Durga Puja 2026 Date & Schedule — Mahalaya to Dashami

The direct answer: Durga Puja 2026 Date & Schedule — Mahalaya to Dashami: Durga Puja 2026 full schedule computed from the tithis: Mahalaya 8 October, Maha Shashthi 14 October, Maha Saptami 15 October, Maha Ashtami 16 October, Maha Navami 17 October, Vijayadashami 19 October — with the tithi behind each date shown. AskSoma publishes this at asksoma.ai/panchang/calendar/durga-puja-2026 as a free Vedic astrology resource using Swiss Ephemeris calculations and classical Jyotish interpretation — not generic sun-sign copy.

Durga Puja 2026 full schedule computed from the tithis: Mahalaya 8 October, Maha Shashthi 14 October, Maha Saptami 15 October, Maha Ashtami 16 October, Maha Navami 17 October, Vijayadashami 19 October — with the tithi behind each date shown.

Durga Puja 2026 — the Bengali festival of the Goddess, from Mahalaya through Vijayadashami in October 2026. The schedule below computes each day from its tithi: Maha Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Vijayadashami.

Durga Puja is dated by the Ashwin Shukla tithis: the goddess is awakened on Shashthi (Bodhon), worshipped through Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, and immersed on Dashami. Mahalaya — the amavasya that closes Pitru Paksha a fortnight earlier — opens the countdown, with Mahishasura Mardini playing at dawn across Bengal. Every date in the schedule is computed from the tithi at the reference meridian, and each row shows WHICH tithi it is, so when two panjikas disagree by a day you can see exactly why.

Durga Puja 2026 schedule — day by day

Each day is resolved from its tithi at the reference meridian. The tithi column shows WHY each date is what it is — and where two panjikas could differ.

Day	Date	Tithi	What happens
Mahalaya	10 October 2026 · Sat	Ashwin Krishna Amavasya	Pitru Paksha closes; Mahishasura Mardini at dawn opens the Puja countdown in Bengal.
Maha Shashthi	16 October 2026 · Fri	Ashwin Shukla Shashthi	Bodhon — the goddess is awakened; the face of the murti is unveiled at Kalparambha.
Maha Saptami	17 October 2026 · Sat	Ashwin Shukla Saptami	Nabapatrika snan at dawn; the first day of full puja.
Maha Ashtami	19 October 2026 · Mon	Ashwin Shukla Ashtami	Kumari Puja and the Sandhi Puja window straddling the Ashtami–Navami boundary.
Maha Navami	20 October 2026 · Tue	Ashwin Shukla Navami	The concluding maha-arati; bhog is offered and distributed.
Vijayadashami	21 October 2026 · Wed	Ashwin Shukla Dashami	Sindoor khela and bisorjon — the immersion processions; Dussehra across the rest of India.

Computed 2026-10-01 · dates resolved for New Delhi, IST — the reference meridian printed panchangs use. The same tithi can resolve to a different civil date elsewhere on Earth.

Key points

• The puja days are Ashwin Shukla Shashthi through Dashami — tithi-dated, which is why Durga Puja moves between late September and late October from year to year.
• Mahalaya is not the start of the puja: it is the Sarva Pitru Amavasya that closes Pitru Paksha, kept as the day the goddess begins her journey to her parental home.
• Sandhi Puja — the ritual climax — occupies the 48 minutes straddling the exact Ashtami–Navami boundary: the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 of Navami.
• Vijayadashami carries sindoor khela and bisorjon (immersion) in Bengal, and is kept as Dussehra — the victory of Rama — across the rest of India on the same tithi.
• Shardiya Navratri runs in parallel: Navratri begins on Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, nine days before Vijayadashami.

Durga Puja 2026 Date & Schedule — frequently asked

When is Durga Puja in 2026?

The computed 2026 schedule runs in mid-October: Mahalaya on 8 October, Maha Shashthi on 14 October, Maha Saptami on 15 October, Maha Ashtami on 16 October, Maha Navami on 17 October and Vijayadashami on 19 October (each date resolved from its tithi at the New Delhi reference meridian — see the schedule table for the tithi behind each day).

Why do some calendars differ by one day on Durga Puja dates?

A tithi rarely aligns with the civil day: it can begin mid-morning and end before the next sunrise. Different panjika schools (Drik-siddha observed-sky vs the older Bishuddha Siddhanta tables) and different reference cities resolve such edge days differently. This page computes from the observed sky and shows the tithi for each day, so a one-day difference elsewhere is explainable, not mysterious.

What is the difference between Durga Puja and Navratri?

They share the same fortnight and the same final tithi. Shardiya Navratri is the nine-night observance from Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, kept with fasting across North and West India. Durga Puja is the Bengali form, concentrated on Shashthi through Dashami, kept with pandals, bhog and immersion rather than fasting.

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Positions from the shared Lahiri-sidereal ephemeris; sunrise by the NOAA solar calculator. Every date above is computed, not stored. How AskSoma computes things.