Diwali 2027 falls on Friday, October 29. Lakshmi Puja is traditionally performed on the night of Kartik Amavasya, during Pradosh Kaal.
An approximate Lakshmi Puja muhurat
Published panchang sources give a Pradosh Kaal muhurat of roughly 5:55 PM to 7:21 PM for Delhi. Different panchang sources give slightly different windows based on the fixed ascendant, so treat this as an approximate range, not the exact minute.
The five-day festival
- October 27: Dhanteras
- October 28: Choti Diwali (Naraka Chaturdashi)
- October 29: Diwali, Lakshmi Puja
- October 30: Govardhan Puja
- October 31: Bhai Dooj
The days around Lakshmi Puja matter too
Dhanteras, two days before, is when most families buy gold, silver or at minimum a new steel utensil, on the reasoning that a purchase made on that day multiplies rather than just sits in a cupboard. Naraka Chaturdashi the next day is an early-morning oil bath before sunrise, said to wash away misfortune, and it’s also the day many households do a smaller, informal round of firecrackers ahead of the main Diwali night. None of these three days works in isolation. A family that skips the Dhanteras purchase and the Naraka Chaturdashi oil bath but keeps a picture-perfect Lakshmi Puja muhurat has still done a partial version of the sequence, and most priests would rather see a household get the order roughly right across all five days than obsess over the exact minute of just one.
Why the window narrows further: Sthir Lagna
Pradosh Kaal gives the outer boundary, but most panchang makers narrow it further to a Sthir Lagna, a fixed-sign ascendant, believed to help the goddess’s presence stay in the home rather than pass through. Two windows usually fall within Pradosh Kaal on Diwali night: Vrishabha Lagna (Taurus rising), typically the early evening slot right after sunset, and Simha Lagna (Leo rising), which falls later, often close to midnight. Vrishabha is the one most households and shopkeepers use, since it sits inside the practical early-evening hours when children are still awake and guests are still around. Simha Lagna is the one serious Tantric practitioners and some business families wait up for, on the reasoning that a later, quieter puja carries more weight.
What goes on the puja thali
A standard Lakshmi Puja thali carries an idol or picture of Lakshmi alongside Ganesha, a kalash filled with water and topped with mango leaves and a coconut, a small pile of raw rice (akshat), vermilion, turmeric, a few coins, and at least one sweet like a laddoo or barfi. Traders add their account books, called chopda pujan, worshipping the new year’s ledger before the first entry is written in it. Five or eleven small diyas lit with mustard or sesame oil are placed around the thali, not just at the doorway. None of this needs to be elaborate. A rented one-bedroom flat abroad with a folding table and a printed Lakshmi image does the job just as well as a marble mandir back home; what matters to most families is that the sequence, kalash first, then the idols, then the account book, then the diyas, is followed in order.
How to check the exact time for your city
The precise Pradosh Kaal window depends on your city’s sunset. Select your city on the muhurat page to see that day’s sunset and choghadiya.
The final call is the family’s
Panchang sources disagree by anywhere from ten to thirty minutes on where Pradosh Kaal starts, and not every family has the flexibility to wait for a precise Sthir Lagna if young kids or elderly relatives are involved. Most priests will say the same thing: get within the broad Pradosh Kaal window, keep the sequence of the puja correct, and don’t stress over the exact minute. The intention behind the puja counts for more than hitting a number to the second.