2026 has 13 Purnimas, full moons, and 12 Amavasyas, new moons. Full moons carry the big festivals; new moons are for the ancestors. Here is each one with its weekday and the festival on it, then the rituals.
Purnima dates in 2026
| Date | Festival or observance |
|---|---|
| 3 JanuarySaturday | Pusha Punei (Pausha Purnima) |
| 1 FebruarySunday | Magha Purnima |
| 3 MarchTuesday | Dola Purnima; Sri Chaitanya Jayanti; lunar eclipse |
| 2 AprilThursday | Chaitra Parba; Chaitra Purnima |
| 1 MayFriday | Buddha Purnima; Chandan Purnima; May Day |
| 31 MaySunday | Mala Purnima |
| 29 JuneMonday | Snana Purnima |
| 29 JulyWednesday | Guru Purnima |
| 28 AugustFriday | Gamha Purnima (Shravana Purnima) |
| 26 SeptemberSaturday | Bhadrava Purnima |
| 26 OctoberMonday | Kumar Purnima |
| 24 NovemberTuesday | Kartika Purnima; Bali Jatra |
| 24 DecemberThursday | Margashira Purnima |
Amavasya dates in 2026
| Date | Festival or observance |
|---|---|
| 18 JanuarySunday | Mauni Amavasya; Maa Biraja's birth festival |
| 17 FebruaryTuesday | Amavasya |
| 19 MarchThursday | Ugadi; Basanti Durga Puja begins; Madhu Amavasya |
| 17 AprilFriday | Amavasya |
| 16 MaySaturday | Savitri Brata |
| 15 JuneMonday | Raja Sankranti; Mala Amavasya |
| 14 JulyTuesday | Netrotsava |
| 12 AugustWednesday | Chitalagi Amavasya |
| 11 SeptemberFriday | Amavasya |
| 10 OctoberSaturday | Mahalaya Amavasya |
| 9 NovemberMonday | Kartika Amavasya |
| 8 DecemberTuesday | Amavasya |
Rituals, date by date
3 January: Pusha Punei (Pausha Purnima)
The full moon of Pausha closes the paddy harvest. In villages across western and southern Odisha, children go from house to house asking for rice and paddy, and families make pitha from the new rice. The month-long Magha brata, a daily dawn bath and prayer, begins.
Why it matters: The thanksgiving for the year's main harvest, with the granaries full.
18 January: Mauni Amavasya; Maa Biraja's birth festival
Devotees take a holy dip at dawn and keep silence (mauna) for the day, with gifts to the poor. At Jajpur, the Biraja temple celebrates the goddess's birthday. A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
1 February: Magha Purnima
Families bathe in rivers and the sea at dawn and give to charity, and the month-long Magha brata ends. At Puri, Jagannath wears the Gaja Uddharana Besha, recalling Vishnu saving the elephant king.
Why it matters: One of the holiest full moons of the year for a bath and for charity.
17 February: Amavasya
A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
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.
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.
2 April: Chaitra Parba; Chaitra Purnima
In the tribal villages of Koraput and southern Odisha, the spring festival is kept with music, feasting and the Dhemsa dance. The month-long Baisakha brata begins.
Why it matters: The welcome to spring and the new season in the hills.
In Koraput: The Tribal Museum in Koraput town shows the dress, tools and instruments of the communities who keep it.
17 April: Amavasya
A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
1 May: Buddha Purnima; Chandan Purnima; May Day
Buddhists mark the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing with prayers and lamps, and the month-long Baisakha brata ends. Workers' unions hold rallies for May Day. Families bathe at dawn, and many hold a Satyanarayana puja in the evening.
Why it matters: The full moon of Baisakha, holy to Buddhists and Hindus alike.
16 May: Savitri Brata
Married women fast, dress in new clothes, worship a stone as Savitri, listen to the story of Savitri and Satyavan and break the fast with fruit.
Why it matters: Women pray for their husbands' long life, after Savitri, who won her husband back from Yama.
31 May: Mala Purnima
The full moon of the extra month. Families bathe at dawn, and many hold a Satyanarayana puja in the evening.
15 June: Raja Sankranti; Mala Amavasya
The main day of Raja, and the start of Ashadha: swings, songs, games and pitha continue. The extra month ends with its Amavasya.
29 June: Snana Purnima
At Puri, Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are brought out to the bathing platform and bathed with 108 pitchers of water, then dressed as elephants (Hati Besha). They then fall ill and rest out of sight for about two weeks (Anasara).
Why it matters: The first public ritual of the Rath Yatra cycle.
14 July: Netrotsava
The deities' eyes are painted again, the last step before they are seen in public. A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
29 July: Guru Purnima
Students and disciples honour their teachers and gurus, on the birthday of Vyasa, who arranged the Vedas.
12 August: Chitalagi Amavasya
At Puri the deities wear chita, jewelled forehead marks, and at home families make chitau pitha, rice pancakes, for the family's welfare. A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
28 August: Gamha Purnima (Shravana Purnima)
The full moon of Shravana closes Jhulana Yatra; Gamha celebrations continue. Families bathe at dawn, and many hold a Satyanarayana puja in the evening.
26 September: Bhadrava Purnima
Families bathe at dawn, and many hold a Satyanarayana puja in the evening.
10 October: Mahalaya Amavasya
Families make offerings of water and sesame (tarpana) to their ancestors at rivers and ponds.
Why it matters: The end of Pitru Paksha and the start of the Durga Puja season.
26 October: Kumar Purnima
Unmarried girls wear new clothes, worship the Sun in the morning and the moon at night by the tulsi chaura, make chanda chakata, a sweet of puffed rice, coconut and jaggery, and play games and sing together. Kartika month's vows begin.
Why it matters: The festival of Kumar (Kartikeya), the most handsome of the gods, and of the brightest moon of the year.
9 November: Kartika Amavasya
A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
24 November: Kartika Purnima; Bali Jatra
Before dawn, people float small boats of banana stem and paper with lamps on rivers and ponds (Boita Bandana), and Cuttack holds the Bali Jatra fair on the Mahanadi. The month-long Kartika vows end.
Why it matters: It remembers the Sadhabas, Odisha's sea traders, who sailed to Bali, Java and Sumatra on this full moon.
8 December: Amavasya
A day for offerings of water and sesame to the ancestors (tarpana); many families avoid starting new work.
24 December: Margashira Purnima
Families bathe at dawn, and many hold a Satyanarayana puja in the evening.
Every month, with its rituals
January 2026 · February 2026 · March 2026 · April 2026 · May 2026 · June 2026 · July 2026 · August 2026 · September 2026 · October 2026 · November 2026 · December 2026
Dates from the Kohinoor Press Sankhyepa Panjika 2026, Cuttack.
