Diwali’s main Lakshmi Puja falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026 in Drik Panchang’s calendar. For New Delhi, it lists the evening puja window as 5:54pm to 7:50pm IST. November 9 appears because the Amavasya lunar period continues into the following day; it is not the main Diwali date in that listing.

With the festival weekend approaching, the distinction matters for families arranging their evening worship and travel. A festival date, the start and end of a lunar tithi, and a city’s recommended puja window are three different pieces of information. Reading one as the other can move a plan to the wrong evening or give it a time calculated for another place.

Diwali November 8, 2026: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata evening Lakshmi Puja windows in IST; Amavasya continues to November 9.
Editorial comparison of Drik Panchang’s city timings. Religious calendar guidance, not a nationwide opening-hours or compulsory ritual timetable. View full-size graphic ↗

Why the calendar includes two civil dates

For New Delhi, Drik Panchang gives Amavasya Tithi from 11:27am on 8 November to 12:31pm on 9 November. A lunar day therefore crosses midnight rather than following a midnight-to-midnight civil date. Its presence on Monday does not automatically make Monday the evening chosen for the main puja.

The calendar’s evening recommendation combines Amavasya with Pradosh, the period after sunset, and the fixed Vrishabha ascendant. It lists New Delhi’s wider Pradosh period as 5:31pm to 8:09pm, while the selected puja window is narrower. This explains the calendar’s selection; it is religious calendar guidance, not a guarantee of any material outcome or a compulsory rule for every tradition.

The same date does not mean one time for every city

Drik Panchang lists Mumbai at 6:27pm–8:27pm, Chennai at 6:07pm–8:09pm and Kolkata at 5:20pm–7:18pm on 8 November. These are local city timings, all expressed in IST. The shared time zone does not mean that the calendar’s sunset-based calculations produce the same window everywhere.

The comparison is useful when coordinating relatives in different cities: the festival evening is shared in these listings, but Delhi’s clock times should not simply be forwarded as a nationwide timetable. Equally, the beginning of Amavasya is not a substitute for a city’s recommended evening puja window.

Choose the city before setting the household plan

Open the calendar’s Lakshmi Puja page, select the city and check both the date and the labelled puja window. Then align the household plan with family custom or guidance from its priest. If another notice gives a wider period, compare whether it means Pradosh generally or the more specific recommended window before treating it as a contradiction.

For the New Delhi question, the answer remains Sunday evening, 8 November, with the listed 5:54pm–7:50pm window. Other communities may organise their observances differently. Religious timing also does not establish whether a bank, school or employer is closed: those arrangements need the relevant institution’s own notice. Keep the date, local calendar calculation and practical opening hours separate when finalising plans.

Sources & context

Prepared by the editorial team from the original sources listed below; result reporting and official access information are distinguished.

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