Dussehra 2026: date, Vijay muhurat and Ravan dahan time

Dussehra 2026 timings at a glance

What families do on Vijayadashami

1. Morning bath and puja of the home altar, finishing Navratri parana if you kept the fast.
2. Shastra puja: tools, books, vehicles and work instruments are cleaned and worshipped.
3. Aparajita puja and Shami puja in the afternoon, a Maharashtra and Karnataka favourite.
4. Exchanging apta or shami leaves as sona, a wish for a good year ahead.
5. Durga visarjan and sindoor khela in Bengal and the East.
6. Evening Ramlila finale and Ravan, Meghnad and Kumbhkaran effigy burning.

Dussehra across India

The story in short

In the Ramayan, Shri Ram fought Ravan in Lanka to bring Sita back. Before the final battle he worshipped Maa Durga, and on Dashami Ravan fell. In the Devi tradition, the same day marks Durga's victory over Mahishasura after nine nights of battle. Both stories end the same way, with dharma winning, which is why the day is called Vijaya, victory.

Many families also believe Vijayadashami is a good day to begin learning, so children often start music lessons, writing or a new book on this day.

Dussehra 2026 abroad

Community Ravan dahan events in Toronto, Brampton, New Jersey, Houston, London and Melbourne usually happen on the nearest weekend, often 17, 18, 24 or 25 October, because of permits and park bookings. The tithi itself begins in the early hours of 20 October in North America and on the evening of 20 October in Australia, as the table below shows. Gulf cities share almost the same evening as India, just 1.5 to 2.5 hours behind.

• Check your mandir or Indian association for the Ravan dahan date.
• Shastra puja at home can follow the tithi.
• Bengali associations abroad usually hold Bijoya on Dashami or the weekend after.

Dussehra 2026 time in Indian cities

Ravan dahan happens after sunset; Vijay muhurat falls in the afternoon. Below are sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Tuesday, 20 October 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.

Dussehra 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 Shukla Dashami converted to each city's local time, with daylight saving applied, plus sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Tuesday, 20 October 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 Tuesday, 20 October 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 (Tue 20 Oct, 12:51 PM to Wed 21 Oct, 2:12 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 Dussehra 2026