The five days of Diwali 2026, US calendar
The festival is five tithis in a row, and in 2026 they fall on the same calendar dates in the US as in India. That is not guaranteed every year: a tithi is a span of absolute time, and with US clocks 9.5 to 13.5 hours behind IST, a tithi that starts in the Indian evening can begin on the previous calendar day in America. In 2026 the alignment is clean, and Lakshmi Puja night is a Sunday, the easiest Diwali an American work calendar has offered in years.
| Day | Date | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Dhanteras | Friday, 6 November | Wealth and new purchases, the traditional day for gold, silver and utensils |
| Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) | Saturday, 7 November | Cleansing and letting go, early-morning abhyanga snan |
| Diwali, Lakshmi Puja | Sunday, 8 November | The main night, Lakshmi Puja in the evening Pradosh Kaal after your local sunset |
| Govardhan Puja | Tuesday, 10 November | Gratitude for sustenance, Annakut offerings |
| Bhai Dooj | Wednesday, 11 November | The bond between brothers and sisters closes the festival |
The quiet working day is Monday, after Amavasya ends; Govardhan Puja falls on Tuesday and Bhai Dooj on Wednesday, each with its own muhurat window worth checking in the panchang for your city. Dhanteras shopping fits a Friday evening naturally.
How Lakshmi Puja time works in a US city
Lakshmi Puja is performed during Pradosh Kaal, the roughly two and a half hours that follow sunset, ideally while the fixed sign Vrishabh rises. None of that is an Indian clock time: it is computed from your own horizon. A Delhi muhurat of 5:30 to 7:30 pm is useless in Chicago, not because the ritual changes but because the sun sets at a different moment.
One more American wrinkle: daylight saving ends on 1 November 2026, a week before Diwali. Sunset that felt like 5:45 pm in October suddenly reads 4:45 pm on puja night. Plan the evening for early darkness, which, for a festival of lamps, is no bad thing.
| City | Sunset on 8 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| New York / New Jersey (ET) | around 4:45 pm |
| Atlanta (ET) | around 5:35 pm |
| Chicago (CT) | around 4:36 pm |
| Dallas (CT) | around 5:24 pm |
| Houston (CT) | around 5:30 pm |
| San Francisco Bay Area (PT) | around 5:03 pm |
| Seattle (PT) | around 4:38 pm |
Treat the table as orientation, not as your muhurat: the window opens at your sunset and runs about two and a half hours. For the exact minutes, open the daily panchang for your city, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Francisco are in the picker, or check the muhurat tool for the day. If your city is not listed, the AI astrologer can read the timing for any location you name.
Karva Chauth 2026 for the US
Karva Chauth comes first, a week and a half before Diwali, and it is the festival the timezone math hits hardest, because the fast breaks at moonrise. In most US cities the vrat is observed on Thursday, 29 October 2026, with moonrise in the 8:30 to 9:15 pm range: around 8:33 pm in New York, around 9:02 pm in Los Angeles. Because the Chaturthi tithi boundary lands differently across US timezones, some panchangs list Wednesday 28 October for some cities, so confirm your own city rather than borrowing a date from a relative in India, whose moonrise is half a day away from yours.
The practical rule: the fast is kept on the day the Chaturthi tithi prevails at YOUR moonrise. That is a one-line question to settle in the panchang before you commit to a sunrise-to-moonrise fast on a work day.
The wedding season opens right after
Diwali closes the Kartik Amavasya, and about twelve days later Dev Uthani Ekadashi ends the four-month pause on marriages. From late November the vivah muhurats return, and for NRI couples this is the season the family WhatsApp group wakes up. Panchang listings for the season cluster the strong dates around 21, 24, 25 and 26 November, then early December with a second window around 11 to 13 December 2026.
A listed date is a shortlist, not a verdict: whether it is shubh for the two of you depends on both charts, the nakshatra of the day and the lagna of the hour at the venue's own location. Run the match on kundli matching (or thirumana porutham for Tamil families), check Mangal dosha on the manglik calculator, and put the specific date and hour to the AI astrologer from wherever in the US you are, no 3 am call to India required.
Reading the week for your own sign
The astrology of the week itself, the Kartik Amavasya sky with the Sun and Moon meeting in Tula, and a short festive rashifal for all twelve signs, is covered in the Diwali 2026 rashifal guide. For everything Vedic built for life in America, charts on the right timezone, panchang in your own city, matching across continents, start at the Vedic astrology USA hub, or see where your own Moon sits in two minutes with a free kundli.
Common questions
What is the date of Diwali 2026 in the USA?
Sunday, 8 November 2026, the same calendar date as India. The Kartik Amavasya tithi spans that day in US timezones as well, so American families celebrate on the Sunday evening, with Lakshmi Puja after local sunset. The festive week runs from Dhanteras on Friday 6 November to Bhai Dooj on Wednesday 11 November.
Is Diwali ever on a different date in the USA than in India?
It can be. A tithi is a fixed span of absolute time, and US clocks run 9.5 to 13.5 hours behind IST, so a tithi that begins in the Indian evening can start on the previous calendar day in America. In 2026 the dates line up, but it is worth checking each year rather than assuming, which is exactly what the panchang for your own city settles.
What time is Lakshmi Puja in New York in 2026?
Sunset in New York on 8 November 2026 is around 4:45 pm EST, and Pradosh Kaal, the classical window for Lakshmi Puja, is roughly the two to two and a half hours that follow, so the broad window is early evening, around 4:45 to 7:10 pm. Check the panchang for the exact minutes before you set the thali.
When is Karva Chauth 2026 in the USA?
In most US cities the fast is observed on Thursday, 29 October 2026, with moonrise in the 8:30 to 9:15 pm range local time, around 8:33 pm in New York and around 9:02 pm in Los Angeles. Because the Chaturthi tithi boundary lands differently across timezones, some panchangs list 28 October for some US cities, so confirm your own city before you fast.
Which wedding dates follow Diwali in 2026?
The marriage season reopens after Dev Uthani Ekadashi in late November. Panchang listings cluster the strong vivah muhurats around 21, 24, 25 and 26 November, then early December and a second window around 11 to 13 December 2026. A date is only shubh for you once it is matched against both charts, which is what muhurat and kundli matching tools are for.
Astrology here is guidance for reflection and timing, not a guarantee. Festival windows are computed facts, sunset and moonrise at your own location; what they mean for you depends on your own chart, treat the rest as a lens, not a law.