Kartika Pournami

Date in 2026

Tuesday, 24 November 2026

Masa

Kartika

Tithi

Shukla Pournami

Duration

1 day and the night

Observed in

All India; Varanasi, Tamil Nadu and the Telugu states particularly

Significance

Kartika Pournami is the full moon of Kartika, and it is the culmination of the month regarded as the most auspicious of the lunar year. It carries several observances at once: Deva Deepavali, the festival of lights of the gods; Tripurari Purnima, marking Shiva's destruction of the three cities of Tripurasura; Karthigai Deepam in Tamil Nadu; and, for Sikhs, Guru Nanak Jayanti.

The Tripura story is the one that gives the day its shape. Three asura brothers were granted three flying cities — of gold, silver and iron — that could be destroyed only by a single arrow at the one moment in a thousand years when all three aligned. Shiva waited, and at that moment loosed one arrow through all three. The lamps lit on this night are read as that fire, and as the gods' own Deepavali held a fortnight after the human one.

The practical observance is lamps and water. Kartika deepam are lit in rows at the threshold, at tulasi plants and at temples, and floated on rivers in leaf boats. Bathing in a river at dawn — kartika snanam — is kept through the whole month and most seriously on this day. In the Telugu country the month-long practice of lighting a lamp before the tulasi every evening reaches its end here, and 365 wicks are lit in some households.

When it falls, and why

Kartika Pournami falls on the full moon of Kartika, the eighth lunar month, placing it in November — fifteen days after Deepavali, which is the Kartika amavasya. Because both anchor to the same lunar month, the gap between them is fixed at a fortnight.

The rule is that purnima should prevail at pradosha kala, the twilight period after sunset, since the lamps are lit then. Where purnima spans two evenings, panchangams may differ; Deva Deepavali at Varanasi is sometimes observed a day apart from the general Kartika Pournami for exactly this reason. The month of Kartika itself is treated as auspicious throughout, so the observances that culminate here have been running for a fortnight or more.

Pooja vidhanam, step by step

1. 1

   Bathe at dawn

   Kartika snanam — a river bath before sunrise, or a bath at home with a little river water added. This is the observance kept most widely through the month.

2. 2

   Light lamps at dawn and dusk

   Light a ghee or sesame-oil lamp before the tulasi and at the threshold. On this night the count is increased — rows of lamps, and 365 wicks in some households.

3. 3

   Worship Shiva

   Abhishekam of the linga with milk and water, offering bilva leaves. The day is Tripurari Purnima, and the destruction of the three cities is remembered in the recitation.

4. 4

   Worship Vishnu and the tulasi

   Kartika belongs to Vishnu as much as to Shiva — it is the month he wakes from Chaturmasya — so tulasi is offered and the tulasi plant itself worshipped.

5. 5

   Float lamps on water

   Set small lamps in leaf boats and float them on a river or tank at dusk. This is the most characteristic act of the night.

6. 6

   Keep the fast and break it

   Many keep a fast through the day, taking a single meal after the evening worship. Some keep it entirely on fruit and milk.

7. 7

   Give

   Danam of lamps, oil, wicks, blankets and food. Feeding others and lighting a lamp for someone else are the two forms particular to this night.

Samagri checklist

What to gather beforehand. Where something is not available, offer what you have — the intention carries.

• Ghee or sesame oil, and cotton wicks in quantity
• Earthen lamps — many, and small leaf boats for floating
• Tulasi plant and leaves
• Bilva leaves, for the Shiva worship
• Milk and water for abhishekam
• River water, if a river bath is not possible
• Flowers, sandal paste, kumkum, akshata
• Camphor, incense
• Fruit, coconut, jaggery, betel leaves and nuts
• Oil, wicks, blankets or food for danam

The vrat katha

Three asura brothers — Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha, sons of Tarakasura — performed severe austerities and asked Brahma for immortality. Refused, they asked instead for three cities, of gold, silver and iron, that would move through the sky independently and could be destroyed only by a single arrow, at the one moment in a thousand years when the three aligned.

The cities were built, and from them the brothers took the three worlds. The gods appealed to Shiva. He made the earth his chariot, the sun and moon its wheels, Brahma his charioteer, Meru his bow and Vishnu his arrow, and waited for the alignment. At the moment it came he loosed the single arrow through all three cities, and they burned.

The gods, restored, lit lamps in celebration — which is why the night is Deva Deepavali, the Deepavali of the gods, kept a fortnight after the one kept by people. The lamps floated on the Ganga at Varanasi on this night are that celebration continued.

How it differs by region

• In Varanasi the night is Deva Deepavali, when the ghats along the Ganga are lit end to end with lamps and lamps are floated on the river — the largest observance of the day anywhere.
• In Tamil Nadu it is Karthigai Deepam, and the great beacon is lit on the summit of Arunachala at Tiruvannamalai, visible for miles; girivalam around the hill draws very large numbers.
• In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the month-long Karthika Masam practice culminates here, with 365 wicks lit in some households and lamps floated on tanks and rivers.
• For Sikhs the same full moon is Guru Nanak Gurpurab, marking the birth of Guru Nanak, kept with akhand path and nagar kirtan.
• In Odisha it is Boita Bandana, when small boats are floated in memory of the old maritime trade with Southeast Asia.

Common questions

Slokas