Krishna paksha · Kartika · purnimanta reckoning
When is Karwa Chauth?
Karwa Chauth is not a Gregorian date. It is Krishna paksha tithi 4 of Kartika 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.
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Timings on this page are computed for London.
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Outside India
The whole table below is recomputed for the city you pick. That is not cosmetic: an observance decided at moonrise, such as Karwa Chauth, can genuinely fall on a different day in two cities, and the moment the fast ends differs by more than an hour across India.
Computed for London
The date in London
Wednesday, 28 October 2026
- Tithi
- Chaturthi, Krishna paksha
- Lunar month
- Kartika (purnimanta)
- Tithi begins
- 28 Oct, 19:37
- Tithi ends
- 29 Oct, 16:41
- Decided at
- Moonrise
- Moonrise in London
- 28 Oct, 17:25
The fast ends at moonrise — 17:25 in London.
That figure belongs to London and to nowhere else. Moonrise swings by well over an hour between the east and the west of the country on the same evening, which is far more than sunrise does, so a single national moonrise time — the thing most pages print — is wrong almost everywhere it is read. Change the city above and this number, and sometimes the date itself, changes with it.
This year the tithi is skipped (kshaya). Chaturthi begins after one moonrise and ends before the next, so it touches neither and the usual rule cannot pick a day. The observance is not cancelled: it is kept on the day the tithi runs through, which is the date above. Saying so matters — a page that printed the date alone would be implying a rule that did not actually apply this year.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at moonrise, so it belongs to the day whose moonrise the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Muhurat · London
Karwa Chauth muhurat
This observance ends at moonrise rather than inside a window.
Moonrise is an instant, not a span, so there is no window to intersect. The moonrise time for London is given above — and it belongs to London and nowhere else, because moonrise swings by well over an hour between the east and the west of India on the same evening.
Auspicious windows that day
| Window | Time in London | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Amrit Kaal | 02:47 to 04:14 | Most 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.
| Window | Time in London |
|---|---|
| Rahu Kaal | 11:43 to 12:58 |
| Yamaganda Kaal | 08:00 to 09:15 |
| Durmuhurta First | 11:24 to 12:03 |
| Varjyam | 22:26 to 23:53 |
Every window above is computed for London on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, from that day's sunrise, sunset and the following sunrise. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the date named above rather than to the one the wall clock has turned over to.
Karwa Chauth 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.
| Year | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sunday, 20 October 2024 | past |
| 2025 | Thursday, 9 October 2025 | past |
| 2026 | Wednesday, 28 October 2026 | upcoming |
| 2027 | Monday, 18 October 2027 | upcoming |
| 2028 | Saturday, 7 October 2028 | upcoming |
Every row is computed for London 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 moonrise. 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.
Related timing
Common questions
When is Karwa Chauth?
Wednesday, 28 October 2026. It is Chaturthi of Krishna paksha in Kartika, and that tithi runs from 28 Oct, 19:37 to 29 Oct, 16:41.
Why does another calendar give a different Karwa Chauth date?
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.
Why is this marked as a skipped tithi?
Chaturthi begins after one deciding moment and ends before the next this year, so it touches none — a kshaya tithi. The observance is not cancelled: it is kept on the day the tithi runs through, which is the day given above.
What time is moonrise for Karwa Chauth in London?
17:25 on 28 Oct 2026, computed for London. The fast ends when the Moon is seen, and moonrise swings by well over an hour between the east and the west of India — so a single national time is wrong almost everywhere. Use the city strip above to move this page to yours.