Also called Kalbhairav Jayanti, Kalabhairav Jayanti, Kal Bhairav Jayanti. Those are the same observance and the same date, so they share this page rather than competing with it from a second URL.
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti is not a Gregorian date. It is Krishna paksha tithi 8 of Margashirsha in the purnimanta 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.
Tithi
Ashtami, Krishna paksha
Lunar month
Margashirsha (purnimanta)
Tithi begins
1 Dec, 12:12 AM
Tithi ends
1 Dec, 11:14 PM
Decided at
Pradosh (just after sunset)
Pradosh in New Delhi
1 Dec, 6:36 PM
Pradosh in New Delhi falls at 6:36 PM 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 pradosh, so it belongs to the day whose pradosh the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Meaning and observance
What is Kaal Bhairav Jayanti?
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti (Kalabhairav or Bhairav Ashtami) marks the appearance of Kaal Bhairav, the fierce form of Shiva who guards Kashi as its kotwal. It is the Ashtami of the dark fortnight of Margashirsha as North India counts the month — the same day is Kartika Krishna Ashtami in the amanta reckoning of the south and west.
It is dated by the Ashtami running at pradosh, the evening, which gives Drik Panchang's date in every year from 2016 to 2029. The sunrise rule puts it a day late in about half those years.
Devotees visit Bhairav temples — the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi and the one at Ujjain are the best known — and many keep a fast and a night vigil.
Every month's Krishna Ashtami is a Kalashtami; this is the one counted as Bhairav's birth.
All Kaal Bhairav Jayanti 2026 muhurat · New Delhi
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti muhurat
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti, also called Bhairav Ashtami, marks the appearance of Kala Bhairava, Shiva's fierce form and the guardian (kotwal) of Kashi, on Margashirsha Krishna Ashtami, which the amanta calendar of the south and west calls Kartika Krishna Ashtami. In New Delhi it falls on Tuesday, 1 December 2026. The main puja is at night, in nishita kaal while Ashtami runs: 12:12 AM to 12:37 AM; many also worship at dusk, in pradosh kaal.
All Kaal Bhairav Jayanti 2026 muhurat in New Delhi
Muhurat
Time in New Delhi
What it is for
Kaal Bhairav puja (Nishita)
12:12 AM to 12:37 AMNishita kaal while Ashtami runs: Ashtami begins inside the nishita of the night before and ends before the Jayanti night's.
The middle of the night while Ashtami runs: the hour tradition gives to Bhairava's worship, kept with a mustard-oil lamp, the Kalabhairava Ashtakam and jagran. In some years Ashtami begins only around midnight at the very start of the Jayanti date and ends before the next midnight. The nishita it holds is then the one in the small hours that open the Jayanti date, the night before its evening, not the night after; the window shown already follows this rule.
Pradosh Kaal
5:24 PM to 8:06 PMFrom sunset for three night muhurtas (a fifth of the night).
The first part of the night after sunset. The Jayanti is dated by the Ashtami that holds this evening window, and many households and temples hold their main puja and aarti in it rather than at midnight.
Sunset
5:24 PMThe upper edge of the Sun leaving the horizon.
Light the mustard-oil lamp before Bhairava and Shiva at dusk in New Delhi; the evening puja follows.
Brahma Muhurta
5:07 AM to 6:01 AMThe 14th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, ending one muhurta before sunrise.
The hour before dawn on the Jayanti: bathe, take the sankalp of the fast and offer water to Shiva.
Auspicious choghadiya (night)
Labh7:05 PM to 8:47 PM
Shubh10:28 PM to 12:10 AM (2 Dec)
Amrit2 Dec, 12:10 AM to 1:51 AM
Chal2 Dec, 1:51 AM to 3:33 AM
The night's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas.
The night's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas, which some families use to time the evening aarti or the night's jagran.
Auspicious windows that day
Auspicious windows that day
Window
Time in New Delhi
What it is
Abhijit Muhurat
11:49 AM to 12:30 PM
Auspicious
Amrit Kaal
2:32 AM to 4:08 AM
Most Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat
5:07 AM to 6:01 AM
Auspicious
Windows usually worked around
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.
Windows usually worked around
Window
Time in New Delhi
Rahu Kaal
2:47 PM to 4:05 PM
Yamaganda Kaal
9:32 AM to 10:51 AM
Durmuhurta First
9:01 AM to 9:43 AM
Varjyam
4:59 PM to 6:34 PM
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Tuesday, 1 December 2026, 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.
Puja vidhi · step by step at home
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti puja vidhi
Bathe and take the sankalp
Bathe early, offer water to Shiva, and take the sankalp of the Bhairav Ashtami fast with water, rice and a flower in your right hand.
The day of the fast
Keep the fast your health allows: phalahar through the day, or one simple meal. Spend the day in Shiva's names and the Kalabhairava Ashtakam.
Visit a Bhairav temple
If there is a Bhairav temple near you, go for darshan: offer a mustard-oil lamp, black sesame, flowers and coconut, and where it is the temple's custom, oil and sindoor to the deity.
Set up the home altar
At dusk place a picture of Kala Bhairava, or a Shivling, on a clean cloth, and light a mustard-oil lamp, a four-wicked lamp if you have one, with incense of guggul.
Worship Shiva and Bhairava
Offer water, bel leaves and flowers to Shiva, then flowers, black sesame, sweets and coconut to Bhairava, chanting Om Kalabhairavaya Namah 108 times on a rudraksha mala.
Recite the Ashtakam
Recite the Kalabhairava Ashtakam, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, the eight verses to the lord of Kashi, or listen to it with attention.
Bhog
Offer imarti, jalebi, urad-dal vadas or sweet puas, a bhog offered at many Bhairav temples in North India, with fruit and water.
The night puja
In the nishita window, sit before the lamp, repeat the mantra and the Ashtakam, and offer the aarti. Many families keep the night awake in bhajans.
Feed the dogs
The dog is Bhairava's vahana: give rotis, milk or food to street dogs, kindly and without crowding them.
Daan and parana
The next morning bathe, worship briefly, give warm clothes, a blanket, mustard oil, black sesame or food to someone in need, and break the fast.
Samagri · what to keep ready
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti puja samagri list
A picture or idol of Kala Bhairava, or a ShivlingBhairava is a form of Shiva; a Shivling or Shiva's picture serves when no Bhairava image is at hand.
Mustard oil and clay lampsBhairava's lamp is lit with mustard oil; a four-wicked lamp (chaumukha deepak) is traditional.
Black sesameOffered to Bhairava and given in daan.
Bel leaves and flowersBel for Shiva; marigold and other flowers for Bhairava.
Guggul or incenseGuggul dhoop is traditional in Shiva and Bhairava worship.
CoconutOffered whole or broken before the deity.
Sindoor and oilOnly where your temple or family offers the chola to Bhairava, as many North Indian temples do.
Rudraksha malaFor 108 repetitions of the mantra.
Imarti, jalebi, urad vadas or puasThe traditional bhog of Bhairava's temples.
Fruit and waterWith the bhog.
Rotis or food for dogsPlain food for Bhairava's vahana; avoid sweets, onion and chocolate, which harm dogs.
Kalabhairava AshtakamA printed text or a recording for the recitation.
Camphor and an aarti plateFor the evening and night aarti.
Daan itemsA blanket, warm clothes, mustard oil, black sesame or urad dal for someone in need.
Meaning: I worship Kalabhairava, lord of the city of Kashi, whose holy lotus feet are served by Indra, king of the gods; who wears a serpent as his sacred thread and the moon on his head, a store of mercy; who is praised by Narada and the hosts of yogis, and is clothed only by the sky.
When and how: The opening of the eight-verse hymn ascribed to Adi Shankaracharya. Recite the whole Ashtakam in the evening and again at the night puja; each verse ends with the same line, Kashika-puradhinatha-Kalabhairavam bhaje.
Kala Bhairava name mantra
ॐ कालभैरवाय नमः
Om Kalabhairavaya Namah
Meaning: Om, salutation to Kala Bhairava.
When and how: 108 times on a rudraksha mala at the evening or night puja; it needs no initiation and anyone may say it.
Shiva panchakshari mantra
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
Meaning: Om, salutation to Shiva. The words namah shivaya come from the Shri Rudram of the Yajurveda.
When and how: While offering water and bel leaves to Shiva, whose form Bhairava is, 11 or 108 times.
Meaning: We worship the three-eyed one, fragrant, who increases nourishment. As a ripe cucumber is freed from its stem, may he free us from death, and not from immortality.
When and how: From the Rigveda; chanted 11 or 108 times on the night of the Jayanti, a prayer to Shiva, the lord of time, for health and freedom from fear.
Katha · the story and its meaning
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti katha and significance
The katha
The Shiva Purana tells that Brahma, then with five heads, once claimed in his pride that he was the supreme creator and spoke slightingly of Shiva. From Shiva's anger arose a terrible form, Bhairava, who with the nail of his finger cut off Brahma's fifth head, the one that had spoken in arrogance.
But the skull clung to Bhairava's hand, and the sin of killing a Brahmin followed him in a fearsome shape. As Shiva had ordained, Bhairava wandered through the worlds as a mendicant with the skull as his begging bowl, until he entered Kashi. There the skull fell from his hand, at the place still honoured as Kapalamochana, the releasing of the skull, and he was freed.
Shiva then made him the guardian of Kashi, its kotwal, and Kashi tradition holds that even Yama has no hold over those under his protection there. He is called Kala Bhairava because even Kala, time and death, fears him. His appearance is remembered on this Ashtami, and pilgrims to Varanasi traditionally take his darshan before or after Kashi Vishwanath's.
Why it is kept
Bhairava is Shiva's fierce, protective form: the guardian of temples, towns and homes (kshetrapala), and in Kashi the city's own kotwal. His Jayanti is a night for facing fear with devotion, for discipline, and for the humility his story teaches, since even Brahma's pride was cut down.
Every Krishna Ashtami is a Kalashtami sacred to Bhairava, but the Ashtami of his appearance is the year's greatest. The day is also known for kindness to dogs, his vahana, and for gifts of warm clothes and food as winter sets in.
Upay · traditional practice
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti upay: traditional remedies
A mustard-oil lamp for Bhairava
Light a mustard-oil lamp before Bhairava at a temple or at home in the evening. Tradition holds that Bhairava protects those who keep his lamp, and the lamp itself is the simplest offering.
The Kalabhairava Ashtakam
Recite or listen to the Ashtakam on the Jayanti night. Its own last verse speaks of freedom from sorrow, delusion, poverty, greed, anger and distress; that is the hymn's praise, not a promise, and families keep it as a prayer for courage.
Feed the dogs
Give plain rotis, milk or food to street dogs, Bhairava's vahana. It is the best-known custom of the day and a real kindness in the cold season.
Warm clothes and blankets
Give a blanket, warm clothes or food to someone who sleeps out in the cold; tradition values daan on Bhairav Ashtami, and the need is real.
Black sesame and urad
Offer black sesame and urad dal to Bhairava and give some in daan; these are the traditional offerings of his worship.
Darshan in Kashi or Ujjain
If you can travel, take darshan at Kala Bhairava's temples in Varanasi or Ujjain, the two best known; otherwise at your nearest Bhairav or Shiva temple.
The custom, in short
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti do's and don'ts
Do
Light a mustard-oil lamp and worship Bhairava and Shiva in the evening or at night while Ashtami runs.
Recite the Kalabhairava Ashtakam and chant Om Kalabhairavaya Namah.
Feed street dogs plain food, gently.
Give warm clothes, blankets or food to those in need.
Keep the fast your health allows and break it after the night puja or the next morning.
Treat the day with discipline: honest speech, no quarrels and respect for elders.
Don't
Do not hit, chase or tease dogs; Bhairava's vahana is to be cared for.
Do not attempt tantric sadhana or bija mantras without a qualified guru; household worship needs only the name mantra and the Ashtakam.
Do not pay anyone who promises to remove black magic or misfortune through a Bhairav ritual.
Do not bring liquor or meat into home worship; some temples have their own offerings, which households need not copy.
Do not leave a mustard-oil lamp burning unattended through the night.
Do not keep a waterless fast if you are unwell, pregnant or elderly.
Across India
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti customs and food
By region
Varanasi
Kala Bhairava's temple, the seat of Kashi's kotwal, is crowded from dawn to midnight on Bhairav Ashtami; the deity is adorned, the aarti draws huge queues, and pilgrims tie a black thread from the temple as his blessing.
Ujjain
The ancient Kal Bhairav temple holds a great celebration with a procession of the deity; by the temple's own custom the deity is offered liquor; a few other Bhairav shrines share the custom, but it has no place in home worship.
Maharashtra
Bhairoba or Kalbhairavnath is the family deity of many households, and his temples mark the Jayanti with special worship and bhajans.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Kalabhairava is worshipped at Shiva temples, and the Ashtami of the waning moon is kept every month for Bhairavar with lamps and garlands; the Jayanti is the greatest of them.
Amanta calendars
The south and west name this day Kartika Krishna Ashtami; it is the same night as North India's Margashirsha Krishna Ashtami.
Bhog, prasad and fasting food
Imarti and jalebiThe classic bhog of Bhairava's temples in North India.
Urad-dal vadasUrad is associated with Bhairava's worship; offered and shared as prasad.
Sweet puasFried sweet fritters offered in many homes.
PhalaharFruit, milk, makhana or sabudana for those who fast.
Plain rotis for the dogsKept aside before the family eats.
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti across five years
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.
Kaal Bhairav Jayanti across five years
Year
Date
Status
2024
Friday, 22 November 2024
past
2025
Wednesday, 12 November 2025
past
2026This year
Tuesday, 1 December 2026
upcoming
2027
Saturday, 20 November 2027
upcoming
2028
Thursday, 9 November 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.
Why calendars disagree about this date
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.
A tithi rarely starts at sunrise. One that is running at the deciding moment on two days — or on none — is claimed by both days under different rules.
Month reckoning. North India runs purnimanta, the south and west amanta. The same dark fortnight carries different month names in the two, so an observance defined as "krishna X of month Y" can land a full lunation apart.
Which moment decides. Most vratas belong to the day whose sunrise carries the tithi, but not all: this one is decided at pradosh. Almanacs that apply the sunrise rule to everything move several festivals by a day.
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, Kaal Bhairav Jayanti 2026 is on Tuesday, 1 December 2026, Margashirsha Krishna Ashtami (Kartika Krishna Ashtami in the amanta calendar). Ashtami runs 12:12 AM to 11:14 PM, and the Jayanti is the day whose evening it holds. The night puja is in nishita kaal while Ashtami runs: 12:12 AM to 12:37 AM.
Why does another calendar give a different Kaal Bhairav Jayanti date?
Because Ashtami can begin late on one day and end late the next. The Jayanti is dated by the Ashtami that holds the evening, while the night puja follows the midnight Ashtami holds, which can be the night before. The month is also named differently: Margashirsha Krishna in the North's purnimanta calendar, Kartika Krishna in the amanta calendar; the night is the same.
What is the Kaal Bhairav Jayanti muhurat in New Delhi?
Tradition gives Bhairava's main worship to the middle of the night, nishita kaal, while Ashtami runs; in New Delhi that is: 12:12 AM to 12:37 AM. Many families and temples also hold the puja and aarti at dusk, in pradosh kaal (5:24 PM to 8:06 PM). In some years the nishita that Ashtami holds is in the small hours that open the Jayanti date, the night before its evening; the window then belongs to that night, not the following one.
Which is the Kaal Bhairav mantra?
For household worship, Om Kalabhairavaya Namah, chanted 108 times on a rudraksha mala, and the Kalabhairava Ashtakam, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, whose verses end Kashika-puradhinatha-Kalabhairavam bhaje. Om Namah Shivaya and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra are chanted too. The texts, in Devanagari and roman, with meanings, are in the mantra section.
What are the benefits of chanting the Kaal Bhairav mantra?
Tradition holds that Bhairava's mantra and the Ashtakam give courage, steadiness and freedom from fear, and protect the home; the Ashtakam's own last verse speaks of release from sorrow, greed and anger. These are beliefs of the tradition, not promises; families keep the chant as a discipline of the mind and a prayer for protection.
How many times should the Kaal Bhairav mantra be chanted, and can anyone chant it?
The usual count is one mala, 108 times, at the evening or night puja, or 11 times if you are short of time. Anyone may chant the name mantra Om Kalabhairavaya Namah and the Ashtakam. Bija and tantric Bhairav mantras, such as the Batuk Bhairav mantra, are traditionally taken from a guru and are not needed for household worship.
How is the Kaal Bhairav puja done at home?
Fast through the day as your health allows. At dusk light a mustard-oil lamp before a picture of Bhairava or a Shivling, offer water and bel leaves to Shiva and flowers, black sesame, coconut and sweets to Bhairava, chant Om Kalabhairavaya Namah 108 times and recite the Ashtakam. Repeat the chant and aarti in nishita, feed dogs and give daan the next morning before breaking the fast.
What is Kalashtami?
Kalashtami is the Ashtami of the waning moon, kept every month for Kala Bhairava with a lamp, his mantra and a fast; it is also called masik Kalashtami. The Kalashtami of Margashirsha (Kartika in the amanta calendar) is Kaal Bhairav Jayanti, the day of his appearance and the greatest of the year.
Is Kalashtami good or bad?
It is a sacred day, not an unlucky one: the day for Bhairava's worship, kept with lamps, prayer, fasting and charity. Like other Ashtamis, many panchangs do not choose it for starting new ventures, weddings or housewarmings, but nothing about it calls for fear.
Which vahana is worshipped on Kalashtami?
The dog, Bhairava's vahana. On Kalashtami and above all on Kaal Bhairav Jayanti, families feed street dogs plain rotis, milk or food and treat them with care, which is counted as service to Bhairava himself.
What should be done on Kaal Bhairav Jayanti?
Bathe early and take a sankalp, keep a fast as health allows, visit a Bhairav temple, light a mustard-oil lamp, worship Shiva and Bhairava, recite the Kalabhairava Ashtakam, offer the night aarti in nishita, feed dogs and give warm clothes or food to someone in need.
What samagri is needed for the Kaal Bhairav puja?
A picture of Kala Bhairava or a Shivling, mustard oil and clay lamps, black sesame, bel leaves and flowers, guggul incense, a coconut, a rudraksha mala, the bhog of imarti, jalebi or urad vadas, camphor, plain rotis for the dogs and items for daan. Sindoor and oil only where your temple or family offers them.
What is the story of Kaal Bhairav Jayanti?
In the Shiva Purana, Brahma's pride provoked Shiva's anger, and from it arose Bhairava, who cut off Brahma's fifth head. The skull clung to his hand until, wandering as a mendicant, he reached Kashi, where it fell at Kapalamochana; Shiva then made him the guardian of Kashi. The full katha is above.
How is the Kaal Bhairav Jayanti fast kept?
Most keep phalahar, fruit, milk and fasting foods, from sunrise, and break the fast after the night puja or the next morning after bathing and giving daan. Some eat one simple meal. Those who are unwell, pregnant or elderly should not go without food or water; prayer and daan keep the day too.
