Kartik Purnima 2026 is on Tuesday 24 November (Purnima from 11:43 pm on 23 November to 8:24 pm on 24 November, New Delhi). For Shwetambar Jains the chaturmas ends on Kartik Chaumasi Chaudas (23 November), and on Kartik Purnima Mount Shatrunjaya at Palitana (Bhavnagar district, Gujarat) is “reopened” to pilgrims; by John Cort climbing is not forbidden in the chaturmas, but the trust that runs the tirtha provides no facilities then, since climbing is held to harm the life that grows in the rains. By tradition, on this day Dravida and Varikhilla attained moksha on Shatrunjaya with tens of millions of monks.
In 2026 (New Delhi)
- Kartik Chaumasi Chaudas
- Monday 23 November
- Kartik Purnima
- Tuesday 24 November
- Purnima tithi
- 11:43 pm, 23 November to 8:24 pm, 24 November
- Kartik Ashtahnika ends, Kartik Ratha Yatra
- 24 November (Drik Panchang’s Jain list)
Tithi times from our panchang, checked against Drik Panchang (Drik: Purnima 11:42 pm to 8:23 pm). The rules and hours of the yatra at Palitana are set by the trust that runs the tirtha; check with it before you go.
Shatrunjaya: the hill of Pundarika
By Dundas, the Saravali, a Shwetambar text of about the eleventh century, says that Rishabhdev’s grandson Pundarika, son of Bharata, went to this hill after Rishabhdev told him he would be liberated there; hence the hill is also called Pundarikagiri. In the same tradition Bharata built a temple here and Rishabhdev himself visited; a hymn says Rishabhdev came here ninety-nine times (Cort). By Dundas the oldest image of Pundarika is dated 1006 CE, and the hill is now run by the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi, a trust set up around 1730.
The story of Dravida and Varikhilla
Cort heard this story in a Kartik Purnima sermon at Patan: Rishabhdev’s two grandsons, Dravida and Varikhilla (Valikhilla), make peace after a war, take diksha, and on this day attain moksha on the summit of Shatrunjaya with fifty million sadhus. JAINA’s material gives ten crore monks, and there the two appear to be Rishabhdev’s sons. We have not read the passage in the Shatrunjaya Mahatmya ourselves.
By Cort the day is also Acharya Hemachandra’s birthday, and those who cannot make the journey worship a painted cloth (pata) of Shatrunjaya. By the Government of India’s tourism portal, Incredible India, Palitana is crowded on Kartik Purnima and there are more than 3,750 steps to the top.
Where the traditions and sources differ
- The monks liberated: fifty million (Cort) or ten crore (JAINA).
- Dravida and Varikhilla: Rishabhdev’s grandsons (Cort) or sons (JAINA’s Shatrunjaya series).
Frequently asked questions
When does the Shatrunjaya yatra reopen in 2026?
By tradition on Kartik Purnima after the chaturmas, in 2026 on Tuesday 24 November. The yatra’s hours and rules are set by the trust at Palitana.
Why do pilgrims not climb Shatrunjaya in the chaturmas?
By Cort climbing is not forbidden, but the trust provides no facilities then; climbing in the rainy months is held to harm the plants and creatures that grow then.
Why is Kartik Purnima special in Jain dharma?
In the Shwetambar tradition the Shatrunjaya yatra reopens on this day, and by the popular story Dravida and Varikhilla attained moksha there on it. By Cort it is also Acharya Hemachandra’s birthday.
Sources
- Drik Panchang, New Delhi: day panchang for 23 and 24 November 2026; Jain festivals 2026 (read 20 October 2026)
- John E. Cort, Jains in the World (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 175–178
- Paul Dundas, The Jains, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2002), ch. 7, “Mount Satrunjaya”
- JAINA newsletter, 4 November 2017; JAINA, Shatrunjay series
- Incredible India (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India): Palitana
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