On this page7 sections
- What Chaturmas means and why it runs four months
- Chaturmas 2026: which months, which dates
- What pauses in Chaturmas and what goes on as usual
- Sant, Jain monks and the Pandharpur wari: three ways to keep it
- 20 and 21 November 2026: what wakes up
- Frequently asked questions
- Continue on Tirth
- Sources and review
They were keeping Chaturmas, the four-month pause in the Hindu year that runs from 25 July to 20 November 2026, 118 days in all, counting 25 July as day one.
So, Chaturmas kya hai? It opens with Devshayani Ekadashi on Saturday, 25 July 2026 and closes with Devutthana Ekadashi on Friday, 20 November 2026. The reason given is that Bhagwan Vishnu, Deity page on Tirth
is said to sleep through it, and weddings and house ceremonies, by custom, wait for him to wake.
In short
So, Chaturmas kya hai? It opens with Devshayani Ekadashi on Saturday, 25 July 2026 and closes with Devutthana Ekadashi on Friday, 20 November 2026. The reason given is that Bhagwan Vishnu is said to sleep through it, and weddings and house ceremonies, by custom, wait for him to wake.
What Chaturmas means and why it runs four months
The name itself says four months. Ashadhi Ekadashi starts it, the Shukla Ekadashi of Ashadha that people also call Devshayani, and Kartiki Ekadashi ends it, the Shukla Ekadashi of Kartika, which goes by Devutthana, Dev Uthani and Prabodhini.
Bhagwan Vishnu goes to sleep on the first of those days and wakes on the second, as tradition holds, and the whole stretch lies within Dakshinayana, the half of the year called the night of the gods. You can find every Ekadashi of 2026 on one page.
The retellings differ on which text tells the sleep and in what words. Families keep one idea from all of them: when Bhagwan Vishnu rests, big new beginnings wait. If you would like a few lines to say in the meantime (and who wouldn’t), Vishnu mantras with meaning are on Tirth.
Chaturmas 2026: which months, which dates
It begins in Ashadha, goes through Shravana, Bhadrapada and Ashwin, and stops in Kartika. Here are the dates for 2026.
| Marker | Date in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Chaturmas begins (Devshayani Ekadashi) | Saturday, 25 July 2026 |
| Guru Purnima, when sannyasis and many Sant settle | Wednesday, 29 July 2026 |
| Chaturmas ends (Devutthana Ekadashi) | Friday, 20 November 2026 |
| Kartika Purnima, which most sources give as the Sant end | Tuesday, 24 November 2026 |
| Length | 118 days, counting 25 July as day one |
2026 did get an extra (adhik) month, as some years do, but it landed in May to June, ahead of Ashadha, so Chaturmas keeps its normal length. Dates and tithi times for your own city are in the Tirth Spiritual Calendar, Spiritual Calendar on Tirth.
What pauses in Chaturmas and what goes on as usual
Custom holds back weddings, thread ceremonies, mundan (the first haircut), griha pravesh (entering a new home) and other samskaras until Devutthana Ekadashi. Families differ on how many of these they hold back. Ratha Yatra falls just ahead of Devshayani. Janmashtami on 4 September and Diwali on 8 November 2026 both come inside the four months.
| What | During Chaturmas | At the end |
|---|---|---|
| Weddings, thread ceremony, mundan, griha pravesh | Held back by custom | The season opens with Tulasi Vivah, Saturday, 21 November 2026 |
| Festivals | Janmashtami on 4 September, Diwali on 8 November | Diwali and Chhath both come before Devutthana Ekadashi |
| Ekadashi | Devshayani opens the pause | Devutthana is the one that ends it |
| Sannyasis and many Sant | Stay in one place | Most sources give the end as Kartika Purnima, Tuesday, 24 November 2026 |
Sant, Jain monks and the Pandharpur wari: three ways to keep it
One stretch, three ways of keeping it. Hindu sannyasis and many Sant settle in one place from Guru Purnima for the four months. When they stop is where sources part: most sources give Kartika Purnima, and a few say Bhadrapada Purnima. Ask the Sant of your own temple.
Jain monks and nuns also stay put through the rains, to avoid harm to small life. Their calendar is their own, so the Hindu dates above are not Jain dates. Paryushan, the Jain festival, comes inside the months.
Pandharpur, in Maharashtra, marks the start with the Ashadhi Ekadashi wari, a walking pilgrimage to the Vitthal-Rukmini temple, and the end with the Kartiki Ekadashi yatra. If your own household keeps it differently, the elder who keeps it can tell you how.
20 and 21 November 2026: what wakes up
For most of north India, Devutthana Ekadashi is Friday, 20 November 2026. Some Vaishnava households and temples keep it a day later, on Saturday, 21 November, because the tithi carries into that morning.
Tulasi Vivah, the Tulasi wedding, follows on Saturday, 21 November 2026, and by custom it is the day the wedding season opens. A family looking at wedding dates for late November therefore has a clear starting line, and the Pandit’s muhurat decides the exact day after it, which is why the dates in this post mark the pause itself and never the wedding day. Some families hold the Tulasi wedding on Ekadashi itself, and exact tithi times for each city are on the Tulasi Vivah page of the Spiritual Calendar, Spiritual Calendar on Tirth.
Fixing a date for a function? We would not take a wedding or griha pravesh date from 20 November alone, because the muhurat comes from the panchang. Your Pandit or Purohit gives it. Today’s Panchang, Panchang on Tirth shows the tithi, and it helps to write the muhurat down as the Pandit says it.
The Ekadashi aarti is on Tirth, and so are the Kartik Mahatmya stories.
Frequently asked questions
It runs through Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada and Ashwin, from Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi on Saturday, 25 July 2026 to Kartika Shukla Ekadashi on Friday, 20 November 2026. That comes to 118 days.
Custom keeps them waiting for as long as Bhagwan Vishnu is said to sleep, and they resume once Devutthana Ekadashi has passed. Not every Hindu family follows it as a rule, and regions differ. Your Pandit sets the real muhurat from the panchang.
Partly. Both stay in one place through the rains, Jain monks and nuns as well as Hindu sannyasis and many Sant. Each group counts by its own calendar, so one group’s dates cannot stand in for the other’s.
Not this year. The extra month came before Ashadha, so Chaturmas stays at its usual 118 days, from 25 July to 20 November.
Friday, 20 November 2026 is the main day. In some cities Ekadashi is still running at sunrise on Saturday, 21 November, and some Vaishnava households keep that day.
Bhagwan Vishnu is said to wake on Devutthana Ekadashi, Friday, 20 November 2026. By custom the wedding season opens with Tulasi Vivah the next day, Saturday, 21 November 2026, and your city’s tithi times are in the Spiritual Calendar.
Continue on Tirth
- Today’s Panchang, Panchang on Tirth for the tithi in your city.
- Tulasi Vivah in the Spiritual Calendar, Spiritual Calendar on Tirth, with the date for your city and the full tithi times.
- The Tirth Spiritual Calendar, Spiritual Calendar on Tirth for every festival of the year.
- Every Ekadashi of 2026 in one list.
