Shraddha Dates 2026: Pitru Paksha Tithi Calendar with Kutup, Rauhina & Aparahna Muhurat

Pitru Paksha 2026 runs for fifteen days, from Purnima Shraddha on Saturday, 26 September to Sarva Pitru Amavasya on Saturday, 10 October. The table below gives the shraddha for every date and the three windows in which the rites are traditionally performed — Kutup, Rauhina and Aparahna — each computed for Delhi.

• Begins: Purnima Shraddha, Saturday, 26 September 2026
• Ends: Sarva Pitru Amavasya, Saturday, 10 October 2026
• Special nakshatra days: Maha Bharani on Tuesday, 29 September · Magha on Wednesday, 7 October
• Shared day: Chaturthi and Panchami shraddha both fall on Wednesday, 30 September
• Times: Delhi; they move by a few minutes in other cities

The complete shraddha calendar for 2026

Find the tithi on which your ancestor passed away — in either half of the lunar month; a death on a Shukla or a Krishna Navami is honoured on the same Navami shraddha — and perform the shraddha on the matching date above. For the full procedure of tarpan and pinda daan, see the Pitru Paksha 2026 guide.

Why the afternoon decides the date

Most festivals are dated by the tithi that is running at sunrise. Shraddha is not. The classical rule is that a shraddha belongs to the tithi that prevails during the Aparahna — the fourth of the five equal parts into which the daylight is divided, roughly from early to late afternoon. It is the part of the day the texts assign to the ancestors.

That is why some calendars that go by the sunrise tithi disagree with this one. On Thursday, 1 October, for example, Panchami is the tithi at sunrise, but it ends at 12:36 PM and Shashthi holds the whole afternoon — so Thursday is Shashthi shraddha. The same shift happens on 2 and 3 October.

Sixteen shraddhas on fifteen dates

There are sixteen tithi shraddhas in the fortnight — Purnima, the fourteen tithis from Pratipada to Chaturdashi, and Amavasya — but only fifteen days. In 2026 the compression falls on Panchami. It begins at 2:56 PM on Wednesday, 30 September, so it holds only the last part of that afternoon, and it ends at 12:36 PM on Thursday, before that day's Aparahna begins. Panchami therefore never holds an afternoon of its own, and its shraddha is performed on Wednesday alongside Chaturthi.

A few local panchangs place Panchami shraddha on Thursday instead, because Panchami holds the sunrise that day. If your family has always followed such a panchang, follow it; the reasoning above is simply why most published lists, and ours, say Wednesday. The Panchami shraddha page explains who is honoured on that day.

Kutup, Rauhina and Aparahna — which window to use

The daylight is also divided into fifteen muhurtas. The eighth is called Kutup and the ninth Rauhina, and they fall around midday. Traditional guidance is to begin the shraddha in Kutup, carry it through Rauhina, and complete it within the Aparahna, closing with tarpan. In Delhi this year Kutup begins between 11:44 and 11:48 AM on every day of the fortnight, and the Aparahna ends between 3:37 and 3:48 PM.

Morning bathing and preparation can happen earlier, but the offering of food to the ancestors, the pinda and the feeding of Brahmins, cows, dogs and crows are kept to these hours.

Two days chosen by nakshatra: Bharani and Magha

Two observances in the fortnight follow the Moon's nakshatra rather than the tithi. Maha Bharani falls on Tuesday, 29 September, when the Moon is in Bharani, the nakshatra of Yama, through the afternoon — read more about Maha Bharani Shraddha. Magha, whose presiding deities are the Pitris themselves, holds the afternoon of Wednesday, 7 October, which is also Dwadashi — Dwadashi and Magha Shraddha.

The days set aside for particular ancestors

• Panchami (Wednesday, 30 September) — those who died unmarried
• Matru Navami (Sunday, 4 October) — mothers and women of the family who died while married
• Dwadashi (Wednesday, 7 October) — those who had taken sanyasa
• Trayodashi (Thursday, 8 October) — children who passed away
• Chaturdashi (Friday, 9 October) — only those who died an untimely or violent death
• Sarva Pitru Amavasya (Saturday, 10 October) — every ancestor, and anyone whose tithi is not known

Ekadashi shraddha on Tuesday, 6 October falls on the same day as Indira Ekadashi, the Ekadashi of Pitru Paksha whose story is about releasing an ancestor.

If you do not know the tithi

When the date of death is not known, or the tithi shraddha was missed, the tradition directs the shraddha to Sarva Pitru Amavasya on Saturday, 10 October. The same day serves ancestors who died naturally on a Chaturdashi, because Chaturdashi itself is reserved for untimely deaths. To check the tithi of any past date, open our panchang.

Frequently asked questions

When does Pitru Paksha 2026 start and end?
It begins with Purnima Shraddha on Saturday, 26 September 2026 and ends with Sarva Pitru Amavasya on Saturday, 10 October 2026. Pratipada shraddha, which many people count as the first day, is on Sunday, 27 September.

Why do different calendars show different shraddha dates?
Mostly because some list the tithi at sunrise while shraddha follows the tithi of the afternoon (Aparahna). Small differences also come from the city used for the calculation. The dates here follow the Aparahna rule for Delhi.

Which is the best time of day to perform shraddha?
Begin in the Kutup muhurat around midday, continue through Rauhina, and complete the rites within the Aparahna. The exact windows for each day are in the table above.

Why are Chaturthi and Panchami shraddha on the same day in 2026?
Panchami begins at 2:56 PM on Wednesday, 30 September and ends at 12:36 PM on Thursday, so it never holds a full afternoon of its own. Its shraddha is therefore performed on Wednesday together with Chaturthi.

What if I missed the tithi shraddha of my ancestor?
Perform it on Sarva Pitru Amavasya, Saturday, 10 October 2026, the day the tradition sets aside for every ancestor and for any shraddha that could not be done on its own tithi.