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Durga Puja 2026 (Bengal)

Durga Puja in 2026 by the Bengal rule of Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva: the bodhana, the leaf entry, the Mahāṣṭamī, the Sandhi Puja, the Mahānavamī and the immersion, with their times, for your city.

Bengal (Raghunandana, Tithi-tattva)

Durga Puja in Kolkata

18 to 21 October

From the leaf entry on Sunday, 18 October to the immersion on Wednesday, 21 October; the bodhana is on Friday, 16 October.

MahashtamiMon 19 Oct
MahanavamiTue 20 Oct
Sandhi PujaMon 19 Oct, 10:28 – 11:16

Days reckoned at Kolkata, where this Bengal rule is kept; times in your local clock. Tithi-tattva pp. 73⁠–⁠92

The schedule, act by act

Bengal (Raghunandana, Tithi-tattva)

Days reckoned at Kolkata, where this Bengal rule is kept; times in your local clock.

The bright fortnight of the pūjā follows Mahālaya Amāvasyā, the last day of the Mahālaya fortnight, which fell on Saturday, 10 October in Kolkata. Mahalaya Amavasya

ActDayTimeWhy
BodhanaPast Fri 16 Oct 17:09 – 18:21 The goddess is awakened at a bilva tree in the Ṣaṣṭhī’s evening twilight, on Friday. Tithi-tattva pp. 73⁠–⁠75 The evening twilight is taken as three ghaṭīs after sunset, our reading.The bodhana may also be held on the dark Navamī of Āśvina, in the forenoon, ideally with Ārdrā.
AmantranaPast Sat 17 Oct 17:08 – 18:20 The goddess is invited on the evening before the leaf entry, Saturday; the Ṣaṣṭhī is not required for it. Tithi-tattva p. 76 Also shown: Friday, 16 October, the evening before the leaf entry’s other day. Tithi-tattva p. 76
Navapatrika entry Sun 18 Oct 05:35 – 08:28 The Saptamī is current at Sunday’s sunrise in Kolkata, so the nine leaves enter that day, in the forenoon, never at night. Tithi-tattva pp. 76⁠–⁠77 A movable lagna or navāṃśa is wanted for it (p. 89): 05:36 – 08:05. Also shown: Saturday, 17 October. The Saptamī begins only 20 minutes after Saturday’s sunrise in Kolkata. Had it begun a ghaṭikā (24 minutes) earlier, it would fill that whole day, and the Tithi-tattva then takes the complete day. Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠88
Mahashtami Mon 19 Oct – The Aṣṭamī is current at Monday’s sunrise in Kolkata, joined to the Navamī, so the Mahāṣṭamī pūjā and fast are on Monday. Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠89 The fast is kept on the pūjā day, not on the day of the sandhi.
Sandhi Puja Mon 19 Oct 10:28 – 11:16 The last daṇḍa of the Aṣṭamī and the first of the Navamī: the 48 minutes at the junction, on Monday. Tithi-tattva p. 86 Its bali is given on the Navamī.
Mahanavami Tue 20 Oct – The Navamī is current at Tuesday’s sunrise in Kolkata, after the sandhi on Monday, so the Mahānavamī pūjā is on Tuesday. Tithi-tattva p. 88 The Nirṇaya-sindhu and the Dharmasindhu keep the Mahānavamī on Monday, 19 October at Kolkata. Nirṇaya-sindhu pp. 272⁠–⁠273; Dharmasindhu p. 69 Navratri 2026
Immersion Wed 21 Oct 05:36 – 11:21 The Daśamī is current at Wednesday’s sunrise in Kolkata, so the immersion is on Wednesday, in the forenoon, never at night. Tithi-tattva pp. 86⁠–⁠87 Śravaṇa, which the text wants, is not current in that forenoon; it does not move the day.A movable lagna or navāṃśa is wanted for it (p. 89): 05:36 – 07:53, 08:23 – 08:39, 09:09 – 09:24, 09:54 – 10:08, 10:37 – 10:51, 11:19 – 11:21. Vijayādaśamī, the afternoon rite the Dussehra page follows, falls on Tuesday, 20 October: it is decided by the Daśamī in the afternoon, while the immersion waits for the Daśamī at Kolkata’s sunrise, Wednesday’s. Dussehra 2026

How the days are chosen

Every act, from the leaf entry to the immersion, is held on the tithi current at sunrise, even for a muhūrta, which is how the Tithi-tattva reads its ghaṭikā. The worship usually takes three days, and two or four when a tithi is lost or gained. Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠89

The pūjā’s season runs from the dark Navamī of Āśvina to the bright Daśamī. The Sun in Kanyā adds merit and is not a condition. Tithi-tattva p. 73

Other years: Durga Puja 2027, Durga Puja 2028, Durga Puja 2029; all Durga Puja dates.

Questions

From Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva, with the Nirṇaya-sindhu and the Dharmasindhu where they differ.

When is Durga Puja 2026?

By Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva, with the days reckoned at Kolkata for every city: from the leaf entry on Sunday, 18 October to the immersion on Wednesday, 21 October. The Mahāṣṭamī is on Monday, 19 October, the Sandhi Puja from 10:28 to 11:16 Kolkata time on Monday, and the Mahānavamī on Tuesday, 20 October. The bodhana is on Friday, 16 October. Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠89

Why can Maha Navami differ between calendars?

The Tithi-tattva keeps the Mahānavamī on the day after the sandhi, on the Navamī current at sunrise. The Nirṇaya-sindhu and the Dharmasindhu take the Navamī of the Aṣṭamī day when it covers three muhūrtas before that day’s sunset, and otherwise the next day, so in many years they keep it a day earlier. In 2026, in Kolkata, the Tithi-tattva gives Tuesday, 20 October and the other two give Monday, 19 October. Tithi-tattva p. 88; Nirṇaya-sindhu pp. 272⁠–⁠273; Dharmasindhu p. 69

What time is Sandhi Puja?

In Kolkata, from 10:28 to 11:16 on Monday, 19 October: the last daṇḍa of the Aṣṭamī and the first of the Navamī, 48 minutes at the junction of the two tithis. Tithi-tattva p. 86

When is the immersion on Dashami?

In Kolkata, on Wednesday, 21 October, in the forenoon, from 05:36 to 11:21: on the Daśamī current at sunrise, never at night. When the Daśamī lasts under a muhūrta after sunrise, the Aparājitā pūjā and the immersion move to the day before. Tithi-tattva pp. 86⁠–⁠89

Is Durga Puja the same as Navratri?

It falls in the same bright fortnight of Āśvina as Navratri, on its sixth to tenth days. Bengal’s schedule follows Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva, and the Navratri pages follow the Nirṇaya-sindhu and the Dharmasindhu, so a day can differ, the Mahānavamī most often. Navratri 2026

Is the date different in the US or UK?

No. The days are reckoned at Kolkata, where this Bengal rule is kept, for every city, and the times are in your local clock. Where a city’s own sunrise would give another day for an act, the schedule says so. Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠89

How the days are found

Read the methodology
The rule
Every act on the tithi current at sunrise for at least a muhūrta (Tithi-tattva pp. 87⁠–⁠89); a tithi holding no sunrise gives the day it falls on (our reading of p. 89).
Bodhana
The Ṣaṣṭhī’s evening twilight, three ghaṭīs after sunset (our reading), with the two-day rules of p. 75; the āmantraṇa on the evening before the leaf entry (p. 76).
Forenoon
The leaf entry and the immersion in the forenoon, sunrise to midday (our reading), never at night (pp. 76⁠–⁠77, 86⁠–⁠87). The movable lagna or navāṃśa the text wants (p. 89) is listed beside them.
Sandhi Puja
The last daṇḍa of the Aṣṭamī and the first of the Navamī, 48 minutes at the junction (p. 86).
Mahanavami
The day after the sandhi, on the sunrise Navamī (p. 88). The Nirṇaya-sindhu’s and the Dharmasindhu’s day is shown beside it where it differs (NS pp. 272⁠–⁠273; DS p. 69).
One set of days
Kolkata’s days for every city, where this Bengal rule is kept. Where the city’s own sunrise would give another day, the schedule notes it.
Sunrise and sunset
At Kolkata for the days, at the centre of the Sun’s disc, with refraction. The forenoon and evening windows are the chosen city’s own on those days.

Days at Kolkata · sunrise and sunset at the centre of the Sun’s disc, with refraction · Lahiri ayanamsa · times in each city’s own clock · Swiss Ephemeris · Method