Karwa Chauth 2026Puja Muhurat, Moonrise Time and City-wise Timings

Karwa Chauth 2026 at a glance

Karwa Chauth, the fast married women keep for their husbands' long life and well-being, falls on Thursday, 29 October 2026. It is kept on the Chaturthi (fourth day) of the dark fortnight of Kartik in the purnimanta calendar used in North India. In the amanta calendar of Gujarat, Maharashtra and the South, the same day falls in Ashwin, but it is the same date everywhere. The day is also called Karak Chaturthi, after the karwa or karak, the clay pot from which water is offered to the moon.

• Chaturthi tithi: from 1:06 am to 10:09 pm on 29 October
• Fasting time (upavasa): 6:31 am to 8:17 pm, about 13 hours 46 minutes
• Karwa Chauth puja muhurat: 5:38 pm to 6:56 pm
• Moonrise: 8:17 pm

These timings are for New Delhi. Moonrise and the puja muhurat change from city to city, by more than an hour across India. Check your city in the table below, and don't break the fast on a time you saw for another city.

The day, from sargi to moonrise (Thursday, 29 October)

Before sunrise: sargi

The fast starts at sunrise, 6:31 am in Delhi, so the sargi is eaten before it, usually between 4 and 5:30 am. In Punjabi families the mother-in-law sends the sargi: fruit, dry fruits, mathri, pheniyan (sweet vermicelli), sweets, and often clothes and shringar items for the day. Eat something filling and drink plenty of water, since many women keep the fast nirjala, without water, until moonrise.

Morning: sankalp

After bathing, take the sankalp, the resolve to keep the fast, before your deity, praying for your husband's long life and your household's well-being. Many women wear red, or their wedding clothes, and do the full solah shringar during the day.

Afternoon: preparing for the puja

Set up the puja place: a picture or calendar of Karwa Mata (Chauth Mata) with Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Kartikeya, or a small Gauri shaped from clay. Prepare the karwa (a clay pot with a spout, or a metal one) filled with water, its mouth covered with a lid holding a few sweets. Keep a thali with roli, akshat, sindoor, a lamp, flowers, sweets, and a chhalni (sieve).

Evening: puja and katha (puja muhurat 5:38 to 6:56 pm in Delhi)

This is the main puja. Worship Gauri (Parvati) and Shiva, Ganesh and Kartikeya, and Karwa Mata, offering roli, akshat, flowers and sweets, and light the lamp. Listen to or read the Karwa Chauth katha (below). In Punjabi homes, women gather in a circle, often at a neighbour's house or a temple, and pass their thalis round from hand to hand seven times while singing the traditional Karwa Chauth songs; this is called the feri. Afterwards, many women give a baya (a thali of sweets, fruit, clothes or money) to the mother-in-law or an elder woman, and touch her feet.

Night: moonrise and the arghya (8:17 pm in Delhi)

When the moon rises, go to the roof, the balcony or an open place. Offer water to the moon from the karwa as arghya, along with roli and akshat. Look at the moon through the chhalni, and then at your husband's face through it. Your husband gives you the first sip of water and the first bite of food, and the fast is complete. The meal that follows is usually a simple, sattvik one.

City-wise puja muhurat and moonrise time, 29 October 2026

Moonrise is the time the moon crosses the horizon. Behind buildings, trees or haze, you may actually see it 10 to 20 minutes later, so go up a little after the time shown and keep looking east.

The Karwa Chauth katha: Veeravati and her seven brothers

The story most often read at the puja is about Veeravati, the only sister of seven brothers. She kept her first Karwa Chauth fast at her parents' home, and by evening she was faint with hunger and thirst. Her brothers couldn't bear to see her suffer. They lit a fire behind a distant tree (in some tellings, held a lamp behind a sieve) so that it glowed like the rising moon, and told her the moon was up. Veeravati offered arghya to the false moon and broke her fast. At once news came that her husband had died.

Heartbroken, she refused to accept it. In most versions she is told, by the goddess Parvati or by Indrani, that the fast was broken before the true moonrise, and that she must keep it again with full devotion. She keeps the Chauth fasts faithfully through the year, and on the next Karwa Chauth, by the goddess's grace, her husband's life is restored. Details differ from region to region and family to family, and some families read a different katha, about a devoted wife named Karwa. The heart of the story is the same: the fast is kept until the real moon rises, with faith and patience. All four stories read at the puja, in full, are in our Karwa Chauth vrat katha.

Rules and cautions for the fast

• Break the fast only after you have seen the moon, or at least after your city's moonrise time if clouds hide it (see the FAQ).
• Nirjala is the tradition, not a requirement for everyone. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, on regular medication or unwell, keep a fast with water, fruit and milk instead, and ask your doctor. A fast kept with devotion is complete whether or not you drink water.
• Avoid quarrels, harsh words and gossip through the day. The fast is a prayer for the household's harmony as much as for the husband's life.
• Keep the karwa clean and whole. Many families give the karwa to an elder woman or a priestess after the puja, along with some dakshina.
• Newly married women often keep their first Karwa Chauth with special care, with gifts from the in-laws and the sargi from the mother-in-law.

For the deity at the centre of the fast, read the Parvati Chalisa or sing Jai Parvati Mata. Many women also chant the Gauri Shankarardhangi mantra, a prayer for a marriage as close as Shiva and Parvati's.

Frequently asked questions

When is Karwa Chauth in 2026?

Thursday, 29 October 2026. Chaturthi tithi runs from 1:06 am to 10:09 pm that day, and the moon rises at 8:17 pm in Delhi.

What is the Karwa Chauth puja muhurat in 2026?

In New Delhi, 5:38 pm to 6:56 pm. In other cities it shifts with local sunset, from about 5:01 pm in Kolkata to 6:07 pm in Mumbai; see the table above.

What if the moon isn't visible because of clouds?

Families follow one of two customs. Many wait until the moonrise time for their city has passed and then offer arghya facing the direction where the moon would be, often in front of a picture of the moon or of Shiva, who wears it on his head. Others call a relative in a city where the moon is visible. Ask the elders of your family which they follow.

Can I drink water during the Karwa Chauth fast?

The traditional fast is nirjala, without water. But health comes first: pregnant women, nursing mothers, diabetics and anyone on medication can keep the fast with water, fruit or milk. Many families encourage this.

Can unmarried girls keep Karwa Chauth?

Yes, in many families girls keep it for a good husband or for their fiancé. In some traditions unmarried girls break the fast on seeing the stars rather than the moon. Follow your family's custom.

What is sargi, and when should it be eaten?

Sargi is the pre-dawn meal, traditionally sent by the mother-in-law, eaten before sunrise (6:31 am in Delhi). It usually includes fruit, dry fruits, sweets, pheniyan and mathri, and often clothes and shringar items for the day.

Can husbands keep the Karwa Chauth fast too?

Nothing in the tradition forbids it, and many husbands now fast alongside their wives. It is a personal choice, and a gesture many couples value.