Deepavali 2026 Lakshmi Puja falls on Sunday, 8 November. In Hyderabad the suggested muhurat is 6:07 pm to 8:08 pm. Dhanatrayodashi is on 6 November, the Naraka Chaturdashi oil bath is at dawn on 8 November, and Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam is on 11 November.
This year your mother is staying back in the village. The shopping, the puja and the lamps are all in your hands. Which day needs what, what time the puja should begin, what to buy ahead of time. The questions arrive all at once. This page is the map.
Deepavali is not a single day. It is a run of five, from Dhanatrayodashi to Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam. Here each day gets a short introduction; the full detail lives in the separate parts of this series, one each for the puja steps, the stories, the food and the rest.
Read the complete Telugu edition of this article.
When are the five days of Deepavali 2026?
In the Telugu calendar, this Deepavali falls in the Parabhava year, on Ashwayuja Bahula Amavasya (the new moon of the waning fortnight of Ashwayuja). The dates below follow Drik Panchang for Hyderabad. Tithi start and end times shift by a few minutes in other Telugu cities.
| Date | Festival | What matters that day |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 6 November | Dhanatrayodashi | Remembering Dhanvantari; Hyderabad puja muhurat 6:15 pm to 8:14 pm; Yama Deepam in the same evening window |
| Sunday, 8 November (dawn) | Naraka Chaturdashi | Abhyanga snanam, the ritual oil bath, 5:19 am to 6:18 am in Hyderabad |
| Sunday, 8 November (evening) | Deepavali Amavasya | Lakshmi Puja, lighting lamps, Kedara Gowri Vratam |
| Tuesday, 10 November | Bali Padyami, Govardhana Puja | Karthika month begins |
| Wednesday, 11 November | Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam | Brothers eat a meal cooked by their sister, in the afternoon |
Notice one thing. This year Naraka Chaturdashi and Deepavali fall on the same day. The Chaturdashi tithi begins on the morning of 7 November, but the oil bath needs Chaturdashi to be present before sunrise, and that happens only on the morning of 8 November. The new moon then begins at 11:27 am the same day, and Lakshmi Puja follows that evening. That is why some calendars print Naraka Chaturdashi on the 7th.
The day a tithi begins and the day its ritual is observed are not always the same.
What time should Lakshmi Puja begin?
By tradition, Deepavali Lakshmi Puja is performed in the pradosha period that follows sunset. Within that period, Drik Panchang marks a shorter window (Vrishabha lagna) as the muhurat. The two are different things. If the muhurat has passed, the pradosha period may still be running.
| City | Pradosha period | Suggested muhurat |
|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 5:42 pm – 8:13 pm | 6:07 pm – 8:08 pm |
| Vijayawada | 5:34 pm – 8:05 pm | 6:00 pm – 8:01 pm |
| Visakhapatnam | 5:23 pm – 7:54 pm | 5:48 pm – 7:48 pm |
| Tirupati | 5:43 pm – 8:12 pm | 6:09 pm – 8:11 pm |
Coming home late from work? Even after the muhurat, you can begin before the pradosha period ends. We will check these times again on 5 November and update this page. The full city list, and what to do if you miss the window, are in Part 2.
For families with a tradition of night worship, Drik Panchang also gives the Mahanishita period, 11:35 pm to 12:25 am in Hyderabad. The same panchang says this window mainly suits tantric practitioners and experienced priests, and recommends the pradosha period for household puja.
Some websites print Choghadiya tables. Drik Panchang itself advises against choosing Choghadiya timings for Lakshmi Puja, since they are meant for travel.
Why do different websites show different times?
Search for “Diwali muhurat” and one site says 5:47 pm, another says 6:45 pm, and a third shows a different date altogether. Most of the time the reason is simple. Those times were calculated for Delhi. A muhurat depends on sunset, and sunset changes from city to city, so a Delhi time does not fit Hyderabad.
Before trusting any site, check two things. Does the page name the city it was calculated for? Is the date Sunday, 8 November? Use the time only if both match.
A muhurat belongs to your city, not to the country.
What if your town is not on the list?
Warangal, Guntur, Kurnool, Rajahmundry or Nellore, you can look up your own time in two minutes.
- Open a browser such as Chrome on your phone and type drikpanchang.com.
- Near the top of the page you will see a city name, often New Delhi. Tap it, type your town in English, and pick it from the list.
- In the Festivals menu choose Diwali, then Lakshmi Puja. Make sure the year shows 2026.
- The line “Lakshmi Puja Muhurat” is your muhurat. The line “Pradosh Kaal” is the full pradosha period.
- If the page shows your town and the date Sunday, November 8, 2026, you have it right. If your town is not listed, use the nearest large town; the difference is only a few minutes.
Living in the US, the UK or the Gulf? Do not use Indian time. Pick the city you live in, the same way, and follow the local time there. The new moon and the pradosha period may fall on a different calendar day in that country, so take the date from the same page.
What happens on each day?
Dhanatrayodashi — 6 November
The thirteenth day of the waning fortnight of Ashwayuja. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, rose from the churning of the milk ocean holding the pot of nectar, and this tithi is remembered as his birth anniversary. Lighting a lamp for Yama outside the house, facing south, in the evening is a custom described in the Karthika Masa Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana. Buying gold is a popular belief, not a scriptural rule.
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Naraka Chaturdashi — dawn of 8 November
In Telugu homes the elders put sesame oil on everyone’s head and give them a head bath with sunnipindi, a traditional bath powder. Tradition holds that Lakshmi lives in the oil and Ganga in the water that morning. According to the Bhagavata Purana, it was Sri Krishna who killed Narakasura, the son of Bhudevi, with his Sudarshana discus; Satyabhama, Krishna’s wife, rode into battle with him. The version in which Satyabhama herself kills Narakasura is a popular retelling from Telugu literature and folk tradition.
Deepavali Amavasya — evening of 8 November
The puja begins with Ganapati in the pradosha period, moves to Lakshmi Puja, and then lamps fill the house. On the same day many Telugu families perform Kedara Gowri Vratam (Kedareshwara Nomu). The vrata story says Parvati gained half of Shiva’s body through this vow, giving rise to the Ardhanarishvara form. Most panchangs list the vratam on 8 November; some list the 9th. Follow the panchang your family uses.
Bali Padyami and Govardhana Puja — 10 November
The first day of the bright fortnight of Karthika. Bali Chakravarthi, the grandson of Prahlada who gave Vamana three steps of land, is remembered on this day. Govardhana Puja, the story of Krishna lifting Govardhana hill, falls on the same date. They share a date but are separate stories. Because the Padyami tithi begins on the afternoon of 9 November, some calendars show the 9th. The Karthika month baths begin on the morning of 10 November.
Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam — 11 November
The second day of the bright fortnight of Karthika. According to the Padma Purana, Yama visited his sister Yamuna and ate the meal she cooked. So on this day brothers visit their sisters, eat with them and bring gifts. The promise of long life should be read as belief; the bond itself is the heart of the day.
Why does Deepavali look different in Telugu homes?
In North India, Deepavali is mostly celebrated as the day Sri Rama returned to Ayodhya. In Telugu homes, the killing of Narakasura and the story of Satyabhama come first. Linking Rama’s return to the Deepavali date is a festival tradition; the Valmiki Ramayana does not give that date directly.
Customs change from family to family. In coastal Andhra many families light divitilu, torches made of dried stalks, in the evening and remember their elders with the chant “dibbu dibbu deepavali”. The 1961 Census of India record for Warangal notes Kedara vratam and Gowramma puja as long-standing local customs. These are examples only. No clean line can be drawn between “this is Andhra” and “that is Telangana”.
Your own family’s custom is your standard. This series is not here to change it, only to explain what it means.
The fourteen parts of this Deepavali 2026 series
Two parts a day — in Telugu at 8 am and 10 am, in English at 12 noon and 2 pm. All parts are out by 28 October, ten days before the festival. If you are preparing for the puja, read Parts 2, 3 and 5 first.
| Part | Topic | Publishing |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Deepavali muhurat, city by city across the Telugu states | 22 October, 2 pm |
| 3 | Lakshmi Puja items, what you must have, what you can do without | 23 October, 12 noon |
| 4 | Dhanatrayodashi, Dhanvantari, Yama Deepam and the buying custom | 23 October, 2 pm |
| 5 | Lakshmi Puja at home without a priest, step by step | 24 October, 12 noon |
| 6 | Kedara Gowri Vratam, story, thoram and procedure | 24 October, 2 pm |
| 7 | Naraka Chaturdashi, the story and the oil bath | 25 October, 12 noon |
| 8 | Lamps, wicks, oil and safety | 25 October, 2 pm |
| 9 | Deepavali naivedyam, festival dishes from Telugu kitchens | 26 October, 12 noon |
| 10 | Getting the house ready, cleaning, muggulu and thoranam | 26 October, 2 pm |
| 11 | Why Deepavali? One festival, many stories | 27 October, 12 noon |
| 12 | The churning of the milk ocean and the emergence of Lakshmi | 27 October, 2 pm |
| 13 | Deepavali with children, stories, clay lamps and firecracker safety | 28 October, 12 noon |
| 14 | Bali Padyami and Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam, the days after Deepavali | 28 October, 2 pm |
Parts published so far
How we checked these dates
Every date and time on this page was compared across three separate research reports. The Lakshmi Puja times for Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, the Hyderabad oil-bath window and the Dhanatrayodashi muhurat were confirmed directly on the Drik Panchang pages on 21 October. Where panchangs disagree (Kedara Gowri Vratam, Bali Padyami) we show both dates. We will check again on 5 November, before the festival, and note any change here.
What you can do today
The festival is more than two weeks away. Do three things today. First, find your city’s muhurat in the table above and set a phone reminder for the evening of 8 November. Second, if your family keeps Kedara Gowri Vratam, ask the elders whether they follow the 8th or the 9th and settle it now. Third, if you have old clay lamps, find them and set them aside.
You now have the times for four cities. But what if your town is not one of them? What if the power goes out in the middle of the muhurat, or you live in America? Part 2 answers that, today at 2 pm.
Frequently asked questions
What is the date of Deepavali 2026?
The main Deepavali, when Lakshmi Puja is performed, is Sunday, 8 November 2026. The Amavasya tithi runs from 11:27 am that day to 12:31 pm the next day. Because the new moon is present in the evening pradosha period, panchangs place Deepavali on this day.
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What is the Lakshmi Puja muhurat in Hyderabad?
Drik Panchang suggests 6:07 pm to 8:08 pm for Hyderabad. The full pradosha period runs from 5:42 pm to 8:13 pm. Times in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati differ by a few minutes.
Is Naraka Chaturdashi on the 7th or the 8th?
The Chaturdashi tithi begins at 10:47 am on 7 November, which is why some calendars show the 7th. The oil bath needs Chaturdashi before sunrise, so it is taken on the morning of 8 November, from 5:19 am to 6:18 am in Hyderabad.
Is Kedara Gowri Vratam on the 8th or the 9th?
Most panchangs list 8 November; some list the 9th. The new moon lasts until the afternoon of the 9th. Follow the panchang and vrata book your family uses.
Is buying gold on Dhanatrayodashi compulsory?
No. There is a popular belief that buying gold is auspicious, but the Puranas we examined contain no rule making it compulsory. Lighting the Yama Deepam and remembering Dhanvantari are the main customs of the day.
How do I find the muhurat for my own town?
Open drikpanchang.com, tap the city name at the top and choose your town. Open Diwali, then Lakshmi Puja, in the Festivals menu to see your town’s muhurat. If you live abroad, choose the city you live in.
In what order should I read this series?
If you are preparing for the festival, read the muhurat, puja items and puja steps first. The stories and background can wait. Two parts come out each day, and each one appears on this page as a link once it is published.
Sources
Drik Panchang, Lakshmi Puja 2026, Hyderabad
Drik Panchang, Abhyang Snan 2026, Hyderabad
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.59.21, the killing of Narakasura
Skanda Purana, Karthika Masa Mahatmya
Information checked: 21 October 2026. Dates and times follow Drik Panchang; final check on 5 November.
