Kartik Purnima and Guru Nanak Jayanti 2029
कार्तिक पूर्णिमा
Kartik Purnima and Guru Nanak Jayanti falls on Wednesday, 21 November 2029 in New Delhi, on Shukla Purnima.
Kartik Purnima, the full moon of Kartika, is a major day for river bathing, for lamps at Varanasi's Dev Deepawali, and, for Sikhs, for the birth of Guru Nanak. Several traditions share this one moon, each with its own purpose.
Why this date
CalculatedIt falls on Kartika Purnima, the full moon of Kartika, about fifteen days after Diwali. It's fixed by the lunar calendar, usually reckoned at sunrise. Since Purnima ends the bright half, every calendar uses the same name for this day, whichever way it reckons the months.
That’s 19 days later than 2 November 2028 last year. Why it jumped
- Purnima begins
- 20 Nov, 7:03 AM
- It ends
- 21 Nov, 9:33 AM
2029 date by city
| New Delhi | Wed, 21 Nov |
|---|---|
| Mumbai | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Kolkata | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Chennai | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Bengaluru | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Hyderabad | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Ahmedabad | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Pune | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Jaipur | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Lucknow | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Patna | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Varanasi | Wed, 21 Nov |
| London | Tue, 20 Nov |
| New York | Tue, 20 Nov |
| San Francisco | Tue, 20 Nov |
| Toronto | Tue, 20 Nov |
| Sydney | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Singapore | Wed, 21 Nov |
| Dubai | Tue, 20 Nov |
| Port Louis | Wed, 21 Nov |
Dates in bold differ from New Delhi’s. Calculated by rule; local practice can differ.
One festival, many stories
Shaiva traditionsShiva burns the three cities
The day is also called Tripuri or Tripurari Purnima, after Shiva's destruction of Tripura, the three cities of the demon sons of Taraka. That's where Shiva gets his name Tripurari, “enemy of the three cities”. The myth is well attested, and Lochtefeld has it in his encyclopedia, but the date's link to it is a matter of tradition that we haven't traced to a text.
VaranasiDev Deepawali
On this evening the ghats of Varanasi fill with lamps for what's called the Diwali of the gods. It's a huge spectacle today. Lamp counts in the press run to a million or more, but those figures aren't audited, and we don't know how old the festival's current scale is.
Sikh traditionGuru Nanak's birth
Sikhs celebrate Gurpurab, Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, on this full moon. Historically, the date is disputed. The Bala Janamsakhi gives Kartik, while most other janamsakhis, including the Puratan, give Vaisakh, in April, and W. H. McLeod and others have regarded the Puratan as the older. Some Sikhs argue for moving the date, while the Kartik observance remains the one most widely kept.
North and west IndiaBathing and the Pushkar fair
Lochtefeld describes this mainly as a bathing festival, in which a dawn bath in the Ganga or another river is believed to bring great merit. In Rajasthan, the Pushkar fair, with its camels and cattle, peaks on this day, when pilgrims bathe in the lake.
Jain traditionReopening of a pilgrimage
Jain pilgrims in Gujarat are reported to begin the climb of Shatrunjaya at Palitana on this day, once the rainy-season retreat has ended. We've only found this in secondary sources, so it's one for a Jain reader to confirm or correct.
Common questions
What people do
- Bathing in a river at dawn and giving to charity
- Floating lamps on rivers, or lighting them along the ghats at Varanasi
- Akhand Path, nagar kirtan and langar at gurdwaras for Guru Nanak's birth
- Attending the Pushkar fair, in Rajasthan
Was Guru Nanak really born on Kartik Purnima?
It's disputed. Most early janamsakhis point to Vaisakh, in April, and only the Bala Janamsakhi says Kartik. The Kartik date is the one most Sikhs observe.
What is Dev Deepawali?
It's the “Diwali of the gods”, observed in Varanasi on this full moon, about fifteen days after Diwali. The ghats are lit with lamps in great numbers.
Why is it called Tripuri Purnima?
Because tradition connects it to Shiva's destruction of Tripura, the three cities of the demons. You'll also hear it called Tripurari Purnima, from Shiva's name.
Ask your elders
“Ask your family about the river they walked to at dawn on Kartik Purnima, and how cold the water was. If they're Sikh, ask about the first Gurpurab they remember and what they did at the prabhat pheri.”
Sources
- James G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Rosen, 2002), entries “Kartik Purnima” and “Tripura”
- W. H. McLeod, Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (Oxford University Press, 1968)
- “Guru Nanak's natal month”, SikhiWiki
- “Kartik Purnima Celebrations Across India”, Free Press Journal