Hindu Calendar: December 2026

How to read this calendar

Each day lists the main parts of a Hindu almanac, called a panchang. The tithi is the lunar day, one of thirty in a lunar month: fifteen while the Moon grows (Shukla Paksha) and fifteen while it fades (Krishna Paksha). The nakshatra is the lunar mansion the Moon is crossing, one of 27. The yoga is one of 27 divisions based on the combined movement of the Sun and the Moon, and the vaara is the weekday.

Two daily windows are included. Abhijit Muhurat is a short period around midday that tradition favours for starting something new, and it is not observed on Wednesdays. Rahu Kalam is a stretch of about an hour and a half that tradition avoids for new beginnings; its position in the day depends on the weekday.

Which tithi counts for a date

A tithi does not start and stop with the civil day. It lasts anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours, so one date can hold the end of one tithi and the start of the next. By the usual convention, the tithi, nakshatra and yoga listed for a date are the ones running at that day’s sunrise, and the “until” time in the day details shows when each one ends. That is why a tithi sometimes appears on two dates in a row, and why one occasionally does not appear at all.

How the times are calculated

Every value comes from the positions of the Sun and Moon, calculated with Swiss Ephemeris and the Lahiri ayanamsa, the same engine that powers the Kundli matching. The calendar is set for New Delhi and shows Indian Standard Time. Sunrise and sunset refer to the upper edge of the Sun with normal atmospheric refraction, which matches what a weather app shows. A city 100 kilometres east or west sees the Sun rise about four to five minutes earlier or later, so treat the clock times as approximate elsewhere. The tithi, nakshatra and yoga names are usually the same across India, though one that ends close to sunrise can fall on a different date in a distant city. The full method is on the methodology page.

About the festival dates

Festival and fasting dates come from Drik Panchang's New Delhi calendar, and each one is checked against this site's own tithi calculation before it is listed. Observances still differ between regions and traditions: Smarta and Vaishnava communities sometimes keep a festival on different days, and the amanta and purnimanta systems name the lunar months differently. For a family ritual, confirm the date with your local priest or temple.

Sankashti Chaturthi is marked on the day the Moon rises while Krishna Paksha Chaturthi is running, which is the traditional rule. An Ekadashi, Purnima or Amavasya that is missing from the festival list is added from the tithi at sunrise.