Sharad Purnima 2026: Date, Story, Significance and Puja Vidhi

Sharad Purnima 2026 falls on Sunday, 25 October. It is the full moon of the month of Ashwin, coming five days after Dussehra, and is traditionally called the brightest full moon of the year. Devotees remember Krishna’s raas leela, worship Lakshmi as Kojagari Purnima, and leave kheer in the moonlight overnight. In New Delhi, moonrise is at about 5:00 pm.

Sharad Purnima 2026 date and timings

Detail	2026 (New Delhi, approximate)
Sharad Purnima	Sunday, 25 October 2026
Purnima tithi begins	About 11:55 am, 25 October
Purnima tithi ends	About 9:41 am, 26 October
Moonrise	About 5:00 pm, 25 October
Kheer in moonlight	Night of 25 October

Moonrise and tithi times differ by city, and some regional calendars mark the Purnima vrat on 26 October because the tithi continues into that morning. Confirm locally with the panchang your family follows.

The story behind Sharad Purnima

Krishna’s raas leela

The best-known story belongs to Vrindavan. The Bhagavata Purana (Book 10, chapters 29 to 33) describes how Krishna, seeing the autumn nights fragrant with blossoming jasmine, played his flute, and the gopis left everything to join him. The dance that followed, the raas leela, is read in devotional tradition as the soul’s longing for the divine rather than as an ordinary romance. That episode opens by referring to autumn nights, which is why this full moon is so closely tied to the raas. Read more in Radha and Krishna: Love and Devotion and the wider stories of Lord Krishna.

Kojagari Lakshmi Puja

In Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Mithila and Maharashtra this full moon is Kojagari (or Kojagara) Purnima. Lakshmi is believed to travel through the night asking “Ko jagarti?”, “Who is awake?”, and to bless homes where people are awake, alert and devoted. Families clean the house, draw alpana or rangoli, keep a lamp burning and worship Lakshmi at night. The Om Jai Lakshmi Mata aarti and the Lakshmi beej mantra are suitable for the evening prayer.

The moon with sixteen kalas

Tradition describes the moon as complete with all sixteen kalas (digits) only on this night. Its light is said to be cooling and nourishing after the heat of the monsoon months, which is the basis of the festival’s best-known custom. The Chandra mantra is often chanted while offering water to the moon.

The kheer-in-moonlight ritual

1. Prepare rice kheer with milk, sugar or jaggery, and a little cardamom in the evening.
2. Offer it first to Lakshmi, Vishnu or Krishna as naivedya.
3. Place it in a clean vessel in the open moonlight, on a terrace, balcony or window ledge, covered with a fine muslin cloth to keep insects and dust away.
4. Leave it for a few hours or overnight, as your family does.
5. Share it as prasad, either late that night or early the next morning.

Use food-safe judgement: in warm weather, or if the kheer will be out for many hours, a shorter exposure followed by refrigeration is sensible.

Sharad Purnima puja vidhi at home

1. Bathe in the morning and, if you wish, keep a light fast with fruit and milk.
2. In the evening clean the prayer space and place an image of Lakshmi, Vishnu or Krishna.
3. Light a ghee lamp and offer flowers, kumkum, rice, incense and white sweets.
4. Chant a Lakshmi or Vishnu mantra, such as those in the powerful Vishnu mantras guide, or sing an aarti.
5. After moonrise, offer arghya (water, with a little milk and rice if customary) to the moon.
6. Place the kheer in moonlight, and spend part of the night in kirtan, reading or quiet prayer, in the spirit of “Who is awake?”

Sharad Purnima in the festival season

Sharad Purnima closes the Navratri fortnight that began on 11 October; see the Navratri 2026 dates and colours guide. It also marks the start of the sacred month of Kartik in many North Indian calendars, which leads to Karwa Chauth on 29 October, Ahoi Ashtami on 1 November and the five days of Diwali from Dhanteras on 6 November. For every date in one place, see the Hindu festival calendar 2026.