Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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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
Telugu calendar, computed for Chennai
- Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Thursday, 28 October 2027
- Tuesday, 17 October 2028
Where Naraka Chaturdasi falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 8 Nov
- 2027: 28 Oct, 11 days earlier
- 2028: 17 Oct, 10 days earlier
The days of Deepavali
Part of the same festival, in order, in the Telugu calendar
- Naraka Chaturdasi(this page) …
- Deepavali Amavasai · Lakshmi Puja …
The dates, year by year
Telugu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The day Krishna and Satyabhama killed Narakasura and freed the sixteen thousand he had taken. It is the morning of the oil bath: the household rises before dawn, is rubbed with sesame oil, bathed, given new clothes, and the first crackers of the year are lit before the sun is up.
- Deity
- Krishna, Satyabhama, Yama
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Narakasura was the son of Bhudevi, the Earth, and his boon was that none but his mother could kill him; that is why the Telugu telling gives the last arrow to Satyabhama, held to be Bhudevi born again, with Krishna struck down in a faint beside her in the chariot. Dying, Naraka is said to have asked that the day be remembered with lights and a bath, so that his end would be a festival and not a grief, and the oil bath at dawn is kept as that bath. It is also held to free the family from the fear of naraka, hell, which the name carries, and in the evening a lamp is lit facing south for Yama. In Karnataka the day before is Neeru Tumbuva Habba, when the big copper bath vessel is scrubbed, decked with rangoli and filled for the morning.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Naraka Chaturdasi: how it is kept
Keep ready
- sesame oil
- sunnipindi or shikakai
- a sprig of uttareni (apamarga) where the family uses it
- new clothes
- a harathi plate
- prammidalu (clay lamps), oil and wicks
- crackers
- sweets
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Telugu homes take the morning's sweet from the Deepavali tins, often sunnundalu (urad dal and jaggery balls), kajjikayalu or ariselu, with a festive lunch of pulihora, garelu and payasam. Karnataka makes kajjaya (athirasa), karjikai, chakkuli and obbattu, and many families keep the richest meal for the Amavasya and Bali Padyami that follow.
The hour
Clock times for Sunday, 8 November 2026 at Chennai
The Chaturdashi running at arunodaya, the hour and a half before sunrise, which is when the abhyanga snanam is done; the calendar reads the tithi at that instant.
The main rite. The Chaturdashi running at arunodaya, the hour and a half before sunrise, is the time for the oil bath. The lamp for Yama is lit at dusk.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Arunodaya | 04:29 | the 96 minutes before sunrise, the hour of the oil bath |
| Sunrise | 06:05 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
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; the day begins with the bath and the first sweet. In some families a light meal is kept until after the evening lamps.
What is avoided
The oil bath is not put off to after sunrise, since the dawn bath is the whole point of the day. Homes that keep the Lakshmi puja on the Amavasya keep this day vegetarian as well.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu keeps this morning as Deepavali itself, and the Lakshmi puja on the following evening; the north keeps it as Chhoti Diwali and the great night the day after.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu keeps this dawn as Deepavali itself, with the Ganga snanam, the new clothes and the crackers before sunrise.
- Telugu (the dates above)
- Andhra and Telangana keep Naraka Chaturdasi as the first morning of Deepavali, with the oil bath, crackers before dawn and Satyabhama honoured beside Krishna; the Lakshmi puja and the lamps of Deepavali follow on the evening of the Amavasya, which in some years is this same evening.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps Naraka Chaturdashi after Neeru Tumbuva Habba, with the enne snana, the oil bath, at dawn; Deepavali runs on through the Lakshmi puja of the Amavasya to Bali Padyami.
- North India
- The north keeps it as Chhoti Diwali or Roop Chaudas, with the dawn bath and the Yama lamp in the evening.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra keeps the abhyanga snan at dawn and crushes the karit, a small bitter fruit, underfoot for Narakasura before the faral is eaten.
The dates above are the Telugu 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
నరక చతుర్దశి శుభాకాంక్షలుNaraka Chaturdasi shubhakankshalu
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
Temples of Krishna near you
Not recorded for this day in particular: the nearest temples of the day's own gods, for a reader whose own temple is not listed above.
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Venkatakrishnan (Parthasarathy) with the arrow scars on his face
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · The eight forms of Lakshmi in shrines on four floors, facing the sea
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adhivyadhihara Bhaktha Anjaneyar, thirty-two feet tall from a single block of granite
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Neervanna Perumal below and Ranganathar on the hill, in four postures
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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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.