Festivals · 2026
Vivah Panchami 2026: Date and Significance
The short answer
Vivah Panchami 2026 falls on Monday, 14 December 2026, on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami. It marks the marriage of Shri Ram and Sita, and is kept most elaborately at Janakpur in Nepal and at Ayodhya. Some calendars list 14 December; the tithi spans parts of both days.
The day is observed as the wedding anniversary of Ram and Sita, with the Vivah Panchami celebrations at Janakpur — Sita’s birthplace — drawing pilgrims from both India and Nepal.
A note that surprises many: despite marking the most celebrated marriage in the tradition, Vivah Panchami is not itself generally chosen as a wedding muhurat, on the reasoning that the marriage it commemorates brought Sita hardship.
Timings follow the New Delhi panchang. Tithi-based dates can shift by a day for other cities and for readers abroad — check your own city’s panchang.
Vivah Panchami 2026: date and tithi
Monday 14 December 2026. The Margashirsha Shukla Panchami runs from about 4:48 PM IST on Sunday 13 December to about 7:16 PM IST on Monday 14 December, so it prevails at sunrise on the 14th and the day is kept then.
How the day is kept
Vivah Panchami marks the wedding of Shri Ram and Sita. At Janakpur in Nepal, Sita's birthplace, and at Ayodhya, the Ram–Sita vivah is re-enacted with a procession (barat) and the full wedding rites; in homes and temples the Ram–Sita vivah chapter of the Ramcharitmanas is read, and Ram and Sita are worshipped together, often by couples praying for harmony in marriage.
Vivah Panchami and weddings in December 2026
The day itself is generally not chosen for one's own wedding (see the questions below). The wider wedding season also closes two days later: the Sun enters Dhanu at about 10:25 AM IST on Wednesday 16 December 2026, which begins Kharmas, and marriages are not solemnised until the Sun enters Makara on 14 January 2027. The dates before and after are on the Vivah Muhurat 2026–27 page.
Frequently asked questions
When is Vivah Panchami in 2026?
Vivah Panchami 2026 falls on Monday, 14 December 2026, on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami. The Panchami tithi begins on the afternoon of 13 December and runs into the evening of 14 December, so by the sunrise rule the day is 14 December, as standard New Delhi panchangs list it.
Are weddings held on Vivah Panchami?
Generally not, despite the day marking Ram and Sita's marriage. The traditional reasoning is that the marriage it commemorates was followed by hardship, so the day is honoured rather than chosen for one's own wedding.
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Correction, 23 September 2026: This page gave Sunday 13 December. Vivah Panchami 2026 is Monday 14 December: the Panchami begins on the afternoon of the 13th, so it prevails at sunrise on the 14th.
Related guidance: Lohri 2027.