Choti Diwali and Diwali Fall on the Same Day This Year: Lakshmi Puja Muhurat, Dates for All Five Days
With Chaturdashi ending and Amavasya beginning on 8 November, Narak Chaturdashi and Diwali share Sunday. Delhi’s Lakshmi Puja window is about 5:54 PM to 7:50 PM.
Many households are asking the same question this weekend: is Choti Diwali today or tomorrow? This year the answer is unusual. By most panchangs, Narak Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) and Diwali both fall on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
Why the two days merge
Hindu festivals follow lunar days (tithis), not the calendar. The Chaturdashi tithi is still running at sunrise on 8 November, so the pre-dawn oil bath (abhyanga snan) of Narak Chaturdashi is done that morning. Chaturdashi then gives way to the Kartika Amavasya around 11:30 AM on the 8th, and the new moon lasts until about 12:33 PM on 9 November. Because Amavasya covers the whole of the evening twilight (pradosh kaal) on the 8th, the main Lakshmi Puja is also on Sunday evening.
Local customs can differ, so families who follow a regional calendar should check it.
Lakshmi Puja muhurat
- New Delhi: about 5:54 PM to 7:50 PM (pradosh kaal from 5:31 PM to 7:55 PM, narrowed to the fixed Vrishabha lagna)
- Mumbai: pradosh kaal from about 6:01 PM to 8:25 PM
Timings shift with local sunset, so check your own city’s panchang. Traders who worship their account books often prefer the later Nishita muhurat near midnight.
The five days of Deepotsav 2026
- Fri, 6 Nov: Dhanteras
- Sun, 8 Nov: Narak Chaturdashi in the morning, Diwali and Lakshmi Puja in the evening
- Tue, 10 Nov: Govardhan Puja and Annakut
- Wed, 11 Nov: Bhai Dooj
Govardhan Puja is two days after Diwali rather than the next morning because the Amavasya runs past noon on the 9th, so the Shukla Pratipada needed for the ritual holds the morning only on the 10th.
In Delhi-NCR, note that the Supreme Court has allowed only certified green crackers, and only from 6 to 7 am and 8 to 10 pm on 7 and 8 November.
Featured image: Diya set in a rangoli — siddarth varanasi, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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