Ahoi Ashtami 2026: date, puja time and star sighting

Ahoi Ashtami 2026 timings

Ahoi Mata puja vidhi

1. Take a sankalp in the morning for the fast.
2. Draw Ahoi Mata on the wall with geru, or use a printed picture, with the seh (porcupine) and her seven sons.
3. Place a karwa of water, the same one from Karwa Chauth in many homes, with a diya.
4. Offer puri, halwa, chana and sweets, plus a silver Syahu locket strung on mauli in some families.
5. Read the Ahoi katha in the evening with the children nearby.
6. Offer arghya to the stars from the karwa and break the fast.

Ahoi Ashtami katha in short

A mother went to the forest to dig soil to plaster her home before Diwali. By accident her spade killed a cub of a seh. Grieving, she prayed to Ahoi Mata and kept the Ashtami fast with full devotion each year, and the story says her family was blessed again. The katha is read as a lesson of care and of asking forgiveness.

What to keep in the thali

• Karwa with water
• Diya and dhoop
• Roli, akshat and mauli
• Puri, halwa and boiled chana
• Sweets and seasonal fruit
• Ahoi Mata picture or wall drawing
• Silver syahu locket if your family uses one

Hoi in different families

Abroad, the evening sky is what counts. In London and Toronto the sun sets early in November, so stars appear well before dinner time. In Dubai and Doha the timing is close to India. The city table shows sunset in your own clock.

Ahoi Ashtami 2026 time in Indian cities

The fast ends after sighting stars in the evening, so sunset and twilight matter. Below are sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Sunday, 1 November 2026 for major Indian cities, calculated from each city's latitude and longitude. All times are IST. East Indian cities see the sun and moon earlier, west Indian cities later, by up to about an hour.

Ahoi Ashtami 2026 time in the USA, Canada, UK, UAE and Australia

For families abroad, the tithi starts and ends at the same instant everywhere, but your clock shows it at a different hour and sometimes on a different date. Here is Krishna Ashtami converted to each city's local time, with daylight saving applied, plus sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Sunday, 1 November 2026 in that city.

How to read this table

1. Find your city, or the nearest one in the same time zone.
2. If the tithi covers your evening on Sunday, 1 November 2026, you observe on the same date as India.
3. If it does not, follow your local mandir, which will decide using the same rule.

Open your city's full daily panchang, choghadiya and Rahu kaal from the panchang page.

How we calculate these dates and times

• The festival date is the India observance date published in standard Delhi calendars for 2026.
• The tithi window (Sun 1 Nov, 2:52 PM to Mon 2 Nov, 1:11 PM IST) is calculated from the real positions of the Sun and Moon.
• Sunrise, sunset and moonrise are calculated for each city's coordinates, on a flat horizon.
• Local times use each city's official time zone, including daylight saving.

Frequently asked questions about Ahoi Ashtami 2026