Diwali Dates: 2026, 2027 and Future Years

Diwali dates change each year because the festival follows the Hindu lunar calendar. The main day — Lakshmi Puja — falls on the new moon (Amavasya) of the month of Kartika, which usually lands in October or November in the Gregorian calendar. Below you'll find the dates for Diwali 2026 and 2027, the full five-day schedule, and a longer table of upcoming years for planning ahead.

Last reviewed on 30 April 2026.

Diwali 2026 Date

The main day of Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) in 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The five-day festival begins two days earlier, with Dhanteras, and continues for two days afterwards.

Diwali 2027 Date

In 2027, Lakshmi Puja falls on Friday, 29 October 2027. As always, regional traditions can shift the observance of one or two days; verify the local panchang if your community follows a specific almanac.

Diwali Kab Hai (दिवाली कब है)?

Readers often ask "Diwali kab hai?" — "When is Diwali?" Diwali typically falls in October or November, on the Amavasya (new moon) night of the Hindu month of Kartika. In 2026 the main day is on 8 November; in 2027 it is on 29 October. Because the lunar and solar calendars don't line up neatly, the Gregorian date shifts by roughly eleven days each year, which is why Diwali sometimes appears in mid-October and other years in early November.

Future Diwali Dates

Here is a quick reference for upcoming years. Dates listed are for the main day of Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) and may be observed one day earlier or later in some regional traditions.

For the full meaning behind each of the five days — Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj — see our page on Diwali traditions and significance. If you're preparing the puja itself, our Lakshmi Puja guide walks through a typical home observance.

How the Date is Calculated

Diwali follows the Hindu lunisolar calendar, which tracks both the moon's phases and the sun's position. The main day — Lakshmi Puja — falls on Amavasya, the new-moon night, of the lunar month of Kartika. Because a lunar month is roughly 29.5 days but a solar year is 365.25 days, the lunar months drift against the Gregorian calendar by about eleven days a year. To keep the calendar aligned with the seasons, an extra month (adhik maas) is inserted every two to three years.

The practical effect is simple: Diwali normally moves about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year, until an adhik maas resets it roughly a month later. This is why Diwali sometimes falls in mid-October and other years in early November.

Different almanacs (panchang) can occasionally produce dates one day apart for the same festival. This usually happens when Amavasya straddles two evenings — for example, beginning on the afternoon of one day and ending the following afternoon. Some traditions follow the rule that the puja should be performed during the pradosh kaal (the period just after sunset) when Amavasya is in effect, which can shift the observance to the evening before or after depending on local longitude.

Time of Day for Lakshmi Puja

Most almanacs identify a specific window for performing Lakshmi Puja on the main day. This is called pradosh kaal with sthir lagna — roughly, the period after sunset that falls within a "fixed" astrological sign. For the average household this window is between sunset and approximately two hours after.

If you don't follow a specific panchang, sundown to about three hours after is a safe and traditional time to begin. The exact muhurat (auspicious time) for your city varies by latitude and longitude and changes year to year. A local Hindu calendar or a panchang app will give the year's window for your location.

Diwali and Other Festivals on the Same Night

Lakshmi Puja shares its date with several other observances that happen the same evening:

• Kali Puja in Bengal, Assam and Odisha — on the same Amavasya night, with the goddess Kali at the centre rather than Lakshmi.
• Bandi Chhor Divas for Sikhs — commemorating the release of Guru Hargobind from imprisonment. The Golden Temple in Amritsar is lit with thousands of lamps.
• Diwali in Jain tradition — marking the day of Mahavira's nirvana. Lamps are lit because, as the tradition has it, "the spiritual light of the Tirthankara has departed; the lamps remind us to keep our own light".

The five-day Diwali sequence and the Nepali Tihar festival overlap closely, with Lakshmi Puja typically falling on the third day of Tihar.