Vedic astrology guide
Diwali 2026 Falls on 8 November
Diwali 2026 Lakshmi Puja is Sunday 8 November. Venus and Mercury are still retrograde until about 13 November. Light the lamps. Delay the booking you cannot undo.
By Avinash ChandanPublished Updated
Lakshmi Puja, the main Diwali night of 2026, is Sunday 8 November. Amavasya of Kartik holds that date in India. Narak Chaturdashi is the morning of the 8th in many Indian lists and the 7th in several diaspora ones. Shukra and Budha are both still vakri in Tula. They turn direct around 13 November, five days later.
A flat in Surat is being washed down to the switchboard. The daughter wants the new sofa delivered on the 8th because the festival “opens the year.” The sofa that can go back to the shop is a Diwali object. The sofa whose delivery slot dies if you shift it is a Budha problem wearing a Lakshmi sari. Light the row of lamps. Move the irrevocable delivery to the week of 16 November if you still have the choice.
Amavasya is the rite, not a personality
Diwali amavasya is the dark moon of Kartik, the night lamps stand in for Chandra. It is not a yogic stamp on every child born that Sunday, and it is not a curse on the account books. The sky that week is specific: two inner grahas retrograde in Tula, Guru in early Simha near Ketu, Shani still vakri in Meena until 11 December. Read the lamps as the festival. Read the chart, if you must time a company or a wedding, as a chart.
Govardhan is 10 November in India and often the 9th abroad. Bhai Dooj follows. Those are sibling and household days, not a second Diwali in which to sign a deed you skipped on the 8th. The deed can wait until Budha is direct. The brother’s plate cannot.
Dhanteras is 6 November. A birthday on this amavasya is discussed in why a Diwali birthday is not a yoga. For a business started that week, look at the free Kundli of the person who will carry it, not at the diya alone.
Questions people keep asking
When is Diwali in 2026?
Sunday 8 November 2026 for Lakshmi Puja in India. Dhanteras is 6 November. Govardhan is 10 November. Bhai Dooj is 11 November. Abroad, the tithi can shift Govardhan and Bhai Dooj a day earlier.
Should Lakshmi Puja be moved because Mercury is retrograde?
No. Do the puja. Shift only the booking you cannot amend. Mercury and Venus turn direct around 13 November.