Festival · Lakshmi and the Moon

Sharad Purnima

The full moon of autumn, when moonlight is said to be at its most nourishing. In Bengal and the east it is Kojagari Lakshmi Puja.

Sharad Purnima 2027: Thursday 14 October 2027; New Delhi

City

For New Delhi, Thursday 14 October 2027

Purnima tithi

Begins: 6:50 pm
Ends: 7:17 pm, 15 Oct

Sunrise: 6:21 am
Sunset: 5:53 pm
Moonrise: 5:01 pm
Moonset: 5:53 am, 15 Oct

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

Puja times

For New Delhi, Thursday 14 October 2027

Kojagara puja (Nishita)

11:42 pm to 12:32 am, 15 Oct

Moonrise: 5:01 pm
Purnima begins: 6:50 pm
Purnima ends: 7:17 pm, 15 Oct

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

Leave kheer in the moonlight and eat it in the morning
Stay up and worship Lakshmi
Fast during the day

What it remembers

Sharad Purnima is the full moon of Ashvina, the first of autumn, when the moon is said to be at its fullest, with all sixteen of its kalas. Its light is held to carry amrit, so kheer is left out under it overnight. In Bengal and the east it is Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, the night Lakshmi walks the earth asking “ko jagarti?”, who is awake?

Ko jagarti: who is awake?

Lakshmi is said to come down on this night and go from house to house asking who is awake. Those who keep watch, with lamps lit and the house clean, she blesses with wealth; the sleeping she passes by. This is the Kojagara vrat: the night kept awake, with Lakshmi worshipped at midnight.

The Raas of Vrindavan

On the autumn full moon Krishna played his flute in the forest of Vrindavan, and the gopis left their homes to dance the Maha Raas with him on the banks of the Yamuna. He appeared beside each of them at once. The Bhagavata tells the night; Vaishnavas keep it as Raas Purnima.

The moon’s sixteen kalas

Only on this full moon of the year is the moon said to shine with all its sixteen kalas, its phases of light, and only Krishna among the avatars was born with all sixteen. The moonlight of the night is held to heal, so kheer, milk and rice are set out under it and eaten in the morning as prasad.

Valmiki’s birthday

Sharad Purnima is also kept as Valmiki Jayanti, the birthday of the poet of the Ramayana, once a highway robber named Ratnakara, who chanted Rama’s name (at first backwards, “mara mara”) until an anthill grew over him.

The night of watching

The worship belongs to the night: Lakshmi at midnight, the moon as it rises, the kheer under it until morning. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs.

Fast through the day, as many families do, or keep it light.
In the evening, clean the home and light lamps at the door and in every room for Lakshmi.
As the moon rises, offer it water (arghya) and worship it with white flowers.
Make kheer of milk and rice, and set it out on the roof or in a courtyard in a silver or clay vessel, covered with a fine cloth, under the moonlight.
At Nishita, around midnight, worship Lakshmi (and in Bengal, Lakshmi with the alpana drawn at the door and a pot of rice for her), and keep awake: with bhajans, stories or games.
In the morning eat the kheer as prasad, and share it with the family and neighbours.

What you need

Lamps and oil or ghee
Milk, rice and sugar for the kheer, and a silver or clay vessel
White flowers and water for the moon
An image of Lakshmi, and in Bengal a pot of rice and alpana

Across India

Bengal, Odisha and Assam

Kojagari Lakshmi Puja at home: alpana footprints leading in, khichuri and naru, and Lakshmi worshipped through the night.

Gujarat

Sharad Poonam: the last night of garba, danced under the full moon, with doodh-poha eaten after.

Braj (Mathura and Vrindavan)

Raas Purnima: Krishna in white at the temples, and the Maha Raas danced and remembered.

Maharashtra

Kojagiri Purnima: friends sit up through the night drinking masala milk warmed under the moon.

Odisha

Kumar Purnima: young women pray for a good husband, and the moon is worshipped with chanda puja.

Mithila

Kojagara: newly married men are honoured, and makhana and betel are shared with the family.

When it falls

Purnima of Ashvina. Kept on the day this tithi holds at midnight.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Sharad Purnima in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

2027Thursday 14 October 2027
2028Monday 2 October 2028

Questions

When is Sharad Purnima in 2027?

Thursday 14 October 2027, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Sharad Purnima fall?

Purnima of Ashvina. Kept on the day this tithi holds at midnight.

How is Sharad Purnima kept?

Families leave kheer in the moonlight and eat it in the morning, stay up and worship Lakshmi and fast during the day. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Sharad Purnima?

Lakshmi and the Moon. The full moon of autumn, when moonlight is said to be at its most nourishing. In Bengal and the east it is Kojagari Lakshmi Puja.

Why is kheer kept in the moonlight?

The light of this full moon is held to carry amrit and to heal, so kheer of milk and rice is left under it overnight, covered with a fine cloth, and eaten in the morning as prasad.

Why is the date set by midnight?

The Kojagara vrat is kept at Nishita, around midnight, when Lakshmi is said to ask who is awake. So the day is the one whose night has Purnima at midnight, even when Purnima begins only in the evening. The page shows the Nishita time and moonrise for your city.

Is Sharad Purnima the same as Kojagari Purnima?

Yes. Kojagari or Kojagara is the eastern and Marathi name, after Lakshmi’s question, ko jagarti. In Odisha it is Kumar Purnima, and Vaishnavas keep it as Raas Purnima.

All festivals and vrats →