About Kartik Purnima
Kartik Purnima is the full moon that closes the Hindu month of Kartik, and in 2026 it falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026. Hindus mark it with a dawn bath in the Ganga or another river and lamps at dusk; in Varanasi it is Dev Deepawali, when lakhs of diyas line the ghats. The same full moon is Guru Nanak Gurpurab for Sikhs, and it brings Jain pilgrims back to the Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana after the monsoon.
Kartik Purnima comes about fifteen days after Diwali, on the full moon that ends the month of Kartik. It is a day of two halves. Before sunrise people bathe in a river, a temple tank or the sea. After sunset they light lamps and set them on the water.
Shiva and the three cities
The day is also called Tripuri or Tripurari Purnima, after a story the Puranas tell. Three asura brothers, the sons of Tarakasura, won a boon from Brahma: three flying cities, one of iron, one of silver and one of gold, that could be destroyed only by a single arrow, and only when the three lined up. From them they conquered the world and defeated the gods. Shiva took the earth as his chariot, with the sun and moon as wheels, Mount Meru as his bow and Vishnu as the arrow, and burnt all three with one shot. In this form he is Tripurantaka, the ender of the three cities.
Tradition places that victory on Kartik Purnima and says the gods came down to Kashi to celebrate it by lighting lamps. That is the meaning of Dev Deepawali: the Diwali of the gods. The idea of three citadels is much older than the Puranas.
The Asuras had three citadels; the lowest was of iron, then there was one of silver, then one of gold.
Vaishnavas link the full moon to Vishnu's Matsya avatar. It also closes Bhishma Panchak, a five-day Vaishnava fast that begins on Dev Uthani Ekadashi, and the window in which families may hold Tulsi Vivah.
The snan, the lamps and the gifts
Many devout Hindus keep Kartik snan: a bath before sunrise every day of the month. By Drik Panchang's reckoning it starts on Sharad Purnima and ends on Kartik Purnima, which is why the last bath draws the biggest crowds, at Varanasi, Pushkar, Puri and on riverbanks across the north.
- Bathe before sunriseIn a river if you can; at home, a little Ganga jal goes into the bucket.
- Give something awayGrain, clothes, a blanket for the coming winter, or a lamp.
- WorshipMany families hold a Satyanarayan katha or offer tulsi to Vishnu; Shaivas go to a Shiva temple.
- Light lamps at duskDeepdan: lamps set on the river, at the tulsi plant and at the door. Those keeping a vrat break it after offering water to the rising moon.
Dev Deepawali on the ghats of Varanasi
At dusk the stone steps of Varanasi, from Ravidas Ghat in the south to Rajghat in the north, are lined with clay diyas. About 11 lakh lamps were placed on the 84 main ghats in 2024; in 2025 officials put the figure near 25 lakh, a lakh of them made from cow dung by women's self-help groups. Boats crowd the river to watch. At Dashashwamedh, before the aarti, the Ganga Seva Nidhi lights an Amar Jawan Jyoti in memory of soldiers who died in service.
The ghat-wide spectacle is recent. As Business Standard tells it, it began in 1984, when a group of teenagers led by Vagish Dutt Mishra lit lamps at Panchganga Ghat with two cans of donated oil. It spread from ghat to ghat through the 1990s, and in 2024 the Uttar Pradesh government declared it a provincial fair.
Why Varanasi sometimes picks a different day
Drik Panchang and many almanacs fix Dev Deepawali by pradosh kaal, the hours after sunset, when the lamps are actually lit. The Central Dev Deepawali Mahasamiti, which runs the ghat event and is still led by Vagish Dutt Mishra, fixes it on the day of the Purnima snan instead, a rule it traces to the late Kashi Naresh, Vibhuti Narayan Singh. It also argues that oil spilled the night before would trouble the dawn bathers.
When the tithi starts in the morning and ends before the next evening, the two rules give different dates. In 2023 the Kashi Vidwat Parishad, a council of scholars, named 26 November, and the ghats lit up on 27 November. In 2022 a lunar eclipse fell on the Purnima, so the committee moved the lamps a day early to 7 November, which ETV Bharat reported as a first. Travellers should go by the date the Varanasi committee announces.
The same full moon across India
| Where | What it is called | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | Dev Deepawali | Dawn snan, then lakhs of diyas on the ghats |
| Pushkar, Rajasthan | Kartik Purnima snan, Pushkar Mela | The camel fair peaks with a dip in Pushkar Lake, beside Brahma's temple |
| Odisha | Boita Bandana, Bali Jatra | Before dawn, families float small boats with lamps, betel leaf and areca nut; Cuttack holds the Bali Jatra fair on the Mahanadi |
| Sonepur, Bihar | Harihar Kshetra Mela | A dip where the Gandak meets the Ganga; a long fair begins |
| Andhra Pradesh, Telangana | Karthika Pournami | A lamp of 365 wicks, one per day of the year, at a Shiva temple or the tulasi kota |
| Palitana, Gujarat | Kartik Purnima yatra | Jain pilgrims climb more than 3,500 stone steps to the Shatrunjaya temples, which close to them during the monsoon |
Odisha's ritual keeps a memory of trade. Sea merchants called sadhabas once sailed from Kalinga to Bali, Java, Sumatra and Sri Lanka on boats called boitas, leaving around Kartik Purnima to catch the winter winds. Women still sing "Aa ka ma boi" as they push the paper and banana-bark boats off: the syllables name the months of Aswina, Kartika, Margashira and Baisakha, the old sailing calendar. Many Odia families avoid meat for the whole of Kartik, or at least the last five days, called Panchuka. The day after the Purnima, Chhadakhai, the fish and meat markets fill up again.
For Jains, Kartik Purnima ends Chaturmas, the four rainy months when monks stay in one place to avoid harming small creatures. Monks begin travelling again, and crowds return to Palitana.
Tamil Nadu's Karthigai Deepam, another lamp festival, follows the Krittika star in the solar month of Karthigai, so it sometimes shares this date and sometimes comes a month later.
What to write
Maa, Papa, Kartik Purnima ki shubhkamnayein. Snan ke baad ek diya mere naam ka bhi Ganga ji mein chhod dena. (Happy Kartik Purnima. After your bath, float one lamp in the Ganga for me too.)
Happy Dev Deepawali. Send me one photo from the boat when the ghats light up, and stay clear of the crush at Dashashwamedh.
Kartika Purnima ra anek subhechha. Aa ka ma boi! Hope your boita made it across the pond this morning. Enjoy Chhadakhai tomorrow.
Karthika Pournami subhakankshalu. Hope the 365-wick deepam at home caught on the first match.
Jai Jinendra. The hill is open again; wishing you a steady climb up Shatrunjaya and a peaceful darshan of Adinath.
Gurpurab diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan. Wishing you and your family a peaceful Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Do
- If an Odia or Vaishnava friend has given up meat for Kartik, invite them for Chhadakhai, not before.
Avoid
- Don't send a Dev Deepawali or Ganga snan card to a Sikh colleague; their day is Guru Nanak Gurpurab.
- Don't assume a Jain friend is marking Dev Deepawali; for Jains the day is about pilgrimage and the end of Chaturmas.
How to wish someone on Kartik Purnima
A Kartik Purnima wish is about light and water. Mention the morning snan, a lamp floated on the river, or the ghats of Kashi lit up, and keep it devotional rather than loud. "Kartik Purnima ki shubhkamnayein" or "Happy Dev Deepawali" suit Hindu friends; Odia, Telugu and Jain friends each mark the day in their own way. For Sikh friends and colleagues the day is Guru Nanak Gurpurab, so send a Gurpurab wish instead, without Shiva, Ganga snan or Dev Deepawali.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + regional language.
When is Kartik Purnima in 2026 and 2027?
Kartik Purnima is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 10 days earlier than in 2026.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is Kartik Purnima in 2026?
Kartik Purnima 2026 falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026.
Is Dev Deepawali the same as Kartik Purnima?
Dev Deepawali is the name for Kartik Purnima's evening of lamps, especially on the ghats of Varanasi, so in most years they fall on the same date. In some years Varanasi's organisers and the almanacs pick different days, because one rule follows the morning bath and the other the evening lamps.
Why is Kartik Purnima called Tripuri Purnima?
Kartik Purnima is called Tripuri or Tripurari Purnima because Hindu tradition holds that Shiva destroyed Tripura, the three flying cities of the asuras, with a single arrow on this full moon. The gods are said to have lit lamps in Kashi to celebrate, which is the story behind Dev Deepawali.
Why is Dev Deepawali in Varanasi sometimes held on a different day?
The Dev Deepawali committee in Varanasi holds the lamps on the day of the Purnima snan, while almanacs such as Drik Panchang choose the evening when the Purnima is in force. When the tithi begins in the morning and ends before the next evening, the two rules split by a day, as they did in 2023, when the ghats were lit on 27 November rather than 26 November.
Is Kartik Purnima the same day as Guru Nanak Jayanti?
Yes. Sikhs mark Guru Nanak's birth anniversary on the full moon of Kartik, so Guru Nanak Gurpurab and Kartik Purnima share a date. They are separate observances, though, and a Sikh friend should get a Gurpurab wish rather than a Dev Deepawali one.
What is Boita Bandana?
Boita Bandana is Odisha's Kartik Purnima ritual of floating small boats made of paper, cork or banana bark, carrying a lamp, betel leaf and areca nut, on a river or pond before dawn. It recalls the sadhabas, Kalinga's sea merchants, who sailed for Bali, Java and Sri Lanka at this time of year.
What do people do on Kartik Purnima?
On Kartik Purnima Hindus bathe in a river or holy tank before sunrise, give food, clothes or lamps in charity, worship Vishnu or Shiva, and in the evening offer lit lamps to the river or at home. Many also keep a fast and break it after offering water to the rising moon.
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