Yeh page abhi Hinglish mein nahi likha gaya hai, isliye English mein dikh raha hai.
Shukla paksha · Phalguna · amanta reckoning
Tue, 23 Mar
Holi 2027 is on Tuesday, 23 March. It is Pratipada of Krishna paksha in Phalguna.
2028: Saturday, 11 March 2028
Ask Swarn
Is this muhurat good for my chart? Ask Swarn free
Tuesday, 23 March 2027
Holi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 15 of Phalguna in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.
Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 6:22 AM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at sunrise, so it belongs to the day whose sunrise the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Holi, also called Dhulandi or Rangwali Holi, is the day of colours that follows the Holika fire: on the first morning of Chaitra's dark fortnight, people smear each other with gulal and coloured water, touch the elders' feet, embrace old friends and eat gujiya. In New Delhi it falls on Tuesday, 23 March 2027, the morning after Holika Dahan. Holi has no muhurat for the colours, which are played from the morning to about midday; this guide covers the small puja, safe natural colours and the Holi Bhai Dooj that follows.
| Muhurat | Time in New Delhi | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise (the morning puja, then the colours) | 6:22 AMThe upper edge of the Sun on the horizon, with refraction. | Holi has no classical muhurat for playing colours. The day starts after sunrise with a bath, a little Holika ash as tilak and gulal offered to Radha-Krishna or the family deity; then the colours begin and, in most of North India, end around midday. |
| Auspicious choghadiya (day) |
| The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas, for families who time a puja, a visit to the temple or a journey by the choghadiya on Holi. |
| Window | Time in New Delhi | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Abhijit Muhurat | 12:03 PM to 12:52 PM | Auspicious |
| Amrit Kaal | 2:03 PM to 3:36 PM | Most Auspicious |
| Brahma Muhurat | 4:47 AM to 5:34 AM | Auspicious |
These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.
| Window | Time in New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Rahu Kaal | 3:31 PM to 5:02 PM |
| Yamaganda Kaal | 9:25 AM to 10:56 AM |
| Durmuhurta First | 8:48 AM to 9:37 AM |
| Varjyam | 3:41 AM to 5:16 AM |
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Tuesday, 23 March 2027, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.
Before stepping out, rub coconut or mustard oil, or a thick cream, into the skin, hair and nails, and wear old cotton clothes that cover the arms and legs. It keeps the colour from sticking and protects the skin.
Bathe in the morning. Where it is the custom, apply a little cooled ash from the night's Holika as a tilak; the name Dhulandi comes from this honouring of the Holika's dust.
Offer gulal, flowers and a sweet to Radha-Krishna or your family deity before anyone else is coloured; in Braj, Krishna's temples begin the play.
Put a pinch of gulal at the feet of your parents and elders and touch their feet; they put gulal on your forehead with their blessing.
Begin with dry, natural gulal on the cheeks and forehead; ask before you colour anyone, and leave alone those who say no, the elderly, babies and animals.
Use tesu (palash) water or other natural wet colours from a pichkari, and keep water use modest, especially in a dry year.
Most neighbourhoods stop by midday. Wipe off dry colour first, then wash with lukewarm water and a mild cleanser, or a paste of gram flour and curd; do not scrub hard.
In fresh clothes, visit relatives and friends, or receive them, with gujiya, thandai and namkeen; it is the day for mending quarrels.
On the next day, the second of Chaitra's dark fortnight, sisters in many North Indian families apply a tilak to their brothers, pray for their long life and feed them, as on Bhai Dooj after Diwali.
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ।
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे ॥
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Meaning: The sixteen names of Hari, Rama and Krishna. In the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, Brahma teaches them to Narada as the chant for this age.
When and how: Sung in kirtan in the Braj temples through the days of Holi, and at home while offering gulal to Radha-Krishna; any number of times.
कृष्णाय वासुदेवाय हरये परमात्मने ।
प्रणतक्लेशनाशाय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः ॥
Krishnaya Vasudevaya Haraye Paramatmane
Pranata-klesha-nashaya Govindaya namo namah
Meaning: Salutations again and again to Krishna, son of Vasudeva, Hari, the Supreme Self, Govinda, who destroys the distress of those who bow to him. From the Bhagavata Purana, the prayer of the kings Krishna freed.
When and how: Said once or three times with the morning offering of gulal and flowers.
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Meaning: Om, salutation to the Lord Vasudeva; the mantra of devotion that Prahlad's story stands for, taught by Narada in the Bhagavata Purana.
When and how: 11 or 108 times in the morning puja, remembering the night of the Holika fire.
The colours of Holi belong to Krishna. Braj tells how the young Krishna, dark-skinned, asked his mother Yashoda why Radha was so fair and he so dark; Yashoda laughed and told him to colour Radha's face with whatever colour he liked. So he did, and the gopas and gopis of Braj have played with colour ever since, in Barsana, Nandgaon, Vrindavan and Mathura, for days around the full moon of Phalguna.
The night before belongs to Prahlad. The Holika fire is lit in memory of his escape from the flames in which his aunt Holika burned, and on Holi morning many families apply a little of its cooled ash as a tilak, the old meaning of Dhulandi, before the colours begin.
Puranic tradition also remembers Holi as Vasantotsava, the festival of spring, and as the end of the year in the North Indian calendar: Phalguna closes with the full moon, and Holi morning is the first day of Chaitra's dark fortnight, so the colours welcome the new season.
Holi is the festival of colour, spring and togetherness: for a morning, age, rank and old quarrels are set aside, everyone is the same colour, and the day ends in embraces and sweets. It follows the Holika fire's triumph of faith over arrogance, and celebrates Radha and Krishna's love in Braj.
It opens a string of days: Holi Bhai Dooj on the next day; Rang Panchami five days after the fire, the main day of colours in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh; Sheetala Ashtami, or Basoda, a week later; and Dasha Mata, ten days after Holi, kept by women in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Offer the first gulal of the day to Radha-Krishna or your family deity before colouring anyone. Families keep it as a way of beginning the festival with gratitude.
Put gulal at the feet of your elders and take their blessings before you play. Tradition counts an elder's blessing on Holi as the year's first.
Apply a little cooled Holika ash on the forehead in the morning, by folk custom of blessing and protection.
Colour someone you have fallen out with and embrace them; Holi's own tradition says the colours wash away the old year's grudges.
Share gujiya and food with those who work for you and anyone in need; a festival of togetherness is kept by sharing.
Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.
| Year | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Monday, 25 March 2024 | past |
| 2025 | Friday, 14 March 2025 | past |
| 2026This year | Wednesday, 4 March 2026 | past |
| 2027 | Tuesday, 23 March 2027 | upcoming |
| 2028 | Saturday, 11 March 2028 | upcoming |
Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.
There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.
So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.
In New Delhi, Holi, the day of colours, is on Tuesday, 23 March 2027. It is the morning after Holika Dahan, which is lit on the night of Phalguna Purnima, so its date follows the full moon and changes every year.
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.
Holika Dahan, sometimes called Chhoti Holi or jalane wali Holi, is the bonfire on the night of the full moon. Holi, also Dhulandi, Dhuleti or Rangwali Holi, is the next morning, when colours are played. So the khelne wali Holi is always the day after the fire.
No. Holi has no classical muhurat for the colours; they are played from the morning to around midday. Families who like an auspicious time for the morning puja or a temple visit use a good choghadiya of the day (Chal: 9:25 AM to 10:56 AM; Labh: 10:56 AM to 12:28 PM; Amrit: 12:28 PM to 1:59 PM; Shubh: 3:31 PM to 5:02 PM). The muhurat of the festival belongs to the Holika fire the night before.
Soak tesu (palash) flowers overnight and boil them for orange-yellow water; mix turmeric with gram flour for yellow powder; boil grated beetroot for magenta water; use henna powder dry for green; and dried hibiscus or red sandalwood powder for red. Test a little on the skin first.
Wipe off the dry colour first, then wash with lukewarm water and a mild cleanser, or a paste of gram flour and curd; massage a little coconut oil into stubborn patches and wash again. Do not scrub hard or use kerosene or bleach, and moisturise afterwards. Oiling the skin before playing makes this much easier.
Cheap synthetic colours can contain lead, mercury, chromium, mica or engine oil, and can cause rashes, eye injuries and breathing trouble. Choose natural or herbal colours from a trusted source, keep colour away from the eyes and mouth, and see a doctor for any eye pain or a rash that does not settle.
Holi Bhai Dooj is kept on the second day of Chaitra's dark fortnight, usually the day after Holi, in many families of North India. Sisters apply a roli tilak to their brothers, perform their aarti, pray for their long life and feed them, as on Bhai Dooj after Diwali; the tilak is usually done in the afternoon, as on that Bhai Dooj.
Braj tradition says the young Krishna, troubled that Radha was fair and he was dark, was told by Yashoda to colour her face; he did, and the gopas and gopis have played with colour ever since. Colour also marks spring and makes everyone equal for a morning.
A short one: after the morning bath, families apply a little cooled Holika ash as tilak where it is the custom, offer gulal, flowers and a sweet to Radha-Krishna or the family deity, and put gulal at the elders' feet before playing. The main worship of the festival is the Holika puja of the night before.
Hola Mohalla is the Sikh festival held the day after Holi at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, begun by Guru Gobind Singh as a day of martial practice: Nihang Sikhs display gatka and horsemanship, with mock battles, kirtan, poetry and langar for lakhs of visitors.
Lathmar Holi is played in Barsana, Radha's village near Mathura, in the days before Holi: the men of Nandgaon, Krishna's village, come to colour the women of Barsana, who meet them with sticks while the men shield themselves; the next day the roles move to Nandgaon. It re-enacts Krishna's teasing of Radha and her friends.
Holi has no rule of fasting, and families differ: many keep the day vegetarian with gujiya and malpua, others cook a feast. Bhang thandai is traditional in some places but should never be given to children or anyone unwell, and no one should drink and drive. Follow your family's custom and stay safe.
No remedy comes with a guarantee. The upay in this guide, from offering the first gulal to the gods to making up a quarrel, are traditional acts of gratitude and goodwill that fit the festival's spirit. For any real problem, seek proper advice; keep the customs for their meaning.
