Diwali Puja Time 2026: Lakshmi Puja Shubh Muhurat on 8 November, City by City

The Diwali puja time in 2026 depends on where you light the first diya. In Kolkata, the Lakshmi Puja muhurat opens at 5:20 PM on Sunday, 8 November. In Mumbai it opens at 6:27 PM, more than an hour later, though both cities follow the same rule. The muhurat is counted from each city's own sunset, so a family in Kolkata can be finishing its aarti just as one in Mumbai is lighting the diya.

Lakshmi Pujan Ka Shubh Muhurat 2026: City-wise Timings

These are the Lakshmi Puja timings for Sunday, 8 November 2026, listed from the earliest start to the latest. Each window is the Vrishabha lagna inside that city's Pradosh Kaal.

If your city is not listed, take the nearest city on the same longitude. Timings shift by roughly four minutes for every degree you move east or west, so a town 100 km from a listed city will rarely be more than a few minutes off.

Pradosh Kaal, Sthir Lagna and Mahanishita: The Three Windows of Diwali Night

Panchangs list three different times for the same night, which is where most of the confusion about the Lakshmi Puja time comes from. They are not competing answers. Each one serves a different kind of puja.

Pradosh Kaal is the stretch of evening that begins at sunset and lasts about two and a half hours. The rule for Diwali is that Lakshmi Puja is done while Amavasya covers Pradosh Kaal. That rule fixes both the hour and the date: in 2026, 8 November is the only evening when Amavasya is present after sunset.

Vrishabha Kaal is the part of Pradosh when Vrishabha (Taurus), a sthir or fixed sign, is rising. Fixed signs are chosen for anything you want to stay, and on Diwali that is Lakshmi herself. This is why panchangs mark the Vrishabha window as the Lakshmi Puja muhurat.

The same idea of wealth that stays runs through the Ambabai Mahalakshmi temple in Kolhapur, one of the Shaktipeeths of Lakshmi. On Diwali Amavasya, Ekishwar arranges the Mahalakshmi Dhan Sthirta Nariyal Vidhi there, with the Devi's solah shringar, for families who want a temple puja for steady prosperity alongside the one at home.

Diwali Amavasya at KolhapurAmavasya Maa Mahalakshmi Dhan-Sthirta Shri Nariyal Vidhi Solah Rajsi ShringarNariyal vidhi and solah shringar at the Ambabai Shaktipeeth, for wealth that staysShri Mahalaxmi Ambabai Temple, KolhapurBook this puja

Mahanishita Kaal is the deepest part of the night. Households don't need it, but those who keep a night-long vigil or follow a tantric tradition do their main worship here. A second fixed sign, Simha (Leo), rises from 12:25 AM to 2:42 AM on 9 November in Delhi, and some traditions extend the midnight worship into it.

In Bengal, the same midnight belongs to Kali Puja. Families who want Maa Kali's protection on Diwali night can offer the Kalighat Shaktipeeth Nazar Mukti Nariyal Chadhawa through Ekishwar.

Diwali Puja Choghadiya 2026 for Shops and Offices

Home pujas follow the Vrishabha Kaal. Shops and offices often can't, because staff go home before dark, so many businesses do their Diwali puja in a daytime choghadiya once Amavasya has begun at 11:27 AM.

Choghadiya timings follow sunrise and sunset, so they shift by city in the same way as the Lakshmi Puja muhurat. Panchangs generally treat choghadiya as a fallback for business pujas, not a substitute for the Vrishabha Kaal at home.

Chopda Puja and bahi-khata

Traders who open new account books on Diwali (Chopda Puja in Gujarat, bahi-khata puja in the north) usually do it in the same evening window as the Lakshmi Puja, or in the afternoon Shubh choghadiya if the shop closes early. Write Shubh-Labh and a swastik in sindoor on the first page before any entry.

Many trading families, particularly in Rajasthan, also seek Khatu Shyam ji's blessings, Hare ka Sahara, at the start of the business year. Through Ekishwar, the Vyapar Vriddhi Dhan Labh Shyam Chadhava can be offered at the Khatu Shyam temple on the business's behalf, alongside the Chopda Puja at the shop.

Planning Diwali Evening Around the Muhurat

A two-hour window sounds generous until the evening fills up with guests, phone calls and diyas to light in every room. Working backwards from your city's muhurat keeps the puja itself unhurried. Here is the plan for New Delhi; shift every time by your city's difference.

A common delay is discovering, at 5:45 PM, that something on the thali is missing. Ekishwar's Shree Mahalaxmi Puja Kosh puts 21 Lakshmi puja essentials in one box, so the thali can be ready by 4:00 PM without a last-minute run to the market. The full Diwali puja samagri list has everything else.

21 Lakshmi puja essentials in one boxShree Mahalaxmi Puja KoshComplete puja kit containing 21 essential Shree Mahalaxmi worship itemsView product

The dhoop step comes near the end of the puja, just before the aarti, and the fragrance carries into the evening that follows. Royal Ark dhoop cones work for the dhoop offering itself, while incense sticks or dhoop sticks from the same range can go into the other rooms once the diyas are lit.

For the dhoop offering before the aartiDhoop Cones – Royal ArkThe Royal Ark Dhoop Cones from Ek Ishwar’s Sugandhik range are crafted as a tribute to sacred richness and timeless devotion.View product

The Diwali puja vidhi covers each step of the puja itself.

What If You Miss the Diwali Puja Muhurat?

Missing the Vrishabha Kaal doesn't cancel the Lakshmi Puja. The fallbacks follow a simple order.

• Still within Pradosh Kaal: carry on. In New Delhi Pradosh runs until 8:09 PM, about 20 minutes past the end of Vrishabha Kaal, and a puja started anywhere in Pradosh is considered valid.
• After Pradosh, before midnight: do the puja anyway. Amavasya lasts the whole night of 8 November, and the tithi matters more than the hour.
• During Mahanishita (11:38 PM to 12:31 AM in Delhi): suitable if you keep a night vigil, or if work or travel keeps you out until late.
• Not on 9 November evening. Amavasya ends at 12:31 PM on 9 November, so the next evening no longer counts as Diwali night.

If travel, work or illness means you can't sit for the puja yourself on 8 November, a temple puja on the same Amavasya is another way to mark the night. Ekishwar's Diwali Amavasya Hinglaj Shaktipeeth puja at Pushkar includes a Manokamna Siddhi Paath and a Navgrah havan, performed by the temple's priests in your family's name.

On Diwali Amavasya, 8 NovemberDiwali Amavasya Hinglaj Shaktipeeth Manokamna Siddhi Paath with Navgrah HavanManokamna Siddhi Paath and Navgrah havan at Pushkar, in your family's nameHinglaj Mata Mandir, PushkarBook this puja

One Rule Behind Every City's Diwali Puja Time

Every timing in this guide comes from one rule: Lakshmi Puja is done in Pradosh Kaal, ideally while a fixed sign is rising, on the evening that Amavasya covers. In 2026 that evening is Sunday, 8 November, and the only thing that changes from Kolkata to Mumbai is sunset. Find your city's window, start the Ganesh puja a few minutes early, and treat Pradosh Kaal and Mahanishita as backups, not as competing answers.

Diwali week 2026 · 6 – 8 November

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Offer a chadhava this Diwali. If you'd rather make an offering than book a full puja, these are offered at the temple in your name:

• Kalighat Shaktipeeth Nazar Mukti Nariyal Chadhawa, for Maa Kali's protection on Kali Puja night
• Vyapar Vriddhi Dhan Labh Shyam Chadhava, to Khatu Shyam ji for business growth in the new year

For Lakshmi puja kits, dhoop and incense for Diwali night, visit Ekishwar.

Diwali 2026 · 8 November

Lakshmi puja kit and Royal Ark dhoop, delivered home

Shree Mahalaxmi Puja KoshComplete puja kit containing 21 essential Shree Mahalaxmi worship itemsView productDhoop Cones – Royal ArkThe Royal Ark Dhoop Cones from Ek Ishwar’s Sugandhik range are crafted as a tribute to sacred richness and timeless devotion.View productIncense Stick – Royal ArkRoyal Ark Incense Stick is a premium, deeply resonant fragrance crafted to evoke a sense of regal stillness and spiritual authority.View product

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