Kartik month 2026: dates, Kartik snan, deepdaan and Tulsi puja

The five observances of Kartik

In the Kartika Mahatmya of the Padma Purana, Suta says that keeping awake for Vishnu, the morning bath, the service of Tulsi, the closing rite (udyapan) and the offering of lamps are the five observances of Kartik, and that with them the Kartik vow is complete (Deshpande’s translation, Uttara Khanda 115.1–4; Gita Press gives it at 117.3).

In the same text Krishna tells Satyabhama that among plants Tulsi, among months Kartik, among tithis Ekadashi and among holy places Dwarka are dear to him (Uttara Khanda 112.1–5). Drik Panchang too calls the whole month a month for the worship of Vishnu; in the Vaishnava tradition it is called Damodara month.

Kartik snan: when and how

According to Gita Press’s ‘Vrat-Parichay’ (after Hemadri and the Madanaparijata), the Kartik bath begins on Ashwin Purnima and is completed on the thirty-first day, Kartik Shukla Purnima; Drik Panchang too gives Sharad Purnima to Kartik Purnima. The Padma Purana asks for the vow to be taken from Ashwin Shukla Ekadashi (Uttara Khanda 92.2–15). In 2026 Ashwin Purnima lasts until 9:42 AM on 26 October in New Delhi, so the first Kartik bath is at dawn on 26 October.

According to the Padma Purana (Uttara Khanda 93) the bath is taken when two ghatis (about 48 minutes) of the night remain, that is, before sunrise. A natural pond is ranked tenfold above a man-made one, a river above a pond and a confluence above a river, and a bath at a tirtha gives unending merit. Arghya is first offered to Damodara, then one bathes standing navel-deep in the water; householders apply sesame and amla powder. Then tarpan to the gods, sages and ancestors, and the worship of Vishnu.

For one who is ill, travelling or without water to bathe in, the same text gives marjan, purifying oneself by sprinkling water while saying Vishnu’s name (Uttara Khanda 115.8–20). The rule follows one’s capacity.

Deepdaan and akashdeep

In the Padma Purana (Uttara Khanda 121.26–37) Shiva tells Kartikeya the merit of lamps in Kartik: after sunset lamps are to be placed in homes, cowsheds, temples, cremation grounds and on the banks of water; five days of the dark half are singled out (Gita Press’s note: Kartik Krishna Trayodashi to Shukla Dwitiya, that is Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj). One who cannot offer a lamp may light, or shield from the wind, the lamps others have placed (115.8–20).

Akashdeep: the Nirnaya Sindhu quotes the Pushkara Purana that while the Sun is in Libra (in Kartik) an akashdeep, a raised lamp, is offered at dusk with sesame oil. Hemadri (citing the Aditya Purana) gives the method: a post of a man’s height near the house with the lamp at its top. Gita Press’s ‘Vrat-Parichay’ records that people tie a lantern to a long bamboo and light the ‘akashi deepak’ in a high place.

Custom: Today most homes light a diya by the Tulsi and at the door every evening of Kartik, and hang an akashdeep on a bamboo or in a lantern on the roof. This is custom; follow your family’s practice for the number and the direction of the lamps.

Tulsi puja

In the Padma Purana’s chapter on the bath (Uttara Khanda 93.20–32), after the bath and the worship of Vishnu comes the worship of Tulsi, circling her and bowing with the mantra below; then the story of Vishnu is heard. A separate chapter praises Tulsi and the amla tree (Uttara Khanda 105): planting, watering, seeing and touching Tulsi are called meritorious.

For the udyapan the text asks for a canopy over the Tulsi on Kartik Shukla Chaturdashi and a mandala (chowk) in four colours at her root (Uttara Khanda 95.1–9). Waking the Lord on Dev Uthani Ekadashi and the Tulsi Vivah on Dwadashi fall in this month.

The vow’s rules, as the text gives them

The Padma Purana (Uttara Khanda 94) gives these rules for one keeping the Kartik vow: no meat or honey; leaving onion, garlic and some vegetables (such as brinjal, pumpkin and radish); not eating others’ food; celibacy, sleeping on the ground, eating from a leaf plate; no oil on the body except on Narak Chaturdashi; speaking ill of no one.

Drik Panchang notes that not all these rules are kept today, and that the dawn bath, lamps and arghya, sleeping on the floor, the worship of Vishnu and the Shaligram and recitations such as the Vishnu Sahasranama are the main ones. The text too gives smaller ways for one who is unable. Take the vow you can keep; in illness or pregnancy ask your doctor and your purohit.