Festival Bali, Vamana, Vishnu, Lakshmi
Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa
The first day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, the day after Lakshmi Pujan, held to be the one day of the year Bali is let up from below to see that his people are well.
Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa 2026 falls on Tuesday, 10 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.
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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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 10 November 2026
- Saturday, 30 October 2027
- Wednesday, 18 October 2028
Where Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 10 Nov
- 2027: 30 Oct, 11 days earlier
- 2028: 18 Oct, 11 days earlier
The days of Diwali in Maharashtra
Part of the same festival, in order, in the Maharashtra calendar
- Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi …
- Dhanteras · Dhanvantari Jayanti …
- Narak Chaturdashi · Abhyang snan …
- Lakshmi Pujan …
- Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa(this page) …
- Bhau Beej …
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The first day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, the day after Lakshmi Pujan, held to be the one day of the year Bali is let up from below to see that his people are well. It is one of the saade teen muhurta, the three and a half days of the Marathi year that need no other muhurtham, so shops open the new account books and a new undertaking is begun on it. The wife does an arati for the husband and is given a gift, and the first Diwali after a wedding is kept at the wife's parents' house.
- Deity
- Bali, Vamana, Vishnu, Lakshmi
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
King Bali gave away his kingdom to Vamana and was sent below, but was allowed one day a year to come back and see his people, and on that day he is welcomed as a good king. The Marathi saying that asks for troubles to go and for Bali's kingdom to come says what families wish for on it: a rule of plenty and fairness. Husband and wife honour each other on this day, the wife with an arati and the husband with a gift, and the first Padwa after a wedding is a great occasion at the bride's parents' home. Because it is one of the saade teen muhurta, new undertakings and purchases are made on it without consulting the almanac.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa: how it is kept
Keep ready
- oil and utane for the bath
- rangoli colours
- cow dung or rice flour for the image of Bali
- flowers and a lamp
- an arati plate
- a gift for the ovalni
- the new account books
The steps
0 of 6 done
What is cooked
The Diwali faral is eaten and given away: chakli, chivda, besan ladoo, rava ladoo, karanji, shankarpali and anarse. The festive meal is shrikhand-puri or basundi-puri with masale bhat.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 10 November 2026 at Chennai
Kartik shuddha Pratipada at sunrise; the arati and the opening of the books are in the morning.
The main rite. Kartik shuddha Pratipada at sunrise, the day after Lakshmi Pujan. The oil bath is before dawn and the aukshan and the opening of new books are in the morning.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:06 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:06, 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 | Shukla Prathamai from previous day 12:32 until 14:01 | then Shukla Dwitiyai until next day 15:54 |
| Nakshatra | Vishakha until 09:19 | then Anuradha until next day 11:38 |
| Rahu kaal | 14:46 to 16:13 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 08:59 to 10:26 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 11:53 to 13:20 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:30 to 12:16 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 06:47 | moonset 18:20 |
For Tuesday, 10 November 2026 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast. The Diwali faral made through the week before, the chakli, chivda, ladu, karanji and shankarpali, is eaten and given away.
What is avoided
No quarrel between husband and wife, and no unkind word to a son-in-law, on this day. Money is not lent or borrowed in many business houses before the new books are opened.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Braj and the Hindi belt keep the same tithi as Govardhan Puja and the annakut, and Gujarat begins its Vikram Samvat year on it as Bestu Varas. Traditions vary on whether a household reads the day as Bali's return or as the lifting of the Govardhan hill.
In other regions
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps the same day as Bali Padyami, with Bali worshipped at the door and the Govardhan of cow dung made in the villages.
- North India
- Braj and the Hindi belt keep the same tithi as Govardhan Puja and the Annakut, and Gujarat begins its new year on it.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Maharashtra keeps it as Diwali Padwa, the day of the husband and wife and of the son-in-law.
The dates above are the Maharashtra 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
दिवाळी पाडव्याच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाDiwali Padvyachya hardik shubhechha
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
Temples of Vishnu and Lakshmi 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.
- Lakshmi Ashtottaram (the 108 names)
- Shantakaram Bhujagashayanam
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
Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa's own date is set by the rule in "The hour" above, and no muhurtham moves it. For a gold around it, whose day the family does choose, the finder below applies these rules.
Buying gold or jewellery. Poosam is the star for buying gold, and Akshaya Tritiya (Vaishakha Shukla Thritiyai) and Dhanteras (Krishna Trayodasi before Deepavali) are the two days the whole country buys on, whatever else the day carries. No lagna rule is applied here, so the day is graded as a whole.
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.