Odia Calendar 2026: March Festivals, Rituals and Important Dates

March 2026 runs from Kumbha (Phalguna) 17 to Mina (Chaitra) 17 in the Odia calendar. Its big days are Dola Purnima (3 March), Ugadi (19 March) and Ashokashtami (26 March). Below is every important date of the month, with its rituals.

Odia months

Phalguna and Chaitra

Sankranti

Mina Sankranti, 15 March

Purnima

3 March

Amavasya

19 March

Important dates in March 2026

Rituals, date by date

2 March: Rajagni (the Holika bonfire)

On the eve of Dola Purnima, villages light a bonfire for the burning of Holika, and the deity's palanquin circles it (Agni Utsav).

3 March: Dola Purnima; Sri Chaitanya Jayanti; lunar eclipse

Radha and Krishna are carried in decorated palanquins (vimanas) from house to house and village to village, and smeared with abira; at Puri, Jagannath wears the Rajadhiraja Besha. Temples close during the lunar eclipse and reopen after a ritual bath.

Why it matters: Odisha's spring festival, and the birthday of Sri Chaitanya, who spread Krishna worship across Odisha.

4 March: Holi

Everyone plays with colours and water, visits friends and shares sweets.

15 March: Mina Sankranti; Papamochani Ekadashi

The Sun enters a new sign and a new Odia month begins; families bathe at dawn and pray to the Sun. It is also an Ekadashi: families fast from rice and other grains, worship Vishnu, and break the fast after sunrise the next day.

17 March: Baruni Snana; Tara Tarini Yatra

Devotees take the Baruni holy dip in rivers at dawn. On the Tuesdays of Chaitra, families climb to the Tara Tarini hill shrine in Ganjam, many to offer a child's first hair.

19 March: Ugadi; Basanti Durga Puja begins; Madhu Amavasya

Telugu families begin the new year with ugadi pachadi, a dish of six tastes, and the nine-day Basanti Durga Puja, the spring worship of Durga, begins. A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.

Why it matters: Koraput borders Andhra Pradesh, and its Telugu-speaking families celebrate Ugadi.

21 March: Eid-ul-Fitr

Muslims end the Ramzan fast with morning prayers at the mosque, new clothes, sewai and visits to family and friends.

25 March: Basanti Durga Mahashtami

The main day of the spring Durga Puja, with worship and offerings at Durga shrines.

26 March: Ashokashtami

Lord Lingaraj rides his chariot, the Rukuna Rath, through Old Town Bhubaneswar to the Rameswar temple, and devotees eat ashoka buds for health.

Why it matters: Bhubaneswar's own chariot festival, months before Puri's Rath Yatra.

27 March: Sri Rama Navami

Temples read the Ramayana, hold processions and offer cooling drinks for Rama's birth, closing the spring Durga Puja.

29 March: Kamada Ekadashi

Families fast from rice and other grains, worship Vishnu, and break the fast after sunrise the next day.

31 March: Mahavir Jayanti

Jains celebrate Mahavira's birth with processions, prayers at the temple and charity.

Koraput in March

March is warm and dry, a good month for the Gupteswar cave temple, Upper Kolab and the town sights.

February 2026 · April 2026 · How the Odia calendar works, and every month

Dates from the Kohinoor Press Sankhyepa Panjika 2026, Cuttack.