When is Durga Puja (Maha Saptami)?

Durga Puja (Maha Saptami) is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 7 of Ashwin 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.

Timings on this page are computed for Kuala Lumpur.

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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.

The date in Kuala Lumpur

Sunday, 18 October 2026

Tithi
Saptami, Shukla paksha
Lunar month
Ashwin (amanta)
Tithi begins
17 Oct, 08:24
Tithi ends
18 Oct, 10:58
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in Kuala Lumpur
18 Oct, 06:57

Sunrise in Kuala Lumpur falls at 06:57 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.

Durga Puja (Maha Saptami) muhurat

Durga Puja (Maha Saptami) is decided at sunrise, which is an instant rather than a window, so there is no anchor window to intersect with the tithi. The generally auspicious windows of the day are below, and Abhijit is the one most commonly used where an observance names no muhurat of its own.

Auspicious windows that day

WindowTime in Kuala LumpurWhat it is
Abhijit Muhurat 12:34 to 13:22 Auspicious
Amrit Kaal 09:54 to 11:42 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.

WindowTime in Kuala Lumpur
Rahu Kaal 17:29 to 18:59
Yamaganda Kaal 12:58 to 14:28
Durmuhurta First 17:23 to 18:11
Varjyam 00:15 to 02:03

Every window above is computed for Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 18 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.

Durga Puja (Maha Saptami) 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.

YearDateStatus
2024 Thursday, 10 October 2024 past
2025 Monday, 29 September 2025 past
2026 Sunday, 18 October 2026 upcoming
2027 Wednesday, 6 October 2027 upcoming
2028 Monday, 25 September 2028 upcoming

Every row is computed for Kuala Lumpur 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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Which moment decides. Most vratas belong to the day whose sunrise carries the tithi, but not all: this one is decided at sunrise. 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.

Common questions

When is Durga Puja (Maha Saptami)?

Sunday, 18 October 2026. It is Saptami of Shukla paksha in Ashwin, and that tithi runs from 17 Oct, 08:24 to 18 Oct, 10:58.

Why does another calendar give a different Durga Puja (Maha Saptami) 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.