Tihar Dates 2026: The Five Days, Day by Day

If you are looking up the Tihar dates 2026, the short answer is this: Nepal's festival of lights runs from Saturday 7 November to Wednesday 11 November 2026. That five-night stretch is the country's second-biggest celebration after Dashain, and unlike a fixed-date holiday it moves a little every year because it follows the lunar calendar. This guide pins down each of the five days for 2026, explains the one quirk that makes this year's sequence slightly unusual, and translates what those dates mean if you happen to be traveling in Nepal that week.

For the full meaning behind the festival — the mythology, the goddess Lakshmi, why a crow and a dog get their own days — see our companion guide on the Tihar festival explained. This page is the practical, dates-first version.

Key takeaways

• Tihar 2026 runs 7-11 November, opening with Kaag Tihar and closing with Bhai Tika.
• Laxmi Puja, the central lamp-lit night, falls on Sunday 8 November 2026 (Kartik 22, 2083 BS).
• Bhai Tika, the sibling blessing day, falls on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
• This year Kukur Tihar and Laxmi Puja share 8 November, a compression caused by overlapping lunar days.
• The core days are public holidays in Nepal, and many businesses, offices and banks close.
• Tihar comes about two weeks after Dashain, so the two festivals frame the whole autumn.

Tihar 2026 at a glance

Here is the full five-day sequence for 2026, mapped to both the Western calendar and the Nepali Bikram Sambat (BS) year 2083. The Nepali month spanning these dates is Kartik.

| Day | Festival | 2026 date | Nepali date (2083 BS) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Kaag Tihar (crows) | Sat 7 November | Kartik 21 | | 2 | Kukur Tihar (dogs) + Laxmi Puja | Sun 8 November | Kartik 22 | | 3 | Gai Tihar (cows) | Mon 9 November | Kartik 23 | | 4 | Goru Tihar / Mha Puja | Tue 10 November | Kartik 24 | | 5 | Bhai Tika (siblings) | Wed 11 November | Kartik 25 |

If you only remember two dates, make them 8 November (Laxmi Puja, the most visually striking night) and 11 November (Bhai Tika, the emotional finale and a firm public holiday).

The five days, explained for 2026

Day 1 — Kaag Tihar, Saturday 7 November

The festival opens quietly. On Kaag Tihar, households leave out food for crows, traditionally seen as messengers of Yama, the god of death. There is little public spectacle on this first day; it is more a domestic, dawn ritual than a street event. For a visitor, 7 November is the day the marigold sellers and lamp stalls really fill the bazaars, so it is a good morning to wander a market like Asan in Kathmandu and watch the city stock up.

Day 2 — Kukur Tihar and Laxmi Puja, Sunday 8 November

This is the standout date of 2026, and it carries two rituals at once. By day it is Kukur Tihar, when dogs — street dogs and pets alike — are garlanded with marigolds, marked with red tika, and fed treats in thanks for their loyalty. It is one of the most photographed and most loved days of the festival; our guide to Kukur Tihar, the dog festival, covers it in full.

After dark, the same date becomes Laxmi Puja, the brightest night of Tihar. Families finish a thorough house-cleaning, then line doorways, windowsills and rooftops with small oil lamps called diyo, lay coloured rangoli patterns at their entrances, and leave the lights burning to invite Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, inside. If you are in a Nepali town on the evening of 8 November, this is the night to be out after sunset.

The reason these two fall together in 2026 is the lunar calendar. Tihar's days are set by tithi (lunar days), which do not line up neatly with 24-hour Gregorian dates, so in some years two observances share a single date. For more on how this calendar logic works, see when is Dashain, which explains the same lunar drift for Nepal's larger festival.

Day 3 — Gai Tihar, Monday 9 November

The third day honours the cow, revered in Hindu tradition as a maternal, sacred animal and associated with Lakshmi herself. Cows are washed, garlanded and fed special food. It is a gentler, more rural-feeling day, and in cities you will see the festive mood carry over from the night before, with lamps relit and homes still glowing.

Day 4 — Goru Tihar and Mha Puja, Tuesday 10 November

Day four splits along community lines. Across much of Nepal it is Goru Tihar, honouring the ox for its role in farm life. Among the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, the same day is Mha Puja — a worship of the self that purifies and energises the soul for the year ahead — and it coincides with Nepal Sambat, the traditional Newar new year. If you are in Bhaktapur or Patan, 10 November is a culturally rich day to be in the old towns.

Day 5 — Bhai Tika, Wednesday 11 November

Tihar closes with its most tender ritual. On Bhai Tika, sisters apply a multi-coloured tika to their brothers' foreheads, drape them in makhamali (globe amaranth) garlands, and pray for their long lives; brothers offer gifts in return. The custom traces to the legend of Yama and his sister Yamuna. Nepal's official calendar committee publishes a precise auspicious time — a saait — for beginning the tika each year, so the exact moment is set fresh rather than left to an all-day window. The 11th is a firm public holiday and one of the year's most family-centred days.

What Tihar 2026 means for travelers

Tihar is beautiful to witness, but it reshapes a few practicalities. Planning around the dates matters more than for an ordinary week.

Closures and holidays

The core Tihar days are public holidays in Nepal under the 2083 calendar, broadly running from Laxmi Puja through the day after Bhai Tika. Expect government offices and banks to close, and many private shops to shut for at least the central days of 8-11 November. ATMs can run low on cash before a long holiday, so withdraw what you need in advance — our ATM and cash guide explains how to avoid being caught short. Major tourist restaurants and hotels in Thamel and Pokhara's Lakeside generally stay open, but smaller family-run places may pause.

Transport and crowds

As with Dashain, many city residents travel to family homes, so intercity buses and domestic flights fill up in the days just before the festival and again as it ends. If your itinerary crosses the Kathmandu-to-Pokhara route around 6-12 November, book ahead. Within cities the festival can actually make movement easier midweek, as offices empty and traffic thins.

What you will see and how to behave

Evenings around 8 November are the highlight: lamp-lined streets, rangoli at thresholds, and groups going door to door singing Deusi-Bhailo, a tradition where performers bless a household and receive treats or money in return. It is friendly and public, and onlookers are welcome — a small contribution if you are invited to join is appreciated. If you are visiting homes or temples during the week, the usual respectful habits apply; our note on temple etiquette in Nepal is a useful refresher.

Weather in early November

There is a happy bonus to Tihar's timing. Early-to-mid November sits in one of Nepal's clearest, driest, most stable weather windows, just after the monsoon clears and before deep winter. It overlaps with one of the best seasons to trek in Nepal, so a traveler can pair a few festival nights in the valley with a mountain trip on either side and expect generally bright skies.

How these dates are set (and why they move)

Tihar is anchored to the Hindu lunar calendar, the same system that governs Dashain and most major Nepali festivals. The festival sits in the dark fortnight around the new moon of the month of Kartik, and its individual days are fixed to tithi, lunar days that average a little under 24 hours. Because a tithi can begin and end at any hour, the named rituals attach to whichever Gregorian date holds the relevant tithi at the prescribed time.

That is why two practical things happen. First, the Western date shifts each year — Tihar drifts against the Gregorian calendar by roughly a couple of weeks before correcting. Second, in some years rituals share a date or stretch apart, exactly as Kukur Tihar and Laxmi Puja do on 8 November 2026. None of this changes the festival's five-day shape; it only changes how those days map onto the calendar on your wall. The single most reliable planning step is to reconfirm the dates and the Bhai Tika saait for your travel year from an official Nepali source before booking.

Quick planning checklist

• Mark 7-11 November 2026 as the festival window, with 8 November (Laxmi Puja) and 11 November (Bhai Tika) as the two key nights.
• Book buses and domestic flights early if traveling on 6-12 November.
• Carry enough cash before 8 November, as banks and many ATMs slow over the holiday.
• Be out after dark on 8 November for the lamp-lit streets and rangoli.
• Reconfirm dates and the Bhai Tika auspicious time from Nepal's official calendar near your trip.

Sources

• Bhai Tika (Tihar) 2026 in Nepal — timeanddate.com
• Laxmi Puja (Tihar) 2026 in Nepal — timeanddate.com
• Tihar Festival in Nepal 2026: Dates, Traditions & Guide — Magical Nepal
• Tihar 2026 Dates — Nepali Calendar (nepcalendar.com)
• List of Public Holidays of Nepal 2083 — CollegeNP