When is Ahoi Ashtami 2026?

Ahoi Ashtami 2026 is on Sunday, 1 November 2026 in New Delhi. The puja muhurat is 5:36 PM to 6:54 PM, the stars can be seen from 6:00 PM, and the moon rises at 11:35 PM; Ashtami tithi runs 2:52 PM to 1:11 PM (2 Nov).

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.

In New Delhi the puja muhurat is 5:36 PM to 6:54 PM, the window after sunset in which Ahoi Mata is worshipped, the katha heard and the syahu mala put on. The fast is broken after the stars come out.

In New Delhi the first stars can be seen from 6:00 PM. The time follows your city's sunset and changes across India; offer arghya once you can actually see the stars.

1 Nov, 11:35 PM, computed for New Delhi. Ahoi Ashtami is dated by the Ashtami running at this moonrise, and families who break the fast on the Moon rather than the stars wait for it. A Moon that rises after midnight still belongs to the evening before, because a Vedic day runs from one sunrise to the next.

A mother of seven sons, digging soil in the forest before Diwali, accidentally killed a porcupine's cub; cursed by the grieving syahu, she lost her sons. On the advice of the village's elder women she worshipped Ahoi Mata on Kartika Krishna Ashtami, fasting and asking forgiveness, and her sons were restored. The katha is given above.

Take a sankalp for your children after the morning bath and fast through the day. At dusk, worship Ahoi Mata with roli, rice, flowers and bhog, hear the katha holding seven grains of wheat, put on the syahu mala and give the baya. Break the fast after offering water to the stars, or to the moon if that is your custom.

A thread or mauli strung with silver pendants called syahu, often with beads, offered to Ahoi Mata and then worn by the mother from Ahoi Ashtami until Diwali. Many women add a pendant or bead each year or for each child, and keep the mala safely for the next year.

Either is traditional. The old way is to draw Ahoi Mata on the wall with geru, with the syahu, her cubs and the seven sons; most families now put up the printed Ahoi Ashtami calendar, which also carries the katha. What matters is that the image is clean and the puja is done before it.

The Ahoi Mata aarti, beginning 'Jai Ahoi Mata', is printed on most Ahoi calendars and katha booklets and sung after the katha with the diya; families who don't have it end with 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare'. Sing whichever your family sings.

It was once kept mainly for sons, as the katha's seven sons suggest; today most mothers keep it for all their children, daughters and sons alike, and some women keep it hoping for a child. The prayer is for the children of the house.

Yes, if that is your family's custom. Most families break the fast on the stars, but some wait for the moon, which rises late on this night — 11:35 PM in New Delhi. A moon that rises after midnight still counts for this evening.

Many women keep it without water, like Karwa Chauth, but the vrat does not ask for harm: water, tea or fruit are taken in many families, especially by older women and anyone unwell. Follow your family's custom and your health.

Remembering the katha, women avoid digging soil and harming small creatures; the fast isn't broken before the arghya to the stars or the moon; and the day is kept calm, without quarrels. Many also avoid cutting or sewing on the day by family custom.

She should ask her doctor first. Many pregnant women keep a light fast with water and fruit, or do the puja, hear the katha and offer arghya without fasting; the vrat's purpose is the child's well-being, which includes hers.

It is the Kartika Krishna Ashtami fast that mothers keep for their children's long life and safety, worshipping Ahoi Mata, a form of Parvati, at dusk and breaking the fast on the stars. It recalls the katha of the mother who lost and regained her sons through this vrat.

In Braj the night of Ahoi Ashtami is Bahulashtami, and couples who long for a child bathe in Radha Kund at Govardhan at midnight, praying to Radha; thousands come each year.