What Sharad Purnima is
Sharad Purnima is the full moon (Purnima) of the lunar month of Ashwin, in the season the Hindu calendar calls Sharad, autumn. The monsoon has passed, the sky is clear, and the full moon of this month is the brightest people see all year. It falls a few days after Dussehra and about two weeks before Diwali, and it carries several festivals in one night: the Kojagari Lakshmi puja of eastern India, kheer in the moonlight across the north, the Maha-Raas of Krishna in Braj, and the birthday of Maharishi Valmiki.
Sharad Purnima dates in 2026 and 2027
Dates below are for New Delhi, from Drik Panchang.
| Year | Sharad Purnima |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday, 25 October |
| 2027 | Thursday, 14 October |
A Purnima tithi often begins in the afternoon of one day and ends on the next. The festival belongs to the night on which the full-moon tithi is in force after moonrise, so in some years the Panchang marks the vrat on one date and the Purnima "snan-daan" (bathing and charity) on the next. For your city, check the Panchang.
Why this full moon is special
Tradition says that on this night the moon shines with all sixteen of its kalas (digits or qualities), and that this is the only full moon of the year which is complete in every one. Its light is believed to carry amrit, nectar; that belief lies behind the custom of leaving food out under the moon. Sharad Purnima also opens the holy month of Kartik for many devotees, who begin the daily dawn bath, Kartik snan, and the lighting of lamps that continues until Kartik Purnima.
Some people describe health benefits from the moonlit kheer or from sitting in the moonlight. These are traditional beliefs, not medical claims, and nothing in the observance replaces medical advice.
Kojagari: "Who is awake?"
In Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Mithila and much of eastern India this night is Kojagari Purnima, and its focus is Lakshmi. The name comes from the Sanskrit question ko jagarti?, "who is awake?", which Lakshmi is said to ask as she moves from house to house in the moonlight. Homes that are clean, lit and awake in worship receive her blessing.
- Bengal: Lokkhi puja is done at home, usually by the women of the family, without a priest. Alpana (rice-paste designs) of Lakshmi's footprints lead from the door to the altar, the goddess is offered khichuri, narkel naru and fruit, and the Lokkhir panchali, a verse story of the goddess, is read aloud.
- Mithila: Kojagara is especially celebrated for a newly married groom in his first year, with makhana, paan and sweets distributed to the community.
- Maharashtra: Kojagiri nights are spent with family and friends, and masala milk, warmed and then cooled in the moonlight, is shared at midnight.
For the steps of the puja itself, see the Lakshmi puja vidhi.
Kheer in the moonlight
The best-known custom of North India is simple. Rice kheer, made with milk, rice and sugar, is cooked in the evening and offered to the deity, and then left in an open vessel on a terrace or in a courtyard where the moonlight falls on it, covered with a thin muslin cloth to keep insects out. It is taken as prasad late at night or the next morning. Families explain it as letting the moon's nectar enter the food. In practical terms it is a cool, sweet dish at the change of season, when the days are still warm and the nights are turning cold. If you leave it out overnight, keep it covered and in a clean place.
The Maha-Raas of Shri Krishna
The Bhagavata Purana (tenth book, the Rasa-panchadhyayi) describes Krishna playing his flute on an autumn full-moon night in Vrindavan, and the gopis leaving everything to dance with him in the Raas. Braj celebrates Sharad Purnima as the night of this Maha-Raas. Temples such as Banke Bihari dress the deity in white with a crown and flute, and Raas Leela performances go on into the night. In the devotional tradition the Raas is read as the image of the soul's longing for God, not as a worldly romance. Bhajans like the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra and the Radha Kripa Kataksh Stotram are sung.
Valmiki Jayanti and Kumar Purnima
- Valmiki Jayanti: the birth anniversary of Maharishi Valmiki, the adi-kavi (first poet) and author of the Ramayana, is observed on Ashwin Purnima with processions, readings and community events, especially by the Valmiki community of North India.
- Kumar Purnima, Odisha: unmarried girls rise early, wear new clothes, worship Kartikeya (Kumar) and the moon, play traditional games, sing, and pray for a good husband.
- Gujarat: Sharad Poonam is a last night of garba after Navratri, and dudh-pauva (flattened rice in milk) is shared in the moonlight.
The Sharad Purnima vrat katha
The katha most often read on this day in North India is a simple moral story. A merchant had two daughters who both kept the Purnima fast. The elder kept it fully and with care; the younger kept it carelessly and broke it early. The younger daughter's children did not survive. When she asked a learned man why, he told her it was the result of her careless fast, and advised her to keep the Purnima vrat properly. When her next child also died soon after birth, she laid him on a low stool, covered him with a cloth and called her elder sister to sit there. As the elder sister's garment brushed the child, he began to cry and came back to life, a sign of the merit of her faithful vrat, and the younger sister and the whole town took up the Purnima fast. The point of the story, like most vrat kathas, is steadiness: a small observance kept faithfully matters more than a large one kept carelessly.
How to observe it at home
- Morning: bathe, clean the house, and if you are fasting, take a sankalp (resolve) before the deity. Many keep a fruit-and-milk fast; others eat one simple meal.
- Evening: light lamps at dusk. Perform Lakshmi puja with white or lotus flowers, rice, kheer, a coin, incense and a lamp; recite the Lakshmi Chalisa or the Kanakadhara Stotram, and sing Om Jai Lakshmi Mata.
- Moonrise: offer arghya (water, with milk and white flowers if you like) to the moon. The Chandra beej mantra is commonly chanted.
- Night: place the kheer in the moonlight, listen to or read the vrat katha, and spend part of the night awake with bhajans or reading.
- Breaking the fast: after the evening puja and moon arghya, or with the kheer prasad, according to family custom.
People who cannot fast for health reasons can keep the puja, the lamps and the kheer; the observance is complete without fasting.
Frequently asked questions
When is Sharad Purnima in 2027?
On Thursday, 14 October 2027 in New Delhi. In 2026 it fell on 25 October. Check the Panchang for your city, since the full-moon tithi can span two days.
Why is kheer kept in the moonlight on Sharad Purnima?
Because the moon is believed to shine with all sixteen kalas on this night and its rays to carry nectar. The kheer is offered, left covered under the moon, and then eaten as prasad.
What does "Kojagari" mean?
It comes from ko jagarti, "who is awake?", the question Lakshmi is said to ask as she visits homes on this night, blessing those who stay awake in worship.
Is Sharad Purnima the same as Kojagari Lakshmi Puja?
Yes, it is the same full moon. Eastern India calls it Kojagari Purnima and focuses on Lakshmi; North India knows it mainly as Sharad Purnima, with kheer and moon worship.
Whose birthday falls on Sharad Purnima?
Maharishi Valmiki's, the author of the Ramayana. Valmiki Jayanti is observed on Ashwin Purnima.
Can I fast on Sharad Purnima?
Yes. Many keep a fast through the day and break it after the evening Lakshmi puja or after offering arghya to the moon. Those who are unwell, pregnant or elderly can keep the puja without fasting.
Why is Sharad Purnima linked to Krishna's Raas Leela?
The Bhagavata Purana places the Raas on autumn full-moon nights in Vrindavan, so Braj celebrates this night as the Maha-Raas with special darshan and Raas Leela performances.
What comes after Sharad Purnima?
The month of Kartik begins, with Karwa Chauth and Ahoi Ashtami in the next fortnight and then the five days of Diwali.
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