Dashain 2083

Nepal's longest festival: fifteen days from Ghatasthapana to Kojagrat Purnima.

Dashain lasts fifteen days in Ashwin and Kartik. Offices close for much of it, long-distance buses are booked weeks ahead, and many people travel home to be with their families. The table below lists each day of the festival with its BS and AD date. Check these dates before you book travel.

Dashain dates

BS 2083

Events	BS Date	AD Date	Day
Ghatasthaapana Vrata / Navaraatra ArambhaHoliday	25 Ashwin 2083	11 Oct 2026	Sunday
Fulpati / Dashain Holiday / International Day for the Eradication of PovertyHoliday	31 Ashwin 2083	17 Oct 2026	Saturday
Maha Ashtami Vrata / Tula SankrantiDhan / Kalratri / Gorakhkali PujaHoliday	1 Kartik 2083	18 Oct 2026	Sunday
Dashain HolidayHoliday	2 Kartik 2083	19 Oct 2026	Monday
Maha Nawami VrataHoliday	3 Kartik 2083	20 Oct 2026	Tuesday
Bijaya Dashami / Devi BisharjanHoliday	4 Kartik 2083	21 Oct 2026	Wednesday
Dashain Holiday / Pradosh VrataHoliday	6 Kartik 2083	23 Oct 2026	Friday
Kojagrat Vrata / Poornima Vrata	8 Kartik 2083	25 Oct 2026	Sunday

How Dashain is observed

Main days of Dashain

Ghatasthapana is the first day. A copper pot (kalash) of water is placed in a room of the house and barley is sown in sand around it. The barley grows in the dark into jamara, which elders put in your hair with tika on Dashami. The next six days have no major household rituals. On Phulpati, the seventh day, the ritual flowers and leaves are brought from Gorkha and the army fires a salute at Tundikhel. Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami are the days of animal sacrifice. Goats and buffalo are offered at Durga temples, and many households also make an offering at the workshop or vehicle they earn their living from. Vijaya Dashami is tika day. The head of the household mixes rice, yoghurt and vermilion and puts tika on each younger family member in turn, with jamara and dakshina in an envelope. The five days after Dashami are for visiting relatives you did not meet on Dashami. The festival ends on Kojagrat Purnima, when people traditionally stay awake all night.

Regional differences

In the Kathmandu valley, Newar households keep the festival as Mohani, with its own Kuchhi Bhwoy feast and Payo procession. The sword processions in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur are part of Mohani. In much of the Tarai, the focus is on Durga Puja pandals and the immersion of the idol on Dashami, similar to Durga Puja in Bengal. Many Buddhist, Kirat and Christian Nepalis use the days as a holiday for travel or rest and do not keep the rituals. Not every family makes an animal sacrifice. Many now offer a coconut, a pumpkin or a cucumber instead.

What is closed

Government offices and banks close on Ghatasthapana, then for about a week from Phulpati to Dwadashi. The exact days are set in the government holiday list each year. Schools usually close for longer. Long-distance buses run, but seats sell out for about a week before and after the main days. Fares have an official cap, but many operators charge more. Bazaar shops stay open until Navami and then close for two or three days. The stock exchange and land revenue (malpot) offices follow the government holiday schedule. If you need a document signed or other office work done, finish it before Phulpati.

Why the dates move each year

Dashain follows lunar tithis, not the solar Bikram Sambat date. Ghatasthapana is Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright fortnight of Ashwin, and Vijaya Dashami is the tenth day of the same fortnight. So the BS date is different every year and can move by two or three weeks. A tithi can also be skipped or repeated. In some years the fifteen-day festival fits into fourteen calendar days, and the gap between Ashtami and Dashami is not always exactly two days.

Common mistakes

Do not assume Dashain falls on the same BS date as last year. The date changes every year, so check the table before you buy tickets. If you are leaving Kathmandu, go before Navami instead of on Dashami. Outbound traffic is mostly over by Navami, and the roads fill again with people returning from Ekadashi. Tika is not done at any time of day. Each year the panchang gives a sait (auspicious time), and families start putting tika at that time.

Questions about Dashain

How many days is Dashain?

Fifteen, from Ghatasthapana to Kojagrat Purnima. The public holiday covers only Ghatasthapana and the days from Phulpati to Dwadashi.

What time is tika on Dashami?

The panchang gives a sait each year, usually in the late morning. Families start tika at that time and continue through the afternoon and the following days.

Why is Dashain on a different date every year?

It follows lunar tithis in the month of Ashwin. The lunar month does not line up with the solar Bikram Sambat calendar, so the BS date changes each year.

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