Purnima 2026 Dates: Next Purnima and Full List

What Purnima is

On Purnima the Moon is opposite the Sun and fully lit. The Moon is traditionally linked with the mind, and the Full Moon is considered a calm and auspicious time for prayer, fasting and giving. In the Purnimanta calendar followed in most of North India, each lunar month ends on its Purnima; the names of the Purnimas are the same in both the Purnimanta and Amanta calendars.

Vrat day and snan-daan day

Two observances are tied to Purnima, and they follow different rules. The vrat (fast), with the Satyanarayan katha, ends with seeing the full Moon and offering it arghya, so it is kept on the day Purnima is active at sunset and moonrise (Pradosha-vyapini and Chandrodaya-vyapini tithi). The holy bath, tarpan and charity (snan-daan) follow the Udaya tithi: the day Purnima is active at sunrise, done at Arunodaya or in the morning.

For example, if Purnima runs from 11:55 AM on Sunday to 9:41 AM on Monday, Sunday is the vrat (Purnima is active at moonrise that evening) and Monday is the snan-daan (Purnima is active at sunrise). When Purnima covers both sunrise and moonrise on the same day, both fall on that day. The list shows both dates where they differ for New Delhi.

Why do some Purnimas have special names?

Every Purnima is named after its lunar month, and the name is the same in the Purnimanta and Amanta calendars. Some are also known by another name, for one of three reasons:

• Natural markers: Sharad Purnima (Ashwina) marks the bright autumn Moon of the harvest season.
• Vrat-specific names: Vat Purnima (Jyeshtha), for the banyan-tree vrat, and Guru Purnima (Ashadha), for honouring one's teacher.
• Festival anchors: Kartik Purnima is Dev Deepawali, and Phalguna Purnima is the evening of Holika Dahan. Chaitra Purnima is Hanuman Jayanti in North India, Vaishakha Purnima is Buddha Purnima, and Shravana Purnima is Raksha Bandhan.

How Purnima is observed

Many families fast from sunrise and hold the Satyanarayan puja and katha in the evening, offering panchamrit, fruit, tulsi and a sweet prasad (often sheera or panjiri), then offer water (arghya) to the Moon and break the fast. On the snan-daan day, people bathe early, ideally in a river such as the Ganga, and give food, clothes or money to those in need.

Simple rules many families follow

Fasting is optional. Children, older people, anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, and anyone with diabetes, low blood pressure or another health condition should eat normally or keep a light fruit-and-milk (phalahar) fast, and check with a doctor first. Traditionally the intention and the prayer matter more than going without food.

• If not keeping a full fast, eat fruit and milk during the day and a simple sattvik meal after the evening puja.
• Grains, onion, garlic and non-vegetarian food are usually avoided until the puja is done.
• Give something on the day, even a little: food, clothes or time.

Why the date can differ in your city

A vrat's day is set by when its tithi is running at sunrise, sunset or moonrise, and those come at different clock times in different places. The dates above are for New Delhi. Across India they are almost always the same; abroad, especially in the Americas, a vrat can fall a day earlier because the tithi changes before local sunrise there. Your city's Panchang shows the local tithi times, sunrise, sunset and moonrise, and its month calendar shows the vrats by your own sunrise.

• New Delhi, Delhi PanchangMonth calendar
• Mumbai, Maharashtra PanchangMonth calendar
• Kolkata, West Bengal PanchangMonth calendar
• Chennai, Tamil Nadu PanchangMonth calendar
• Bengaluru, Karnataka PanchangMonth calendar
• London, United Kingdom PanchangMonth calendar
• New York City, United States PanchangMonth calendar
• Toronto, Canada PanchangMonth calendar
• Dubai, UAE PanchangMonth calendar
• Singapore, Singapore PanchangMonth calendar

Another city? Panchang by city covers over 400 places.