When is Guru Nanak Jayanti 2026?

Tuesday, 24 November 2026. It is Purnima of Shukla paksha in Kartika, and that tithi runs from 23 Nov, 11:42 PM to 24 Nov, 8:23 PM.

Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.

Because it is kept on Kartik Purnima, a lunar date: twelve lunar months fall about eleven days short of a solar year, so the full moon of Kartik moves between the first days of November and the last. In 2026 it is Tuesday, 24 November 2026.

It is the same day as Kartik Purnima, Tuesday, 24 November 2026, and Dev Deepawali falls on the same day this year.

No — there is no muhurat to publish. Gurpurab is kept on the day, not at a deciding moment: each gurdwara sets its own times for the completion of the Akhand Path, the kirtan and the langar. Kartik Purnima, the full moon it is kept on, runs from 23 Nov, 11:42 PM to 24 Nov, 8:23 PM in New Delhi.

In New Delhi, Guru Nanak Jayanti 2026 is on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, the full moon of Kartik. The SGPC keeps Guru Nanak's Prakash Purab by the lunar calendar, so its Gregorian date moves each year, usually within November. Gurdwaras announce the times of their own programme for the Akhand Path, kirtan and langar.

Gurpurab, also written Gurpurb, means the festival of the Guru: the anniversary of an event in a Sikh Guru's life, such as a Prakash Purab for a birth or a Shaheedi Purab for a martyrdom, and others such as the first installation of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Prakash Purab is the most widely celebrated, so in November 'Gurpurab' usually means this day.

With Prabhat Pheris in the early mornings of the weeks before, an Akhand Path of about forty-eight hours that ends on the morning of the Gurpurab, a Nagar Kirtan led by the Panj Pyare in the days before, often the day before, and on the day Asa di Var at amrit vela, kirtan and katha, the Ardas, Karah Prasad, langar for everyone, and lamps in the evening.

An unbroken reading of the whole Guru Granth Sahib, from the first page to the last, by a relay of trained readers, which takes about forty-eight hours. For the Gurpurab it is begun about two days ahead so that its completion, the bhog, with the Ardas and Karah Prasad, falls on the morning of the day.

A morning procession of the sangat in the weeks before the Gurpurab, walking through the streets before or around dawn singing shabads, often with a dholki and chimta. Families along the route welcome it at their doors with tea and sweets, and it ends at the gurdwara.

A procession through the town, in the days before the Gurpurab, often the day before, in which the Panj Pyare lead with the Nishan Sahib, the Guru Granth Sahib is carried in a decorated palki, the sangat sings shabads, gatka teams display the Sikh martial art and sevadars clean the road ahead. People along the route serve water, tea and food.

It celebrates the birth, the Prakash, of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh faith and the first of the ten Gurus, and his teaching: one Creator, the equality of all people, honest work, sharing and service. Sikhs and many others keep it by hearing his hymns, serving in the langar and sharing with those in need.

The traditional greeting is Gurpurab diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan, a hundred thousand congratulations on the Gurpurab. Sikhs also greet each other with Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, or Sat Sri Akal, and many share a line of Guru Nanak's Gurbani with the wish.

It is one of the gazetted holidays of the Government of India, so central government offices close, and most states declare a holiday. Banks follow each state's list under the Negotiable Instruments Act, so check your state's list for the year; some states also declare it a dry day.

That there is one Creator, Ik Onkar, beyond fear and hate; that every human being is equal, whatever their caste, religion or gender; and three plain duties: naam japna, remembering God, kirat karni, earning by honest work, and vand chhakna, sharing with others. His hymns, including Japji Sahib, stand in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Yes, everyone is welcome in a gurdwara and in the langar. Cover your head, remove your shoes, wash your hands, carry no tobacco or alcohol, sit with the sangat on the floor and accept Karah Prasad with cupped hands; sevadars are happy to guide first-time visitors.

By long tradition, and in the SGPC's calendar, Guru Nanak's Prakash Purab is kept on the full moon of Kartik. Some historians, following early janamsakhis, place his birth in the month of Vaisakh. Both views are known; the community's celebration is on Kartik Purnima, which is why this page dates it there.

No. Guru Purnima is a Hindu and Buddhist festival on the full moon of Ashadha, when disciples honour their teachers and the sage Vyasa. Gurpurab is a Sikh festival marking an anniversary in the life of a Sikh Guru; Guru Nanak's falls on the full moon of Kartik, months later.

The sacred sweet offering of the gurdwara, made of equal parts of wheat flour, ghee and sugar cooked with water while Gurbani is recited, and given to everyone after the Ardas. Receive it with both hands cupped together, as a blessing rather than as food to be chosen.