Karva Chauth 2026
करवा चौथ
Karva Chauth falls on Thursday, 29 October 2026 in New Delhi, on Krishna Chaturthi.
Karva Chauth is a day-long fast kept mainly by married Hindu women in north India, traditionally for a husband's long life, and broken after the moon is seen. It's loved by many who keep it and criticised by others, and films have made it far better known than it once was.
Why this date
CalculatedIt falls on Chaturthi, the fourth lunar day of the dark fortnight, in the month called Kartika in the north and Ashvin in the west and south. The rule asks for Chaturthi to be in force at moonrise, so the day is decided by the moon's rising time and not by sunrise.
That’s 19 days later than 10 October 2025 last year. Why it jumped
- Chaturthi begins
- 29 Oct, 1:07 AM
- It ends
- 29 Oct, 10:11 PM
2026 date by city
| New Delhi | Thu, 29 Oct |
|---|---|
| Mumbai | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Kolkata | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Chennai | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Bengaluru | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Hyderabad | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Ahmedabad | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Pune | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Jaipur | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Lucknow | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Patna | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Varanasi | Thu, 29 Oct |
| London | Thu, 29 Oct |
| New York | Wed, 28 Oct |
| San Francisco | Wed, 28 Oct |
| Toronto | Wed, 28 Oct |
| Sydney | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Singapore | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Dubai | Thu, 29 Oct |
| Port Louis | Thu, 29 Oct |
Dates in bold differ from New Delhi’s. Calculated by rule; local practice can differ.
One festival, many stories
North IndiaThe bride and the false moon
A young bride fasting at her parents' home grows faint, and her brothers trick her with a lantern in a tree. She eats, and her husband falls dead. Parvati tells her he'll be restored if she keeps the fast faithfully, and she does. Lochtefeld gives this as the charter myth, and notes what it teaches about a brother's duty and a wife's. Many tellings name her Veeravati, and some have Indrani in place of Parvati.
North IndiaKarva and the crocodile
Another common tale has a devoted wife named Karva whose husband is seized by a crocodile while bathing. She binds the crocodile with thread and demands that Yama take it instead. The story lives in vrat booklets and family telling, and we haven't traced it to an early named text.
All over India and abroadHow a regional fast went national
Sabrina Ciolfi of the University of Milan traces the fast's recent spread to Bollywood, above all Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), after which unmarried women began to keep it too and it took on some of the feel of Valentine's Day. The same film, she notes, has the hero fast for the heroine, a detail many couples now copy.
Common questions
What people do
- Eating a meal called sargi before dawn, often sent by a mother-in-law
- Fasting through the day, often without water
- Gathering in the evening with other women to hear the story and pass around thalis
- Viewing the moon, often through a sieve, offering it water, and then breaking the fast
Why is the Karva Chauth fast broken only after seeing the moon?
Because the vow is tied to a lunar date and is kept until that evening's moon appears, the same way as the monthly Sankashti Chaturthi fast. The story of the fake moon is what most families give as the reason it has to be the real one.
Is Karva Chauth patriarchal?
People disagree, and both sides have a case. Critics note that men aren't expected to fast for their wives and that the social pressure is real; many women who keep it describe it as a choice, an act of love and a day of companionship with other women.
What if clouds hide the moon on Karva Chauth?
Practice varies by family. Some wait for a gap in the clouds, while others go by the panchang's moonrise time or a relative's report from elsewhere. There isn't one rule that everyone follows.
Ask your elders
“Ask your mother or grandmother about her first Karva Chauth: who sent the sargi, and who told the story that evening. Ask what she thinks about her own daughter or daughter-in-law keeping it, and whether she'd mind if they didn't.”
Sources
- James G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Rosen, 2002), entry “Karva Chauth”
- Sabrina Ciolfi, “Food and fasting: Representing the traditional role of women in Hindi cinema” (Università degli Studi di Milano)
- “Karwa Chauth”, Culture: Festivals, UCLA South Asia Institute
- Anne Mackenzie Pearson, Because It Gives Me Peace of Mind: Ritual Fasts in the Religious Lives of Hindu Women (SUNY Press, 1996)