Festival Guru Hargobind
Bandi Chhor Divas
The day of the release of the prisoners, on which Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru, walked out of the fort at Gwalior where Jahangir had held him and brought fifty-two rajas out with him, each holding a tassel of his cloak.
Bandi Chhor Divas 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November, computed for Chennai.
Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
Read more Show less
A tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Punjab calendar, computed for Chennai
- Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Friday, 29 October 2027
- Tuesday, 17 October 2028
Where Bandi Chhor Divas falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 8 Nov
- 2027: 29 Oct, 10 days earlier
- 2028: 17 Oct, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Punjab calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The day of the release of the prisoners, on which Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru, walked out of the fort at Gwalior where Jahangir had held him and brought fifty-two rajas out with him, each holding a tassel of his cloak. He reached Amritsar on the Kartik new moon and the Harmandir Sahib was lit for him; it is lit again every year, and the lamps are doubled in the water of the sarovar. Sikhs keep the day for the freedom of conscience it stands for rather than for the Diwali the rest of the country keeps that night.
- Deity
- Guru Hargobind
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Guru Hargobind was the Guru who wore two swords, one for miri, the worldly duty, and one for piri, the spiritual, and who built the Akal Takht facing the Harmandir Sahib; Jahangir held him at Gwalior. When his release was ordered he refused to leave without the fifty-two rajas held there with him, which is why Sikhs call him Data Bandi Chhor, the giver who freed the prisoners. Baba Buddha and the sangat of Amritsar lit the town for his return, and more than a century later Bhai Mani Singh was put to death at Lahore in the 1730s after the Mughal governor demanded a tax for the Diwali gathering at Amritsar that he could not pay. The day is kept for both: the freedom of others as a duty, and the price once paid for the right to gather.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Bandi Chhor Divas: how it is kept
Keep ready
- diyas, mustard oil and cotton wicks
- candles
- a head covering
- sweets to share with family and neighbours
- langar rations to give
- a gutka of the Nitnem banis
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Karah prashad is given at the evening diwan and the langar runs through the day. At home the Punjabi sweets of the season go round: pinni, besan and motichoor laddoo, jalebi and barfi from the halwai, and the boxes of dry fruit carried from house to house.
The hour
Clock times for Sunday, 8 November 2026 at Chennai
The Kartik Amavasya prevailing at pradosha, the two hours and twenty-four minutes after sunset, because the lamps are lit that evening.
The main rite. The Kartik Amavasya prevailing at pradosha, the hours just after sunset, because the lamps are lit that evening; the diwan runs through the day and the Harmandir Sahib is lit at dusk.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 17:40 | the moment the sun goes down |
| Pradosha kala | 17:40 to 20:04 | the 2 h 24 min after sunset, the evening worship hour |
Sunrise 06:05, sunset 17:40, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Krishna Chaturdasi from previous day 10:48 until 11:28 | then Krishna Amavasai until next day 12:32 |
| Nakshatra | Swati until next day 07:24 | then Vishakha until 2 days later, 09:19 |
| Rahu kaal | 16:13 to 17:40 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 11:53 to 13:20 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 14:46 to 16:13 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:29 to 12:16 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 05:03 | moonset 16:51 |
For Sunday, 8 November 2026 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is kept. The langar runs through the day and the deg of karah prasad is given out after the evening diwan.
What is avoided
The card games and gambling some households keep up on the Diwali night have no place in the Sikh day, and no image is worshipped. Tobacco and alcohol are kept away from the gurdwara and the celebrations, and crackers are best kept few and well away from the crowds and the animals.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Amritsar keeps the largest, with the fireworks over the sarovar, and every gurdwara lights the same evening. The north keeps the night as Diwali, Bengal as Kali Puja and Nepal as Laxmi Puja, and all of them are the one new moon.
In other regions
- North India
- Gwalior keeps it at Gurdwara Data Bandi Chhor on the fort where the Guru was held, and the rest of the north keeps the same evening as Diwali.
- Punjab (the dates above)
- Amritsar keeps the largest, with the Harmandir Sahib lit and fireworks over the sarovar, and the Punjab lights its gurdwaras and homes the same evening; many Punjabi families keep Bandi Chhor Divas and Diwali together as one night.
The dates above are the Punjab reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
ਬੰਦੀ ਛੋੜ ਦਿਵਸ ਦੀਆਂ ਲੱਖ ਲੱਖ ਵਧਾਈਆਂBandi Chhor Divas diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
- Mool Mantar (Ik Onkar)
- Japji Sahib
A name without a link is a long reading, read in full from the family’s own copy or at the place of worship; the library prints the shorter prayers.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Bandi Chhor Divas's own date is set by the rule in "The hour" above, and no muhurtham moves it. For a temple visit around it, whose day the family does choose, the finder below applies these rules.
A temple visit, or the first darshan at a new temple. No weekday is ruled out: Tuesday belongs to Murugan and the Amman, Saturday to Perumal and Sani, so the day usually follows the deity rather than the almanac. Ashtami and Chaturdasi are the two tithis held back for darshan, with the standing exceptions of Sivaratri on Krishna Chaturdasi and Kala Bhairava Ashtami, which are kept on those very days. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika kaal are not scored here; the panchangam page prints them for the day you pick, and most families simply wait them out.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
Read more Show less
A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.