Narak Chaturdashi 2026: Abhyang Snan Time in 30 Cities, Choti Diwali Date and Rituals

Narak Chaturdashi 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November, and this year it shares the date with Diwali itself. The pre-dawn oil bath, Abhyang Snan, is done that morning from moonrise to sunrise: 5:41 AM to 6:38 AM in New Delhi. Lakshmi Puja follows the same evening. The lamps of Choti Diwali, Kali Chaudas and the Yama deep are lit the evening before, on Saturday 7 November, because Chaturdashi tithi begins at 10:48 AM that day.

That split confuses a lot of families, so this guide sets out what happens on each day, gives the Abhyang Snan window for 30 cities, and walks through the rituals in the order they are done.

• Narak Chaturdashi 2026 at a glance
• Is Choti Diwali on 7 or 8 November?
• Abhyang Snan time in 30 cities
• Rituals on the evening of 7 November
• Abhyang Snan vidhi on 8 November
• The story of Narakasura
• How India marks the day, region by region
• Frequently asked questions

Narak Chaturdashi 2026 at a glance

Detail	Narak Chaturdashi 2026 (New Delhi)
Date of Abhyang Snan	Sunday, 8 November 2026
Abhyang Snan muhurat	5:41 AM to 6:38 AM (moonrise to sunrise, 57 minutes)
Chaturdashi tithi	10:48 AM on 7 November to 11:28 AM on 8 November
Lunar month	Kartik Krishna Chaturdashi (Ashwin Krishna in the amanta calendar)
Choti Diwali lamps, Yama deep	Evening of Saturday, 7 November (sunset 5:32 PM)
Kali Chaudas, Hanuman puja	Night of 7 November, Nishita Kaal 11:39 PM to 12:31 AM
Moon’s nakshatra at dawn	Swati
Same day	Diwali Lakshmi Puja, Tamil Deepavali, Kali Puja

Is Choti Diwali on 7 or 8 November 2026?

Both answers appear online, and both are partly right. Panchangs fix each observance of Chaturdashi by a different moment of the day:

• Abhyang Snan needs Chaturdashi at moonrise before dawn. On 8 November the Moon rises at 5:41 AM in Delhi and Chaturdashi lasts until 11:28 AM, so the bath is on the 8th. On 7 November Chaturdashi had not started at dawn.
• Kali Chaudas needs Chaturdashi at midnight. Only the night of 7 to 8 November qualifies.
• Diwali Lakshmi Puja needs Amavasya in the evening. Amavasya begins at 11:28 AM on 8 November, so the puja is that evening.

Calendars that print “Narak Chaturdashi” go by the bath, so they show 8 November. In everyday North Indian usage Choti Diwali is the evening before the big puja, when the first lamps go up, and that is Saturday 7 November. In practice: light the Choti Diwali diyas on the 7th, take the oil bath before sunrise on the 8th, and do Lakshmi Puja on the evening of the 8th. Our Diwali 2026 Lakshmi Puja muhurat guide has the evening timings for each city.

Narak Chaturdashi 2026 Abhyang Snan time in 30 cities

The window opens at local moonrise and closes at sunrise. Chaturdashi is present at moonrise in every city below, so the date is the same across India.

City	Abhyang Snan, 8 November	Duration
Delhi	5:41 AM to 6:38 AM	57 min
Noida	5:40 AM to 6:37 AM	57 min
Gurugram	5:41 AM to 6:38 AM	57 min
Chandigarh	5:46 AM to 6:43 AM	57 min
Amritsar	5:56 AM to 6:52 AM	56 min
Ludhiana	5:50 AM to 6:47 AM	57 min
Jammu	5:58 AM to 6:54 AM	56 min
Dehradun	5:40 AM to 6:37 AM	57 min
Jaipur	5:44 AM to 6:41 AM	57 min
Jodhpur	5:55 AM to 6:51 AM	56 min
Lucknow	5:23 AM to 6:20 AM	57 min
Kanpur	5:24 AM to 6:22 AM	58 min
Varanasi	5:12 AM to 6:10 AM	58 min
Agra	5:35 AM to 6:33 AM	58 min
Patna	5:03 AM to 6:02 AM	59 min
Ranchi	4:59 AM to 5:58 AM	59 min
Kolkata	4:45 AM to 5:45 AM	60 min
Bhubaneswar	4:53 AM to 5:52 AM	59 min
Guwahati	4:37 AM to 5:36 AM	59 min
Bhopal	5:32 AM to 6:29 AM	57 min
Indore	5:38 AM to 6:35 AM	57 min
Raipur	5:11 AM to 6:10 AM	59 min
Nagpur	5:22 AM to 6:20 AM	58 min
Ahmedabad	5:52 AM to 6:48 AM	56 min
Surat	5:48 AM to 6:45 AM	57 min
Mumbai	5:45 AM to 6:42 AM	57 min
Pune	5:40 AM to 6:37 AM	57 min
Hyderabad	5:19 AM to 6:17 AM	58 min
Bengaluru	5:17 AM to 6:15 AM	58 min
Chennai	5:06 AM to 6:05 AM	59 min

Some families follow the older Arunodaya rule and bathe in the 96 minutes before sunrise, which in Delhi starts at about 5:02 AM. Chaturdashi is present through that whole stretch as well, so both rules point to the same morning. This pre-dawn stretch overlaps Brahma Muhurta, the time traditionally set aside for bathing and prayer. If you miss the window, bathe as early after sunrise as you can; the day stays Chaturdashi until late morning.

Rituals on the evening of 7 November

Choti Diwali lamps and Yama deep daan

After sunset on 7 November, families light the first small round of diyas at the door, the kitchen, the water tank and near the tulsi. Many North Indian homes also place a four-wicked mustard oil lamp outside the main door facing south, the direction of Yama, as a prayer that no one in the house meets an untimely death. Some panchangs list Yama Deepam with Dhanteras on 6 November; families who did it then often repeat the lamp on Choti Diwali. A common custom is to light fourteen diyas on Chaturdashi, one for each of the fourteen worlds.

Kali Chaudas and Hanuman puja

In Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan the night of Chaturdashi is Kali Chaudas, kept for Mahakali and for Hanuman. People offer sindoor and oil to Hanuman, recite the Hanuman Chalisa, and some perform rituals for protection from the evil eye at a crossroads or at the family shrine. The key window is Nishita Kaal around midnight: 11:39 PM to 12:31 AM in Delhi, 11:58 PM to 12:49 AM in Ahmedabad and 11:57 PM to 12:48 AM in Mumbai.

Getting ready for the bath

Keep sesame oil, an ubtan (gram flour with turmeric, sandalwood and a little milk or rose water), a sprig of apamarga (chirchita) if you can find it, and fresh clothes ready before you sleep. Set an alarm for about half an hour before your city’s moonrise.

Abhyang Snan vidhi on the morning of 8 November

1. Wake before moonrise and take a sankalp for the Narak Chaturdashi snan, naming the date and your family.
2. Massage sesame oil over the body and hair. This oil massage is the “abhyanga” that gives the bath its name.
3. Apply the ubtan and rub it off. In Rajasthan and Gujarat this is the Roop Chaudas ritual, done for radiance and good looks in the year ahead.
4. During the bath, many families move a sprig of apamarga around the head three times, a traditional gesture for washing away sin and the fear of hell.
5. Bathe with warm water before sunrise, then wear new or freshly washed clothes.
6. Offer water to Yama facing south (Yama tarpan) with a simple prayer, and then offer water to the rising Sun.
7. Worship Krishna, who defeated Narakasura, with flowers and a lamp, and share sweets with the family.

The rest of the day leads into Diwali. Clean and decorate the house in the late morning and afternoon, and keep the Lakshmi Puja samagri ready for the evening muhurat. Rahu Kaal on Sunday afternoon in Delhi is 4:10 PM to 5:32 PM, so avoid starting the puja then; the Rahu Kalam calculator gives it for your city.

The story of Narakasura

The Bhagavata Purana tells of Narakasura, also called Bhaumasura, the son of Bhudevi, the Earth. He ruled from Pragjyotishpur, which tradition places near present-day Guwahati, and grew arrogant with power. He seized the earrings of Aditi, mother of the gods, and imprisoned thousands of young women. At the request of the gods, Krishna rode out on Garuda with his queen Satyabhama, broke through the defences of the city and killed Narakasura on Chaturdashi. Before he died, Narakasura asked that people celebrate his death with lights, so that his end would mean joy for the world.

Many versions of the story give Satyabhama the decisive role, and some say she was Bhudevi reborn, so that only his own mother could end him. The oil bath is said to recall Krishna washing away the battle at dawn. The lamps for Yama come from a separate idea: that a lamp lit for the god of death on this night protects the family through the year.

How India marks Narak Chaturdashi, region by region

Region	Name and custom	2026 date
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana	Deepavali itself: Ganga snanam oil bath before dawn, new clothes, crackers	Sun 8 Nov, morning
Maharashtra	Abhyanga snan; a bitter karit fruit is crushed underfoot as a symbol of Narakasura’s end	Sun 8 Nov, morning
Goa	Large Narkasur effigies paraded through the night and burnt before dawn	Night of 7 to 8 Nov
Gujarat	Kali Chaudas: Mahakali and Hanuman puja at night	Sat 7 Nov, night
Rajasthan	Roop Chaudas: ubtan and beauty rituals with the bath	Sun 8 Nov, morning
West Bengal	Bhoot Chaturdashi: fourteen leafy greens eaten and fourteen lamps lit	Sat 7 Nov, evening
North India	Choti Diwali lamps and Yama deep in the evening, bath next morning	7 Nov evening, 8 Nov morning

In South India the morning bath is the main Deepavali celebration. That is why Tamil Deepavali and North Indian Diwali sometimes fall on different days. In 2026 they coincide, because Chaturdashi at dawn and Amavasya in the evening both fall on 8 November.

The sky on Narak Chaturdashi

At dawn on 8 November the thin waning Moon rises just ahead of the Sun in Libra, in Swati nakshatra. Venus is retrograde in Virgo and Mercury retrograde in Libra, both turning direct within a week. The November 2026 horoscope explains what that means for each Moon sign, and the daily Panchang gives the tithi and nakshatra for any day of the festival week.

To see which planetary period you are running, start with a free Kundli, or go deeper with a dated reading from our premium reports.

Frequently asked questions

When is Narak Chaturdashi in 2026?

Sunday, 8 November 2026. The Abhyang Snan in Delhi is from 5:41 AM to 6:38 AM. Chaturdashi tithi runs from 10:48 AM on 7 November to 11:28 AM on 8 November.

Are Choti Diwali and Diwali on the same day in 2026?

The Choti Diwali lamps and Yama deep are lit on the evening of 7 November, when Chaturdashi has already begun. The Narak Chaturdashi bath and Diwali Lakshmi Puja are both on 8 November.

When is Kali Chaudas 2026?

On the night of Saturday, 7 November, because Chaturdashi is present at midnight only on that night. In Ahmedabad the Nishita Kaal is 11:58 PM to 12:49 AM.

When is Tamil Deepavali 2026?

Sunday, 8 November 2026, with the oil bath before sunrise. In Chennai the window is 5:06 AM to 6:05 AM.

Can the Narak Chaturdashi bath be taken after sunrise?

The tradition is to bathe before sunrise, between moonrise and dawn. If that is not possible, bathe as early as you can after sunrise, while Chaturdashi lasts until 11:28 AM.

How these timings were worked out: moonrise, sunrise, sunset, Nishita Kaal and the Chaturdashi tithi were calculated by Nakshatra Finder for each city with the Swiss Ephemeris, and the New Delhi window was checked against published panchang times. Rituals are described as commonly practised; family and regional customs vary.