Festival · The first day of Diwali
Dhanteras 2026: date, tithi and muhurat
Dhanteras 2026 falls on Friday, 6 November, on Krishna Trayodashi of Ashwina. The times here are for Chandigarh; choose your city to see yours.
What Dhanteras is
Dhanteras opens the five days of Diwali on the thirteenth tithi of the dark fortnight of Ashwina (Kartika Krishna Trayodashi in the north). Dhan means wealth and teras means thirteen, and the day is for prosperity in its widest sense: homes are cleaned, doorsteps are drawn with rangoli, new utensils, silver or a little gold are bought, and Lakshmi and Kubera are worshipped in the evening. It is also Dhanvantari Jayanti, the day honoured for Dhanvantari, the divine physician of Ayurveda, whom many practitioners worship on it.
How the date is fixed
The festival is on Krishna Trayodashi. The evening that counts is the one on which Trayodashi covers Pradosh, the roughly two and a half hours after sunset; when two evenings do, the second is taken. The puja muhurat is the part of Pradosh in which the sthir (fixed) Vrishabha lagna rises, the same rule as for the Diwali Lakshmi Puja.
Dates for 2026 to 2028
Dhanteras is on Friday, 6 November in 2026, Wednesday, 27 October in 2027 and Sunday, 15 October in 2028. These dates are calculated from the sky for Chandigarh, not copied from a printed calendar. It falls on Krishna Trayodashi of Ashwina by the amanta count, which the purnimanta calendars of the north name Kartika; the sky is the same.
| Year | Date | Tithi and month |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday, 6 November | Krishna Trayodashi · Ashwina (amanta) / Kartika (purnimanta) |
| 2027 | Wednesday, 27 October | Krishna Trayodashi · Ashwina (amanta) / Kartika (purnimanta) |
| 2028 | Sunday, 15 October | Krishna Trayodashi · Ashwina (amanta) / Kartika (purnimanta) |
Muhurat for Dhanteras
For Chandigarh in 2026, the main time is the Puja muhurat (Vrishabha lagna in Pradosh): 6:01 pm – 7:55 pm on Friday, 6 November. Sunrise, sunset and the parts of the day move with the city, so the window, and sometimes the day itself, can change elsewhere. Choose your city below and the tables follow.
| Muhurat | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puja muhurat (Vrishabha lagna in Pradosh) | 6:01 pm – 7:55 pm | 6:41 pm – 8:35 pm | 7:25 pm – 9:20 pm |
| Pradosh (evening) | 5:31 pm – 8:09 pm | 5:40 pm – 8:15 pm | 7:17 pm – 8:22 pm |
In the evening a small lamp is lit at the entrance of the house and the Lakshmi–Kubera puja is done in the Vrishabha window. A new utensil or a silver coin is the commonest purchase, and the day is also the traditional time to settle accounts and to clean the shop or office.
Dhanteras usually comes two days before Diwali, with Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) between them; when a tithi runs short or long, the gap can be one day or three.
A share card for the Dhanteras muhurat is coming. Today the app has one for Diwali only.
Questions people ask
Why is the evening muhurat tied to Vrishabha lagna?
Vrishabha is a fixed sign ruled by Venus, the planet of comfort and abundance. The texts prefer a fixed (sthir) rising sign for Lakshmi Puja so that what is begun stays steady. The muhurat is the time during which Vrishabha is rising in your city.
Do I have to buy gold?
No. Buying gold, silver or a new utensil is a custom, not a rule. A small useful purchase for the home, a new lamp, or simply cleaning and decorating the house honours the day equally.
What is Dhanvantari Jayanti?
In the Puranic account Dhanvantari is the physician of the gods, who rose from the ocean of milk holding the pot of nectar. Ayurveda traditions mark his day on Dhanteras, and many vaidyas worship him on this tithi.
When is Dhanteras in 2026, 2027 and 2028?
Dhanteras is on Friday, 6 November 2026; Wednesday, 27 October 2027; Sunday, 15 October 2028, calculated for Chandigarh. In another city the day can differ by one when the tithi starts or ends close to the time of day the rule uses.
How does JYOTISH.info calculate Dhanteras?
From the sky, with the astronomy-engine library on the Lahiri sidereal zodiac: the lunar month from the Sun’s sign at the new moon, the tithi from the Moon–Sun angle, and the day part that the festival’s own rule asks for, at the city’s sunrise and sunset. Nothing is copied from a table. The rule is stated above and the full method is on the method page.
Every position on this page is calculated sidereal with the Lahiri ayanamsa from the astronomy-engine library (MIT licence). The classical texts describe tendencies; this page is for guidance and reflection, not a verdict, and no outcome is promised. How we calculate. This is the English page and the legal reference. The same page is available in Hindi. Checked October 2026.