Dussehra 2026 Falls on the 20th or the 21st

Vijayadashami 2026 is Tuesday 20 October in many North Indian lists and Wednesday 21 October where the dashami tithi is taken at sunrise the next morning, including several eastern and Mysore reckonings. Both dates are the festival. They are two ways of reading one tithi.

A family in Mysuru books the Jambu Savari for the 21st. A family in Lucknow burns the effigy on the 20th. Neither has the wrong Ramlila. The dashami that holds sunrise is the day of the rite in that city. The exact geocentric end of the tithi can fall the evening before. If your visarjan is already printed for one of those two dates, do not move it because a website in another state printed the other.

The sky on those two days

Surya has entered Tula on 17 October. Shukra is vakri in that same sign. Budha has not yet turned retrograde. That station is 24 October, after Dussehra. So the effigy and the Ayudha Puja are not inside Budha vakri. They are inside Shukra vakri. Weapons, tools, and account books that you worship on Ayudha Puja can be cleaned and kept. A new vehicle booked only because “Dussehra is lucky” can wait until both Shukra and Budha are direct, around 13 November, if the booking is non-refundable. The puja itself should not wait.

Guru is still in Karka, exalted, on both the 20th and the 21st. He leaves for Simha on 31 October. Dussehra is one of the last exalted-Guru days of this stretch. A study begun, a teacher thanked, a family truce actually spoken: those fit the sky better than a speech about victory.

Navratri’s start is in Sharad Navratri 2026. The whole month is on the October transit calendar.

Questions people keep asking

Which Dussehra date should I follow?

The panchang of the city where the rite happens. North India often keeps 20 October 2026. Some eastern and Karnataka lists keep 21 October.

Is Dussehra 2026 inside Mercury retrograde?

No. Mercury turns retrograde on 24 October. Venus is already retrograde. That affects new luxury purchases, not the Ramlila you already organised.