Diwali Dates Table
| Year | Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) | Five-day run |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sun Nov 8 | Nov 6-10 |
| 2027 | Fri Oct 29 | Oct 27-31 |
| 2028 | Tue Oct 17 | Oct 15-19 |
| 2029 | Mon Nov 5 | Nov 3-7 |
| 2030 | Sat Oct 26 | Oct 24-28 |
| 2031 | Fri Nov 14 | Nov 12-16 |
Diwali is the new-moon night of Kartika on the Hindu lunisolar calendar, which drags it across a four-week band of the Gregorian one: October 17 to November 14 in this decade. 2026 is a November year - the main night is Sunday, November 8 - and the table runs every Lakshmi Puja night through 2031, verified against Drik Panchang's published panchang and cross-checked against the astronomy.
Bottom line: the decade spans an early Diwali (2028, October 17) and a late one (2031, November 14), and every edition keeps the same five-day skeleton - Dhanteras opens, Naraka Chaturdashi trims, Diwali proper lamps, Govardhan feeds, Bhai Dooj closes. Two of the six main nights land on weekends (2026 Sunday, 2030 Saturday), which is why those years book out earlier.
The honest part: the date on the table is the Amavasya day, but the lamps light after nightfall - Lakshmi Puja is done during Pradosh, the evening window, not at midnight. And because regional panchangs disagree by a day in edge years, rows within a day of a month boundary can shift by one in some traditions; the table follows the widely published North Indian convention.
How to use
- Read your year's row: the main night (Lakshmi Puja, after dark) and the five-day run around it.
- Type a different year into the counter to see how far away that edition is - it tracks the table, so the moving date is already built in.
- Plan by the skeleton: shopping on Dhanteras (day 1) is the tradition, and the whole run is five days wide every single year.
Frequently asked questions
When is Diwali 2026?
Diwali 2026 is Sunday, November 8 - the Lakshmi Puja night, with lamps lit after dark. The five-day run opens with Dhanteras on Friday, November 6 and closes with Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, November 10. A Sunday main night makes 2026 one of the two weekend editions this decade, which is why travel and venue bookings compress early.
Why does Diwali move every year?
Diwali sits on the Amavasya - the new moon - of the month of Kartika on the Hindu lunisolar calendar. Lunar months run about 29.5 days against the Gregorian year's 365.24, so the date slips roughly eleven days earlier each year until a leap month pushes it back - which is how the festival walks from November 14 (2031) back to October 17 (2028) and returns.
Is Diwali always in October or November?
In this decade, yes - the band runs October 17 to November 14. The lunisolar drift is bounded: Kartika's new moon always falls in that window, because the calendar's leap-month corrections keep the lunar months locked to the seasons. Other years of the century touch late October more often than mid-November, but the band itself holds.
Why do some calendars show a different Diwali date?
Two reasons. Regional panchang traditions (Amanta vs Purnimanta month counting) can disagree by a day in edge years - when the new-moon instant falls near midnight Indian time. And South Indian Deepavali follows the same lunar logic but with local sunrise rules; in most years the main night agrees, in edge years it moves a day. Drik Panchang publishes both conventions per year.
What are the five days of Diwali?
Dhanteras (day 1) - the shopping day, gold and utensils for luck. Naraka Chaturdashi (day 2) - Choti Diwali, the smaller lamps. Diwali proper (day 3) - Lakshmi Puja after nightfall, the main lamps. Govardhan Puja (day 4) - the kitchen anniversary, annakut offerings. Bhai Dooj (day 5) - the sibling day that closes the run. The skeleton never changes; only the Gregorian dates under it move.