Karwa Chauth 2026: date, puja time and moonrise in your city

Karwa Chauth 2026 key timings

Karwa Chauth puja vidhi step by step

1. Eat sargi before sunrise. It is traditionally sent by the mother in law: fruits, mathri, pheni, dry fruits, sweets and a little shringar.
2. Take a sankalp to keep the fast for the day, without food or water if your family keeps it nirjala.
3. Apply mehndi and get ready in the afternoon, usually in red, maroon or bridal wear.
4. In the evening, draw or place the Karwa Mata picture, and set a karwa (spouted pot) filled with water.
5. Sit with other women in a circle for the katha and the pheri, passing the thalis around seven times.
6. When the moon rises, look at it through a channi (sieve), offer arghya with water from the karwa, then look at your husband through the same sieve.
7. Break the fast with water and the first bite from your husband's hand.

Sargi and thali checklist

The Veeravati katha

Veeravati was the only sister of seven brothers. On her first Karwa Chauth she grew faint with hunger. Her brothers, unable to watch, lit a fire behind a tree and showed her the glow through a sieve, saying the moon had risen. She broke her fast, and soon after heard news that her husband was unwell. Guided by Devi, she kept the fast again with full devotion through the year, and her husband recovered.

The story is told in every Karwa Chauth circle. Families read it as a reminder of patience and of keeping one's word, and it is recited before the moon is seen.

Why moonrise is different in every city

The moon rises in the east, so eastern Indian cities like Kolkata and Guwahati see it well before Delhi, and western cities like Mumbai and Ahmedabad see it later. Clouds and tall buildings can hide it for a few extra minutes even after the calculated time. Abroad, the date itself can shift: in North America the moonrise on 29 October local time is the one families use, while Chaturthi there started on the afternoon of 28 October.

• Calculated moonrise is when the moon's upper edge crosses a flat horizon.
• In a city with tall buildings, add 10 to 20 minutes before you see it.
• If clouds hide the moon, many families follow the calculated time, while others wait to see it.

Karwa Chauth for first timers and couples abroad

In Brampton, Surrey, Edison and Southall, Indian stores stock karwas, sieves and sargi sweets in the week before. Community circles are usually held in a mandir hall or a friend's home. Husbands keeping the fast with their wives has become common among younger couples, both in India and abroad.

Karwa Chauth 2026 time in Indian cities

The fast is broken after seeing the moon, so moonrise is the key time. Below are sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Thursday, 29 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.

Karwa Chauth 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 Chaturthi converted to each city's local time, with daylight saving applied, plus sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Thursday, 29 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 moonrise on Thursday, 29 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 (Thu 29 Oct, 1:07 AM to Thu 29 Oct, 10:11 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 Karwa Chauth 2026