Sharad Purnima 2026 — Purnima Kab Hai, Moonrise Time, Kheer Ritual & Where to Celebrate

Sharad Purnima kab hai? Sunday, 25 October 2026

Short answer, because that is what you came for: Sharad Purnima 2026 falls on Sunday, 25 October 2026. The Purnima tithi begins at 11:55 AM on 25 October and ends at 9:41 AM on 26 October (IST). The moon rises in Delhi at about 5:00 PM on 25 October — and since this festival belongs to the night, not the date, everything that matters happens between that moonrise and the next morning.

It is the Ashwin month's full moon, and it goes by more names than any other Purnima in the calendar: Kojagari (or Kojagiri) Purnima, Raas Purnima, Kaumudi Purnima. Same night, three different festivals depending on where you stand — Lakshmi's night in most of India, Krishna's Raas night in Braj, and a harvest moon everywhere.

One honest warning before anything else: Sharad Purnima and Diwali fall close together this year, and 25 October is a Sunday. Vrindavan, Mathura and Varanasi will all be at festival-weekend capacity. Whatever you are booking — train, room, cab — book it before you finish reading this page, not after.

What are the exact timings for Sharad Purnima 2026?

Two things people get wrong every year. First, the kheer goes out after moonrise, not at sunset — and it tastes of nothing but patience if you bring it in at midnight; the tradition is the full night. Second, the fast and the puja belong to the night of 25 October, even though the tithi technically ends on the morning of the 26th. The moonrise decides the festival, and the moonrise is on the 25th.

Timings above follow the Drik Panchang convention for Delhi; your city's moonrise may differ by 10–20 minutes. The ritual does not change.

Why is this moon different from every other full moon?

Ask anyone who has stood on a rooftop on this night: the Sharad Purnima moon looks bigger, whiter and closer than it has any right to. Part of that is astronomy and season — Sharad ritu is when the monsoon has just washed the sky clean, humidity drops, and the air over North India is at its most transparent of the year. The first genuinely clear night sky after four months of cloud happens to carry a full moon.

The tradition goes further. The Sharad Purnima moon is believed to be the only moon of the year that shines with all sixteen kalas — complete, nothing withheld. In the Krishna tradition, those sixteen kalas are why this is the night of the Maha Raas: in Vrindavan, it is believed Krishna multiplied himself and danced with every gopi under this moon, and time itself is said to have stretched — one night of Brahma, in some tellings. You do not have to take the mythology literally to feel, standing in Braj on this night, that the place believes it entirely — and acts accordingly.

It is also a harvest moon in the plainest sense: the kharif crop is coming in, the kheer is made from the new season's rice and milk, and the year turns from rain to winter. Three festivals in one night because three different Indias needed the same moon.

How do you do the kheer ritual correctly?

The ritual is simple. Doing it correctly is mostly about not cutting the corners that make it what it is:

1. Cook the kheer in the evening of 25 October — rice, milk, sugar, cardamom; a slow reduction, not a pressure-cooker shortcut. It should be thick enough to hold a skin.
2. Pour it into a wide, open vessel. Tradition prefers silver; a steel or glass bowl serves the purpose honestly. The point is surface area under the sky.
3. Place it under the open moonlight after moonrise — terrace, balcony, courtyard. After 7 PM is better than 5 PM: the moon should be up and the light falling directly into the bowl.
4. Cover it with a thin muslin cloth or a mesh — never a sealed lid. Dew and insects are real; a fine net keeps both the ritual and the hygiene intact. This is the step city balconies skip, and the step that matters most practically.
5. Leave it out the whole night. If you are keeping the Kojagari jagran, the kheer keeps you company; Lakshmi Puja is performed in the Nishita Kaal window, 11:39 PM–12:31 AM.
6. Eat it as prasad on the morning of 26 October, before the tithi ends at 9:41 AM. Share it — prasad that stays in one fridge has missed its own point.

A word on claims you will read elsewhere: the moonlight is said in tradition to make the kheer amrit-like and healing. We will not sell you that as fact, because it is a belief, not a finding. What is verifiable is this: a family that cooks together, stays up together and eats together at dawn has done something genuinely good for itself — no moonlight required to explain it, and the moonlight makes it memorable anyway.

Where should you go to experience Sharad Purnima?

At home, it is a rooftop ritual. But two places in India turn this night into something you cannot reproduce at home:

Vrindavan — for Raas Purnima. This is the strongest recommendation in this guide. Braj claims this night outright: Raas Leela performances in temple courtyards, Banke Bihari's evening darshan at maximum intensity, Prem Mandir lit against a full moon, and a whole town staying awake. The 2-day blueprint at the top of this page is built for exactly this weekend — arrive by afternoon on the 25th, leave after Mathura on the 26th. Two days is enough; one day is a mistake, because the festival starts at 5 PM and your train home cannot wait for the 12:31 AM puja to end.

Varanasi — for the moon over the Ganga. No Raas here, but the ghats under a full moon need no programme. Walk the ghats after 8 PM when the day crowds leave, take a boat at moonrise if you can get one, and let the city do the rest. Varanasi's own big moonlit night is a month later — Kartik Purnima, 24 November 2026, when Dev Deepawali lights the ghats with lakhs of diyas (our complete Dev Deepawali Varanasi guide covers that night in full). If you can only make one Varanasi trip this autumn, make it that one; Sharad Purnima belongs to Vrindavan.

And the honest third option: stay home and do it properly. A terrace, a bowl of kheer, and a family that actually stays up till midnight is a complete Sharad Purnima. Travel adds the spectacle; it does not add the ritual.

What will the Vrindavan trip actually cost? (October 2026)

Per person, 2 days ex-Delhi, two people sharing a room — typical rates, with the festival-weekend premium already assumed:

The one cost nobody warns you about is time: on the festival Sunday, every queue in Vrindavan doubles. The blueprint's order — Bihari ji first, Prem Mandir second, ghat at dawn — is designed around that fact.

When is the next Purnima? The full Purnima calendar

Bookmark this section. "Purnima kab hai" is a question India asks every single month — here is every answer left in 2026, and all of 2027, with the tithi timings (IST, Delhi):

Remaining Purnimas of 2026

All Purnimas of 2027

The Purnimas worth planning travel around: Kartik Purnima (Varanasi, Dev Deepawali), Phalguna Purnima (Holi in Braj — Barsana's Lathmar Holi is in the days around it), Guru Purnima (ashrams across India, and Vyasa Puja), and Sharad Purnima itself (Vrindavan, this page). The rest are nights for home — which, as the kheer teaches, is not a lesser way to keep them.

Facts verified October 2026. Sharad Purnima date, tithi and puja timings: Economic Times and AstroTalk Sharad Purnima 2026 reports, cross-checked against Drik Panchang conventions; Purnima calendar 2026–27: Gupt Vrindavan Dham Purnima list, cross-checked with SmartPuja's 2026 Purnima table. Temple timings in Braj shift between summer and winter schedules around this period — confirm on the temple board on the day. Vrindavan stays and restaurants: verified via places data, October 2026 (review counts shown where listed). Prices are typical October 2026 rates; festival weekends in Vrindavan run higher and sell out early.