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Kartik Purnima 2026: Date, Dev Deepawali & Vedic Significance

Kartik Purnima 2026 falls on Tuesday, 24 November. The Purnima tithi itself runs from 11:42 PM on 23 November to 8:23 PM on 24 November (IST, computed from the Swiss Ephemeris) — which is the part a date alone does not tell you, because the snan and the puja are timed to the tithi, not to the calendar day. Dev Diwali, Tulsi Vivah and the close of Kartik snan all fall on the same day.

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What you need to know

Kartik Purnima 2026 falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026. The Purnima tithi begins at 11:42 PM on 23 November and ends at 8:23 PM on 24 November (New Delhi timings). It is the full moon that closes the holiest month of the Vedic calendar — celebrated as Dev Deepawali in Kashi, and observed with snan (holy bath), deep-daan (lamp offering), and charity. The Moon at full strength in its own bright fortnight makes this Purnima especially significant for Chandra-related remedies and for anyone with a weak or afflicted Moon in the birth chart.

Why Kartik Purnima matters

Kartik is called the month dearest to Vishnu; its Purnima is the crescendo. Scriptures attach snan-daan on this day with multiplied merit — a bath in a holy river (or invoking Ganga in home water), deep-daan of 365 or 11 or 5 lamps, and annadaan. It is also Guru Nanak Jayanti, and in Kashi the ghats hold Dev Deepawali — the ‘Diwali of the gods’.

Astrology of the Kartik full moon

The Moon is at maximum strength on Purnima, typically in Krittika/Rohini-Bharani belt in early Vrishabha or late Mesha. For charts with Chandra-dosha (Moon-Saturn, Moon-Rahu, or a debilitated Moon), Kartik Purnima is among the year’s best days for Chandra remedies: white daan (rice, milk, silver per capacity), Som upasana, and moonlight meditation. Emotional-health sankalpa taken on this day carries the month’s momentum.

What to do on 24 November 2026

Early snan (before sunrise if possible), Vishnu/Satyanarayan katha, deep-daan at a temple or water body in the evening, Tulsi puja (the Tulsi-vivah window concludes around this Purnima), and daan of food or warm clothes as winter begins. Avoid tamasic food and conflict; the day is for completion and gratitude.

The timings that matter

Timings are for the New Delhi / Varanasi region. Sunrise-linked windows shift by 10–25 minutes across Indian cities; NRIs should use their own local panchang, since the tithi ends on the evening of the 24th IST.

Do these timings change for my city?

Yes, and it matters if you are fixing a muhurat. The tithi start and end times above are calculated for New Delhi. The tithi itself begins and ends at the same instant everywhere, so it shifts only with your clock — but moonrise and sunrise vary by city, and both decide when the snan, the lamp-lighting and the vrat actually start for you. Eastern cities see moonrise earlier than western ones; the gap between Kolkata and Ahmedabad is close to forty minutes.

Rather than print approximate times for a handful of cities, the free panchang computes sunrise, moonrise and the exact tithi for your own location and date. Use that for the observance, and the dates on this page for planning.

The four names of this full moon

Few days in the calendar carry as many names as this one, and each names a different tradition’s reason for keeping it.

Tripuri Purnima — or Tripurari Purnima — is the Shaiva name. It marks Shiva’s destruction of Tripurasura and the three flying cities, which is why lamps are lit in such numbers: the illumination re-enacts the light returning after that victory.

Dev Deepawali, the Diwali of the gods, is the name the day carries at Varanasi, where all eighty-four ghats along the Ganga are lit with lamps at dusk. It falls exactly a fortnight after Diwali — fifteen tithis from the Kartik Amavasya, which falls on 24 November in 2026, and in 2026 that is the evening of 24 November.

Kartik Purnima is the Vaishnava name, closing the month held dearest to Vishnu. The full moon is associated with the Matsya avatar — the fish who carried the Vedas through the deluge — and the month-long Kartik vrata concludes here.

The same day is also Guru Nanak Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, which is why 24 November 2026 is a gazetted holiday. And at Pushkar in Rajasthan, the day is the peak of the Pushkar Mela, when the holy dip in Pushkar Lake draws its largest gathering of the year.

Why the snan and the lamp

Two acts define the day. The first is snan, the pre-dawn bath — in the Ganga at Varanasi or Haridwar, in Pushkar Lake, in the Yamuna at Mathura, or, for anyone who cannot travel, in home water with Ganga invoked. The tradition holds the merit of this bath to be extraordinary, and it is kept before sunrise rather than at convenience.

The second is deep-daan, the offering of lamps at dusk during the Pradosh window. The traditional counts are 365 lamps, or eleven, or five according to means — the number matters less than the offering being made at a water body or temple as the light fades. Charity of food or warm clothing belongs to the same evening, and is particularly apt as winter sets in.

Four observances on one day: Dev Diwali, Tulsi Vivah, Kartik Snan and Guru Nanak Jayanti

Quick answer: on Tuesday 24 November 2026 the Kartik full moon carries four observances at once. Dev Deepawali (the gods' Diwali, lamps on the ghats of Varanasi and at home), the closing day of Tulsi Vivah (Tulsi and Shaligram marriage, any day from Prabodhini Ekadashi to this Purnima), the last and most meritorious Kartik snan (pre-dawn holy bath), and Guru Nanak Jayanti, the Prakash Utsav observed by Sikhs on Kartik Purnima.

Kartik Purnima puja vidhi in seven steps

1. Rise in Brahma muhurat; bathe in a river if possible, otherwise add Ganga jal to your bath water.
2. Take a sankalp for the day's vrat or puja, facing east or north.
3. Offer arghya to the Sun with water, red flowers and roli.
4. Worship Vishnu (or Satyanarayan) with tulsi leaves, yellow flowers and panchamrit; read the Satyanarayan katha.
5. Circle the tulsi plant with a ghee lamp; conclude Tulsi Vivah if you observed it.
6. After sunset, light lamps (deepdaan) at the door and near water; offer to the full moon with milk and rice kheer.
7. Give daan: food grains, warm clothes or a lamp with ghee to a temple or the needy.

Kartik Puja 2026: the whole Kartik month, 26 October to 24 November

Quick answer: "Kartik puja" is the month-long observance, not a single day. In 2026 the Purnimanta Kartik month runs from Monday 26 October (the day after Sharad Purnima) to Tuesday 24 November (Kartik Purnima). Through the month devotees keep the daily Kartik snan before sunrise, light a lamp to Tulsi and Damodar (Vishnu) each evening, and observe the fasts listed below.

The daily Kartik puja is simple: a pre-dawn bath (in a river if possible, otherwise with a few drops of Ganga jal), a ghee lamp offered to Tulsi and to Vishnu in the evening, the Damodar Ashtakam or Vishnu Sahasranama, and a sattvic diet for the month. Weddings resume after Dev Uthani Ekadashi on 21 November, which is why the late-November muhurats are so sought after — the Diwali 2026 page covers the five festival days in detail.

Common Questions

What is the date of Kartika Purnima 2026?

Kartika Purnima 2026 falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026. The Purnima tithi begins at 11:42 PM on 23 November and ends at 8:23 PM on 24 November IST, so the full observance — snan at dawn, deep-daan at dusk — sits within the 24th.

When is Kartik Puja 2026?

Kartik Puja 2026 is on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, the full moon that closes the month of Kartik. The evening puja and deep-daan are kept in the Pradosh window, roughly 5:08 PM to 7:47 PM.

Is Kartik Purnima the same as Dev Deepawali?

Yes — they are the same day. Dev Deepawali is the name the festival carries at Varanasi, where the ghats are lit with lamps; Kartik Purnima is the calendar name. Both fall on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, a fortnight after Diwali — fifteen tithis from the Kartik Amavasya, which falls on 24 November in 2026.

Why is Kartik Purnima also called Tripuri Purnima?

Because it marks Shiva's destruction of Tripurasura and his three flying cities. That victory is the Shaiva reason for the day, and the mass lighting of lamps re-enacts the light returning afterwards.

2026 event guides: August Grahan · Pitru Paksha (26 Sep-10 Oct) · Diwali & Lakshmi Puja (8 Nov) · Kartik Purnima (24 Nov)