So each day has its own meaning. So follow the five days in sequence across the first week and a half of November 2026, with the main lamps and Lakshmi Puja on the Sunday night.

The meaning of Diwali and its five days

Diwali, Deepavali, a row of lamps, is celebrated, by the tradition, as the festival of lights marking the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil, told through many beloved accounts: the return of Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and his victory over Ravana; the slaying of the demon Narakasura by Krishna; and the emergence of the goddess Lakshmi from the churning of the ocean. It is also a festival of renewal at the close of the harvest, of cleaning and lighting homes, settling accounts and beginning anew.

• Dhanteras (November 6): honours Dhanvantari, the god of health and Lakshmi; auspicious for buying gold, silver and utensils and beginning the cleaning and lamps.

• Choti Diwali, Naraka Chaturdashi (November 7): marks Krishna's victory over the demon Narakasura; many take an early oil bath and light a few lamps.

• Main Diwali, Lakshmi Puja (November 8): the heart of the festival, when Lakshmi, most often with Ganesha, is worshipped in the evening muhurat and homes blaze with lamps.

• Govardhan Puja (November 9): celebrates Krishna's lifting of the Govardhan hill; devotees offer Annakut, a mountain of food, kept with special grandeur in Braj.

• Bhai Dooj (November 10): honours the bond of brothers and sisters, when sisters pray for their brothers and the two share sweets and gifts.

So the five days move from Dhanteras through the main Diwali night to Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj, each with its own meaning. We present these meanings as the cherished belief and tradition holds them, the many-splendoured festival of lights of India.

Lakshmi Puja muhurat and how Diwali is observed

On the main Diwali night, Sunday, November 8, 2026, the Lakshmi Puja, the worship of the goddess Lakshmi for prosperity and wellbeing, is performed in the evening, during the auspicious muhurat. For 2026, the Lakshmi Puja window is generally given as roughly 5:30 PM to 7:50 PM, within the Pradosh Kaal, the twilight period after sunset.

One honest and important note: muhurat timings are calculated for a specific place and vary from city to city, since they depend on the exact times of sunset and the tithi at your location. The window above is indicative; for the precise muhurat where you are, check a reliable local panchang closer to the date.

By the tradition, the festival is observed by first cleaning and decorating the home, preparing an altar with images of Lakshmi and Ganesha, lamps and rangoli; then, in the evening muhurat, worshipping the deities with lamps, incense, flowers, sweets and prayers, performing the aarti and lighting rows of lamps through the home to welcome the goddess. Sweets are shared, gifts exchanged and, in many places, fireworks lit. So the Lakshmi Puja is the heart of the night, performed in the evening muhurat. So observe it with a clean, lit home and a heartfelt puja on November 8, 2026.

The public holiday and planning your travel

Diwali is a gazetted public holiday across India, so November 8, 2026, the main Diwali, is a national holiday. Because the main day falls on a Sunday in 2026, banks, schools and offices will in any case observe their normal weekend closure, so the Sunday itself does not add a separate weekday off; however, in many states the following day, Govardhan Puja on Monday, November 9 or Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, November 10, is also a holiday, which can extend the break, so check your state and workplace.

For travel, one thing matters above all: long-distance trains and flights over the Diwali weekend of November 8, 2026, fill up very quickly, as millions travel home and to the pilgrimage places and fares rise. So book as early as you can, ideally months ahead, for both seats and better fares. Our how to reach vrindavan guide covers arriving in the Braj region and our best time to visit vrindavan mathura guide the seasons. So plan and reserve your Diwali 2026 travel well in advance and be ready for crowds over the festival weekend.

How Diwali is celebrated across India

Across India, Diwali is shared but kept in wonderfully different ways. The Amavasya date, November 8 in 2026, is observed everywhere, but the emphasis varies by region.

• North India: the main Lakshmi Puja on the Amavasya night, November 8, is the great day, with lamps, rangoli, sweets and fireworks and Govardhan Puja the next day.

• South India: often keeps Naraka Chaturdashi, on November 7, as the chief day, marking Krishna's victory over Narakasura, with a pre-dawn oil bath, new clothes and sweets.

• Bengal and the east: observe the night of November 8 as Kali Puja, the worship of the goddess Kali, alongside the lamps of the festival.

• West and other regions: keep the main Lakshmi Puja, with Chopda Pujan of the account books and the start of the business new year and their own customs and sweets.

So Diwali is one festival with many regional faces, from the Lakshmi Puja of the north to the Naraka Chaturdashi of the south and the Kali Puja of the east. We present these as the cherished regional traditions hold them, the many faces of the festival of lights of India.

Diwali and Govardhan Puja in Braj

In Mathura and Vrindavan, the heart of the land of Krishna, Diwali is celebrated with great beauty: the temples and ghats are lit with countless lamps and the deities, such as those of the banke bihari temple in Vrindavan and the krishna janmabhoomi temple in Mathura, are given special darshan and decoration. But in Braj it is the day after, Govardhan Puja on November 9, that is the grandest, for it celebrates Krishna's own pastime of lifting the Govardhan hill.

On Govardhan Puja, by the tradition, devotees make a small hill of cow-dung and food, worship the govardhan hill revered as Krishna himself, offer Annakut, a mountain of many dishes and walk the parikrama of the hill, with the greatest celebrations at Govardhan itself; our govardhan up guide covers the town and its festival and our braj festival calendar the festivals of the year. About a fortnight later, on Kartik Purnima in late November 2026, comes Dev Deepawali, the Diwali of the gods, when the ghats are lit once more. We present the festivals of Braj as the cherished belief and tradition of Braj holds them, held with faith and recounted with reverence.

Tips and how to plan your Diwali

A few honest tips for Diwali 2026: do the Lakshmi Puja in the evening muhurat on November 8, checking a local panchang for your exact time; clean and light the home to welcome the goddess; and, if you travel, book trains, flights and stays months ahead, for the weekend fills fast. If you come to Braj, plan to be at Govardhan for Govardhan Puja on November 9, arriving a day or two early and time your temple darshan around the festival crowds and closures; our mathura vrindavan temple timings guide helps. It is beautiful but very crowded, so patience and early planning are everything.

We arrange Diwali and Govardhan Puja tours in Braj, taking in the lamp-lit temples of Mathura and Vrindavan, the Govardhan hill for Govardhan Puja and Annakut, and, if you wish, Barsana, Nandgaon and Agra, with the transport, the routing, the timing around the crowds and a knowledgeable local guide. A shared day tour starts from around ₹1,499 per person, with darshan free at the temples; our same-day govardhan barsana tour covers Govardhan and the western Braj, our two-day mathura vrindavan tour the twin cities and our one-day vrindavan tour package Vrindavan. Because Diwali fills up fast, message me on WhatsApp at +91-7302265809 early with your dates to plan your Diwali 2026 visit.

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