Dhanteras 2026 Date: 6 Nov Puja Muhurat IST

Jewellery-market lanes in Jaipur, Mumbai and Delhi start filling before sunrise on Dhanteras, and the question families actually type into search is narrower than “when is Diwali”. They want the metal-buying day, the evening puja window, and a clock that matches their own city. Dhanteras 2026 falls on Friday, 6 November 2026. It opens the five-day Deepavali sequence and is observed as Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, also called Dhantrayodashi.

Verification note: The Friday 6 November date is the India-baseline observance used by Drik Panchang and by festival calendars such as Samvat. Drik Panchang’s 2026 Dhanteras table lists the New Delhi puja muhurat as 6:02 PM to 7:57 PM local time. Other cities on that same table differ. Treat any single forwarded “all-India muhurat” as incomplete.

Shops, catalogues and festive storefronts that need a clean date page — with IST stated once and city exceptions stated next — are the same class of build we ship from Jaipur through ecommerce development and digital marketing.

Date and puja window in IST

• Calendar date: Friday, 6 November 2026
• Tithi: Kartik Krishna Trayodashi (Dhantrayodashi)
• New Delhi muhurat listed by Drik Panchang: 6:02 PM to 7:57 PM local time
• What that window means: the overlap of Pradosh Kaal after sunset with Vrishabha, the fixed Taurus lagna, while Trayodashi is current
• Main Lakshmi Puja night: Sunday, 8 November 2026 — a different rite
• Bhai Dooj: Wednesday, 11 November 2026

Pradosh Kaal begins at local sunset and runs a little over two hours. Vrishabha lagna does not start at the same minute in Jaipur as it does in Kolkata, because sunset and the rising sign both move with longitude and latitude. Drik Panchang therefore publishes a city table rather than one national alarm. If your puja is in Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata or a smaller town, open the panchang for that place. Copying Delhi’s 6:02 PM into a Chennai family group will land the lamp in the wrong slice of the evening.

The Pleasanton, California view of the same Drik page shows a different clock, because that page is computed for the Pacific timezone. Do not paste a US muhurat into an Indian invitation. Diaspora households should select the city where the puja will actually be performed.

How the tithi chooses the day

Dhanteras is fixed by Trayodashi at the evening pradosh, not by a government gazette. In 2026 the India-baseline calendars agree on Friday 6 November. That agreement is stronger than in years when the tithi touches two sunrises and rival panchangs split the day. Even so, a family that follows a regional sampradaya — a specific temple calendar, a Swaminarayan almanac, a Kerala or Tamil vakya panchang — should confirm with the priest they already trust. We are recording the widely published India date, not overruling a household tradition.

What people buy, and what this page will not price

The popular custom is to bring home something metal: gold or silver coins and jewellery, steel or brass utensils, or a new tool of a trade. The rite is tied to Dhanvantari, the deity associated with ayurveda and healing, and to Kubera and Lakshmi for prosperity. Many homes also light a lamp for Yama in the evening, the first of the Diwali-season deepams. None of that requires a particular rupee price. Gold rates on 6 November 2026 are not yet known, and any “book now at today’s festive rate” message that demands an OTP or a remote UPI collect request should be treated as a scam pattern, not as a jeweller’s offer.

A practical buying order that does not depend on invented discounts:

• Decide the item and the budget on 5 November, before the lane is packed.
• Prefer a bill with hallmark details for gold and a GST invoice for appliances.
• If you are only keeping the custom and not shopping, a small utensil or a coin you already own can be placed for the puja. The calendar does not require a new loan.
• Large appliances and phones are often marketed as Dhanteras deals. Compare the payable price after exchange and bank offers with the price you screenshotted in late October. The Amazon Great Indian Festival and Flipkart Big Billion Days windows fall in early October, weeks before this date, so a Dhanteras tag in November is a different promotion.

We do not publish live bullion rates here. Use your jeweller, the India Bullion and Jewellers Association, or your bank’s published rate on the morning itself.

How the evening is usually arranged

Homes are cleaned before the trayodashi evening. A low platform holds an image or murti of Lakshmi with Kubera or Dhanvantari, a kalash, coins, and the new purchase. The lamp is lit inside the muhurat, not necessarily at the first minute of it. Drik’s Delhi window is nearly two hours long, so a family that sits down at 6:30 PM in Delhi is still inside the listed overlap. The useful habit is to be ready before the window opens: ingredients, matchbox, and the invoice of anything you intend to place beside the lamp.

In markets, the crush is earlier than the muhurat. Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai, Johari Bazaar in Jaipur, and the gold streets of old Delhi historically see their heaviest footfall through the afternoon. If you only need the puja and not a purchase, staying home through the muhurat is a complete observance. If you do go out, go in daylight, keep UPI limits in mind, and leave before sunset if your city centre becomes hard to exit.

Business hours and staff plans

Dhanteras is not a uniform public-holiday shutdown. Banks and many offices follow the state list; Diwali itself is the day more often notified as a closed holiday, and even that list varies by state. Retailers, jewellers and ecommerce warehouses often run extended hours on 6 November and a thinner roster on 8 November. Publish your own hours on your Google profile and your site by 4 November. A banner that says “open on Dhanteras, puja break 6:00–8:00 PM IST” is more useful than a generic festive greeting.

For online stores, the failure mode is a countdown timer set to midnight when your customers are waiting for an evening window. If you sell puja goods, show the Delhi example and a sentence that city muhurats differ. That single line prevents a wave of “your timer is wrong” comments from Kolkata and Kochi.

Where Dhanteras sits in the 2026 cluster

Panchang explainers for 2026 describe an unusual shape to the five days. Dhanteras is Friday 6 November. Narak Chaturdashi, often called Chhoti Diwali, falls on the same calendar date as the main Diwali, Sunday 8 November, because the chaturdashi gives way to amavasya during that day. The pre-dawn abhyanga snan associated with Narak Chaturdashi and the evening Lakshmi Puja therefore share a date. Govardhan Puja / Annakut is then Tuesday 10 November, not the morning after Diwali, and Bhai Dooj closes the sequence on Wednesday 11 November. If a printed card in your building still shows “Chhoti Diwali on 7 November”, it is using a generic five-day stencil from another year.

Chhath Puja, observed strongly in Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Nepal, follows later in the month. It is not part of the five-day Dhanteras-to-Bhai-Dooj arc. Mixing the two in one office leave policy creates avoidable confusion for staff who observe only one of them.

History you can use without a myth-as-news frame

The story most often retold is of King Hima’s sixteen-year-old son, whose horoscope predicted death by snakebite on the fourth day after his marriage. His wife kept him awake, laid out gold and lamps at the threshold, and turned Yama away with songs and light. Another thread marks the day as Dhanvantari Jayanti, when the physician of the gods is remembered as emerging with the pot of amrita during the churning of the ocean. Temples and families emphasise different threads. Neither story sets the 2026 clock. The clock is the panchang.

Search interest still spikes on the story keywords — “Dhanteras katha”, “Yama deepam”, “Dhanvantari” — in the 48 hours before the date. A page that leads with the Friday date and the city muhurat serves the larger query. The katha can sit underneath, clearly marked as tradition.

A checklist that survives a wrong forward

• Write “Friday, 6 November 2026” on the invitation, not only “Dhanteras”.
• Add the muhurat for the city of the puja, with the panchang name in the footer.
• Keep Delhi’s 6:02–7:57 PM figure only if the puja is in Delhi.
• Do not schedule a work all-hands across that evening if half the team will be at a puja.
• Ignore forwards that name a gold rate “locked by the government for Dhanteras”. No such national lock is part of this festival.
• If you publish a sale, show the payable price after offers. Cross-check it against your October festive price so regular customers can see the difference.

Related reading already on TheTriFusion: Sharad Navratri and Dussehra 2026 dates, Amazon Great Indian Festival 2026, and Yom Kippur 2026 observance. For a festive catalogue that stays accurate when the muhurat changes by city, talk to the Jaipur team or book an appointment.

FAQ

What is the date of Dhanteras in 2026?

Friday, 6 November 2026, on the India-baseline panchang. Confirm with the city where you will perform the puja if your family follows a regional almanac.

What is the Dhanteras puja time in Delhi?

Drik Panchang lists 6:02 PM to 7:57 PM local time for New Delhi. That is the overlap used for Lakshmi puja on Trayodashi, not a one-minute deadline.

Is Dhanteras the same day as Diwali in 2026?

No. Diwali Lakshmi Puja is Sunday, 8 November 2026. Dhanteras is two days earlier.

Is the gold rate on this page?

No. Rates for 6 November are not yet known. Buy against a live bill from a jeweller you can visit again.

Do all Indian cities share Delhi’s muhurat?

They do not. Sunset and Vrishabha lagna move by city. Select your own city in a panchang before you print a time.

Is Dhanteras a stock-market holiday?

Not by default. Diwali-related trading holidays, including any Muhurat Trading session, are notified separately by the exchanges. Check NSE and BSE circulars closer to the date. This guide does not guess that session’s hour.