Sharad Purnima 2026: Date, Moonrise Time by City, Kheer Timing & Kojagari Puja

Last updated: 6 October 2026 · By Acharya Alok Pandit, Divine Hindu, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011 · ~21 min read

When is Sharad Purnima in 2026?

Sharad Purnima 2026 (शरद पूर्णिमा) is the night of Sunday, 25 October. It is the full moon of Ashwin, the month named after the Ashwini nakshatra, and the one night of the year on which the moon is held to show all sixteen of its kalas. Maharashtra keeps it as Kojagiri Purnima (कोजागिरी पौर्णिमा), Bengal and Assam as Kojagori Lokkhi Pujo (কোজাগরী লক্ষ্মী পূজা), Odisha as Kumar Purnima or Kumar Punei (କୁମାର ପୁନେଇଁ), Gujarat as Sharad Poonam (શરદ પૂનમ), Mithila as Kojagara, Nepal as Kojagrat Purnima and the temples of Braj as Raas Purnima.

The fast follows the same split. The Kojagara vrat is kept through Sunday and broken after the night puja; families who keep the monthly Purnima fast by the sunrise tithi keep it on Monday instead, and neither is an error. Women taking up the Purnima vrat for a year traditionally begin it on this Purnima. If a Sharad Purnima in the last week of October looks late, it is: the extra month of 2026, Adhik Jyeshtha, pushed every festival of the second half of the year about three weeks later than in 2025 (our Adhik Maas 2026 guide explains why).

Sharad Purnima 2026 moonrise and Kojagara Puja timings by city

On Sunday, 25 October 2026 the moon rises between about 4:03 PM in Guwahati and 5:28 PM in Mumbai, and the Kojagara nishita window falls between 10:41 PM and 12:49 AM, depending on the city. Figures are Drik Panchang's, in IST, except where marked.

* Calculated by us with Drik Panchang's moonrise convention, which reproduces Drik's published figure to the minute in the other eight cities. † Prokerala's figure; our calculation agrees within a minute. Elsewhere Drik and Prokerala differ by one minute at most: Prokerala opens the window at 11:39 PM in Delhi, 10:55 PM in Kolkata, 11:57 PM in Mumbai and 11:45 PM in Jaipur.

Why do moonrise times differ between websites? Drik Panchang times moonrise when the centre of the moon's disc meets the horizon, ignoring the bending of light by the atmosphere. Prokerala and most astronomy apps time the first sliver of the upper edge, refraction included, which comes 4 to 5 minutes earlier: 4:55 PM in Delhi, 4:17 PM in Kolkata. Neither is wrong, and buildings or haze usually hide the moon for a few minutes more.

What is nishita? Nishita is the eighth of the fifteen muhurtas of the night, a window of about fifty minutes around local midnight. It moves with each city's sunset and sunrise, which is why Kolkata's window closes before Mumbai's opens.

Four facts about the moon on the night, from our Swiss Ephemeris calculation, with Prokerala's figures for moonset and nakshatra:

• The moon is about 99.6% lit at the Kojagara midnight. It becomes exactly full at 9:41 AM IST on Monday, 26 October, after it has set over India.
• It rides highest close to the nishita hour: about 76° above the horizon in Delhi and almost overhead in Chennai and Bengaluru.
• It sets near dawn on Monday, at 6:27 AM in Delhi and 5:31 AM in Kolkata, so the kheer can stay in moonlight all night.
• From 7:22 PM on 25 October the moon is in Ashwini, the nakshatra that gives the month of Ashwin its name.

When should the kheer be kept under the moonlight?

Set the kheer out on Sunday night, 25 October, after the evening puja and once the moon is up. Most families leave it from about 9 or 10 PM until at least midnight, the hour at which Lakshmi is believed to ask who is awake, and many leave it until dawn on Monday. The Purnima tithi lasts the whole night, until 9:41 AM, so there is no clock deadline; the tradition asks only that moonlight fall on the kheer.

Tradition holds that the moon on this night rains amrit, the nectar of the gods, and that the kheer takes it up; Ayurvedic tradition links the cool autumn nights with settling the pitta of the monsoon months. These are matters of faith and custom, not medical claims. The kheer is prasad, not a remedy, and it is kept in that spirit.

How is the moonlight kheer traditionally made and kept?

1. Cook it in the evening: rice simmered slowly in milk, cow's milk where possible, with sugar, cardamom and, as the family likes, saffron, almonds and pistachio.
2. Choose the vessel: silver or brass where available, since silver is the moon's metal in the tradition; families without a silver bowl drop in a silver coin or spoon.
3. Offer it first at the household shrine, then give the risen moon an arghya of water from a lota, with a flower and a few grains of rice.
4. Set it in direct moonlight on a terrace, courtyard, balcony or window ledge, under fine muslin or a mesh cover that lets the light through and keeps insects out. Around midnight the moon stands nearly overhead, so a covered balcony may lose it; an east-facing one catches the evening moon, a west-facing one the moon before dawn.
5. Leave it until midnight at least, and until dawn in traditional homes.
6. In the morning offer it again and share it as prasad with children, neighbours and anyone in need.

Two practical notes. In a warm city, bring the kheer in after midnight and refrigerate it if it will not be eaten soon. Anyone diabetic or unwell should treat it as any sweet; a spoonful taken as prasad is understood in the tradition to be as complete as a bowl.

Other regions leave other milk-sweets to the moon. Gujarat sets out doodh-pauva, sweetened milk over flattened rice; Maharashtra boils masala doodh with saffron, nutmeg and dry fruit and drinks it on the terrace after midnight; Bengal offers payesh with khoi and narkel naru; Odisha offers khai with coconut, banana and jaggery. All are white, milky and sweet, and all are left to the moon.

Why is the Ashwin full moon held apart from the others?

The tradition singles out this Purnima for four reasons that sit together: the season, the sixteen kalas, the harvest and Lakshmi.

The season. Sharad is the autumn of the Indian year, the two months after the monsoon withdraws, and this Purnima is its centre. The sky has cleared, the nights have cooled, and the sharad chandrika, the autumn moonlight, has been the poets' measure of brightness in Sanskrit and every regional language for two thousand years.

The sixteen kalas. The moon is said to have sixteen kalas, or digits, and to show all of them only on this night. The same count is applied to Krishna, called the purna avatar with all sixteen, which is one reason the night is also his.

The harvest. The kharif crop is coming in, and the day is also Navanna Purnima, the full moon of the new grain, when the first rice of the year was traditionally cooked as kheer and offered before the family ate it.

Lakshmi. A widely told tradition holds that Lakshmi rose from the churned ocean on this night and walks the earth on it looking for wakeful homes; other traditions place her emergence in the Diwali fortnight.

One popular claim needs correcting. The moon is not, as a rule, nearest the earth on Sharad Purnima. In 2026 it is about 368,900 km away at the moment of full moon, nearer than average, but the full moons of 24 November and 24 December come closer still.

What is Kojagara? Lakshmi and the night of "who is awake"

Kojagara is the Lakshmi vrat of the Ashwin full moon, named for the Sanskrit question ko jāgarti, "who is awake?" Tradition holds that Lakshmi moves through the world on this night asking it, and stays where she finds lamps lit and the household awake. From Kojagara come the Marathi Kojagiri, the Bengali Kojagori and the Nepali Kojagrat. The vrat has three parts: a fast through the day, a Lakshmi puja in the evening, and a jagran, a vigil kept with lamps, songs, stories and games into the small hours. What is asked for is Lakshmi's presence in the home; the vigil is a prayer, not a transaction, and no outcome is promised for staying up.

Two stories are read on the night. In the Kojagara katha told in Bengal and Mithila, a poor and learned Brahmin named Valit, driven from home by a contrary wife, wanders into the forest on the Ashwin full moon and finds the Naga maidens of the netherworld awake and playing dice. He keeps the night with them, and Lakshmi, finding him awake, restores his fortune and the peace of his house. In the story told across the north, a merchant's two daughters keep the Purnima fast, the elder fully and the younger by half; the younger's children do not survive until, one Sharad Purnima, the touch of the elder sister's sari revives her newborn son. Both are community tellings rather than fixed history, and both make one point: what is kept is kept wholly.

When is Kojagori Lakshmi Puja 2026 in Bengal?

Bengal keeps Kojagori Lokkhi Pujo on Sunday, 25 October 2026, four days after Bijoya Dashami. The West Bengal government's holiday notification for 2026 lists Lakshmi Puja on 25 October and adds Monday, 26 October as an extra holiday. In September the state asked puja committees to finish Durga immersions by 24 October, a day before Kojagori Lakshmi Puja; the full Bengal calendar is in our Durga Puja 2026 guide. In Kolkata the moon rises at 4:21 PM and the nishita window runs from 10:56 to 11:46 PM.

Some websites print 26 October. One that follows the Bisuddha Siddhanta reckoning applies the sunrise rule and lists Monday; it listed 7 October in 2025, when the state kept Lakshmi Puja on 6 October. The night that carries the Purnima at midnight is Sunday. If your family's printed panjika says otherwise, follow it.

The Bengali puja is domestic and exact. The floor is painted with alpana in rice paste, Lakshmi's small footprints drawn from the threshold inward. The goddess is worshipped as a clay image with her owl or, in many East Bengali homes, on a painted clay plate, the Lakshmi sara. The Lakshmir Panchali is read aloud, the conch is blown, and the offering is khoi, murki, chire, narkel naru, til naru, fruit and, in many homes, khichuri bhog. This is Bengal's great Lakshmi night; on Diwali night most of Bengal worships Kali.

How is Sharad Purnima kept across India?

The forms differ from state to state; the moon is the same.

How is Kojagiri Purnima kept in Maharashtra?

Kojagiri belongs to the terrace. Families and housing societies gather after dinner, boil masala doodh in a large vessel, set it under the moon, and sing and play until it is drunk after midnight. The eldest child of the house, the jyeshtha apatya, is honoured with an aarti and a gift, because the night is said to be theirs.

When is Kumar Purnima 2026 in Odisha?

Kumar Purnima falls on Sunday, 25 October 2026. Odisha's 2026 holiday notification did not declare it separately because it falls on a Sunday. The day belongs to unmarried girls and is named for Kartikeya, Kumara. Girls bathe before dawn, wear new clothes and offer the rising sun a kula, a bamboo winnow, of puffed paddy, sugarcane, betel, cucumber, coconut and banana; in the evening they offer the full moon khai with curd, jaggery and fruit, then sing and play games such as puchi in the courtyard. The traditional prayer is for a good husband, Gaja Lakshmi Puja is kept the same night, and girls keeping the Janhi Osha complete it on this day. In 2025, when the tithi fell the same way, the Puri Srimandir kept its rites on the sunrise day while most Odia homes kept the evening; families who follow the Srimandir should check its 2026 schedule.

How is Sharad Poonam kept in Gujarat?

Sharad Poonam brings the garba back for one more moonlit night after Navratri, and doodh-pauva is left to the moon. For followers of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya the day is also the birth anniversary of Gunatitanand Swami.

What do Mithila, Nepal, Assam and the south do?

In Mithila, Kojagara is celebrated most in the home of a newly married groom, whose family distributes betel and makhana sent by the bride's family to relatives and neighbours. In Nepal, Kojagrat Purnima closes Dashain and is the last day to receive Dashain tika from elders. Assam and Tripura keep the Lakshmi puja much as Bengal does. The south keeps the Ashwin Purnima more quietly, though Bengali, Gujarati and Marwari families in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad keep the night as they would at home, and Karnataka marks Valmiki Jayanti the next day.

Why is Sharad Purnima called Raas Purnima?

Because the Bhagavata Purana sets Krishna's Maha Raas on the moonlit nights of autumn, and the Braj tradition fixes it on this full moon. The episode opens with the Lord looking on "those autumn nights, the jasmine in full bloom" and turning his mind to play (Bhagavata Purana 10.29.1, śāradotphulla-mallikāḥ). As he steps into the forest the moon rises, its disc unbroken, reddened like fresh kumkum and, in the poet's image, like the face of Ramā, Lakshmi herself (10.29.3, akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalaṁ ramānanābham). In that single line Lakshmi's night and Krishna's night meet.

In the dance, Krishna places himself between each pair of gopis, so that every one of them believes he is beside her alone (10.33.3). At its close the text says the gopis went home only when brahma-rātra had passed (10.33.38), which some read as a whole night of Brahma and others as the brahma muhurta, the hour before dawn. Vaishnava teachers read the Raas as the soul's love for God, and God's love returned to each soul entire.

The temples of Vrindavan and Mathura dress their deities in white on this night, offer kheer under the open sky and stage the Raas Lila; at home, families dress Laddu Gopal in white and offer kheer and makhan-mishri. Krishna's birth, earlier in the year, is in our Janmashtami 2026 guide. Manipur performs its Kunja Raas on the Ashwin full moon. One caution: in Bengal, Odisha and Manipur, Rash or Rahas Purnima usually means the Kartik full moon, 24 November 2026, when Manipur's Maha Raas is danced and Odisha's Rahas Purnima holiday falls; see our Kartik Purnima and Dev Diwali guide.

Is Valmiki Jayanti on Sharad Purnima in 2026?

Valmiki Jayanti falls on Monday, 26 October 2026, the Purnima day that follows the Sharad Purnima night. The central government lists Maharishi Valmiki's Birthday as a restricted holiday on 26 October, and Karnataka keeps it as a general holiday the same day. In Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh, where it is also called Pargat Diwas, it is kept with shobha yatras, Ramayana readings at Valmiki temples and community kitchens.

Valmiki is the Adi Kavi, the first poet. The Ramayana itself tells how, at the Tamasa river, he saw a hunter kill one of a pair of curlews and how his grief broke out as the first shloka (Bala Kanda 1.2.15): mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṃ tvam agamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ, "Hunter, may you find no rest through the endless years, for you killed one of the pair in love." Brahma then asked him to tell Rama's story in the same metre. Traditional commentators note that the verse opens with mā, which the Amarakosha lists among Lakshmi's names, and read even this cry of grief as an auspicious beginning. The later legend of Ratnakar the highwayman, turned to Rama's name by Narada until an anthill, valmika, grew over him, explains the name. Families read a portion of the Ramayana, often the Sundara Kanda, and light a lamp before the sage or before Rama. Many calendars also mark Meerabai Jayanti on this Purnima.

How is the Kojagara Lakshmi puja done at home, and what is set aside?

The observance is gentle and domestic, and it fits into an evening. The night's worship goes to Lakshmi, to Chandra, the moon, and in Vaishnava homes to Krishna. Most families keep some or all of these steps.

1. Morning: bathe and take a sankalp; those keeping the Kojagara vrat fast on fruit and milk. Anyone unwell, pregnant, elderly or on medication keeps a lighter form or none, after asking a doctor.
2. Evening: clean the puja place and draw alpana or rangoli at the door, with Lakshmi's footprints walking in.
3. The seat: a Lakshmi image or picture on a clean red or white cloth, a kalash, a ghee lamp, white flowers or lotuses, kumkum, rice and the kheer.
4. Puja and japa: the Lakshmi aarti and mantra, which our Lakshmi mantra guide sets out with the 108-count; many families count on a lotus-seed mala, described in our kamalgatta mala guide.
5. After moonrise: an arghya of water to Chandra, then the kheer set out in the moonlight.
6. The vigil: lamps kept lit at the door (our guide to the diya covers wicks and oils), with katha, bhajans and games until nishita at least.
7. Monday morning: the kheer shared as prasad, the Purnima bath, and charity of white things such as rice, milk, sugar and white cloth.

A few things are set aside by custom, none with a stated consequence. Heavy, fried and non-vegetarian food is avoided through the day, and onion and garlic in most homes keeping the vrat. Black clothes are not worn for the night. Quarrels are avoided, on the reasoning that Lakshmi passes by an unhappy house. The kheer is not tasted before it is offered, and not thrown away after. Where a family has always done something differently, its own custom is the one to keep.

Which night is Sharad Purnima outside India?

In the Gulf, the UK, Singapore and Australia, Sharad Purnima is the night of Sunday, 25 October, as in India; on the US West Coast the Kojagara night is Saturday, 24 October. In Los Angeles the Purnima runs from 11:26 PM on Saturday to 9:11 PM on Sunday (PDT), so only Saturday night carries it at midnight; Prokerala and our own calculation agree. In New York, Prokerala keeps Sunday, 25 October, although the tithi ends at 12:11 AM, two minutes before the nishita window opens. Families in North America should follow their temple's calendar.

How we checked these dates

Every date and time on this page was checked against at least two independent sources. Our own calculation uses the Swiss Ephemeris, in IST, with the Lahiri ayanamsa for the nakshatra, and was compared city by city with Drik Panchang and Prokerala. The Purnima tithi begins at 11:55 AM by Drik Panchang, 11:56 AM by Prokerala and 11:56:36 AM by our calculation, and ends at 9:41 AM by all three. Nishita windows agree within a minute across the three. Moonrise follows Drik's convention, as explained above, and the distances and moon positions are our own calculation. Regional dates were checked against state notifications and news reports, and scripture against the texts.

• Drik Panchang, Kojagara Puja 2026 for Delhi, and the same page for Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur and Lucknow.
• Prokerala, Kojagiri Purnima 2026 for New Delhi and other cities, and the Kolkata panchang for 25 October 2026 (moonset and nakshatra).
• Government of West Bengal, Finance (Audit) Department, Notification 4188-F(P2) of 27 November 2025: Lakshmi Puja on 25 October, additional holiday on 26 October.
• Republic World, report of 8 September 2026: immersions to be completed by 24 October, a day before Kojagari Lakshmi Puja.
• OrissaPOST, report of 12 November 2025 on Odisha's 2026 holiday notification (Kumar Purnima on a Sunday; Rahas Purnima on 24 November), and OdishaTV, report of 5 October 2025 on the Srimandir date that year.
• Central Government restricted holidays for 2026 under DoPT OM 12/2/2023-JCA: Maharishi Valmiki's Birthday on 26 October.
• Bhagavata Purana 10.29.1, 10.29.3, 10.33.3 and 10.33.38, and the Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, sarga 2. The Sanskrit is public-domain text; the translations on this page are our own.
• The 26 October Bengali reading: myastrology.in, Kojagari Lakshmi Puja. Manipur's Kunja Raas: Wikipedia, Manipuri Raas Leela.

What comes next after Sharad Purnima?

Sharad Purnima is the hinge of the festive autumn. Behind it lie Navratri and its southern close, Ayudha Puja, then Dussehra on 20 October and Bengal's Bijoya Dashami on 21 October. Ahead lies Kartik, which by the northern calendar begins on Tuesday, 27 October and runs to Kartik Purnima on 24 November; our Kartik month 2026 guide covers the dawn snan and deep daan. The month carries Karwa Chauth on Thursday, 29 October, Ahoi Ashtami on Sunday, 1 November, Dhanteras on Friday, 6 November, Narak Chaturdashi and Diwali Lakshmi Puja on Sunday, 8 November, Govardhan Puja on 10 November, Bhai Dooj on 11 November, Chhath from 13 to 16 November and Tulsi Vivah on 21 November. A Satyanarayan puja on the Purnima morning is set out step by step in our guide; the other full moons are in the Purnima and Amavasya 2026 list, and the whole year in the Hindu Festival Calendar 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sharad Purnima on 25 or 26 October 2026?

Sharad Purnima is the night of Sunday, 25 October 2026. The Purnima tithi runs from 11:55 AM that day to 9:41 AM on Monday, 26 October, so only Sunday night has the full moon with the tithi current. Monday, 26 October is the Purnima day for the morning bath, charity and Valmiki Jayanti.

What time is moonrise on Sharad Purnima 2026?

The moon rises on Sunday, 25 October 2026 at 5:00 PM in Delhi, 5:28 PM in Mumbai, 4:21 PM in Kolkata, 5:04 PM in Chennai and 5:15 PM in Bengaluru, by Drik Panchang's figures. Prokerala and most astronomy apps print times four to five minutes earlier because they time the moon's upper edge.

When should kheer be kept under the moonlight on Sharad Purnima?

Set it out on Sunday night, 25 October, after the evening puja and once the moon has risen. Most families leave it from about 9 or 10 PM until at least midnight, and many until dawn. The Purnima tithi lasts all night, until 9:41 AM on Monday, so any hour of that night falls within it.

Why is kheer kept in the moonlight on Sharad Purnima?

Tradition holds that the Ashwin full moon shows all sixteen kalas and that its light carries amrit, which the kheer is believed to take up before it is eaten as prasad. It is a matter of faith and custom, not a medical claim; keep the vessel covered and refrigerate it in warm weather.

What is the Kojagari Lakshmi Puja time in 2026?

Kojagara Lakshmi Puja is done at nishita on the night of 25 October 2026: 11:40 PM to 12:31 AM in Delhi, 11:58 PM to 12:47 AM in Mumbai and 10:56 to 11:46 PM in Kolkata, by Drik Panchang. Prokerala's figures differ by one minute at most.

When is Kojagori Lakshmi Puja 2026 in West Bengal?

Sunday, 25 October 2026. The West Bengal government's 2026 holiday notification lists Lakshmi Puja on 25 October, with Monday, 26 October as an additional holiday, and Durga immersions were to be completed by 24 October. A few panjikas that apply the sunrise rule print 26 October; follow your family's panjika.

What does Kojagara or Kojagiri mean?

Kojagara comes from the Sanskrit question ko jāgarti, "who is awake?" Tradition holds that Lakshmi asks it on the Ashwin full moon night and stays where she finds lamps lit and the household awake. Maharashtra calls the night Kojagiri, Bengal Kojagori, Mithila Kojagara and Nepal Kojagrat.

When is Kumar Purnima 2026 in Odisha?

Kumar Purnima falls on Sunday, 25 October 2026; Odisha's 2026 holiday notification lists it among festivals falling on a Sunday. Unmarried girls worship the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening with khai, coconut, banana and cucumber, then sing and play games. Gaja Lakshmi Puja is kept the same night.

Is Valmiki Jayanti on Sharad Purnima in 2026?

Valmiki Jayanti falls on Monday, 26 October 2026, the Purnima day after the Sharad Purnima night. It is a restricted holiday on the central government list and a general holiday in Karnataka, and it is kept with Ramayana readings, processions and community kitchens, especially in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, where it is called Pargat Diwas.

Is the moon closest to the Earth on Sharad Purnima?

No, not as a rule. In 2026 the moon is about 368,900 km away at the moment of full moon, nearer than its average distance of about 384,400 km, but the full moons of 24 November and 24 December come closer still. The night's importance is traditional, not a matter of distance.

What should be avoided on Sharad Purnima?

By custom, households keeping the vrat avoid heavy, fried and non-vegetarian food, onion and garlic, black clothes, quarrels and sleeping early, and do not taste the kheer before it is offered. None carries a stated consequence. Anyone unwell, pregnant, elderly or on medication should keep a lighter fast or none.

Can the kheer be kept on a balcony or windowsill?

Yes. The tradition asks only that moonlight fall on the kheer. Because the moon stands nearly overhead around midnight, an east-facing balcony catches it in the evening and a west-facing one before dawn, while an open terrace or courtyard catches it all night. Cover the vessel with fine muslin.

For the puja seat. A brass image of Lakshmi is traditionally used on the seat for the Kojagara puja and kept there through the Diwali fortnight that follows; our Goddess Lakshmi brass idol is one such image, and it can also be seen at the Divine Hindu Store, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011.

Tithi, moonrise and nishita times on this page are in IST for the cities named and shift with your location. Where almanacs differ, we have given both readings and the reason. The beliefs about the moonlight and the kheer are matters of tradition and personal faith, not medical advice. Please confirm the date with your family purohit or a current panchang for your city before you observe.