Indian festivals follow two clocks: the moon and the sun. Most, like Diwali, Holi and Navratri, follow the moon, which is why their dates move every year. A few, like Makar Sankranti and Onam, follow the sun. Almost every festival sits where the farming year turns: a harvest, the start or end of the monsoon, the first feel of spring. And every festival carries a story and a value a child can hold. Below is the full calendar for the coming year, with a page for each festival: the story with its source, what families do and why, and simple words to explain it to your child.
In this article
The festival calendar, season by season
Coming up: Diwali, Lakshmi Puja Sun 8 Nov 2026 (Dhanteras Fri 6 Nov) · Hanuman Jayanti in Karnataka, Tue 22 Dec 2026 · Makar Sankranti, Fri 15 Jan 2027.
Tap a season. Each festival links to its full page.
Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri · 15 Jan 2027 · We thank the sun, the soil and the animals.
Vasant Panchami · 11 Feb 2027 · We honour learning.
Maha Shivaratri · 6 Mar 2027 · The humble see more.
Hanuman Jayanti (Karnataka 22 Dec 2026 · Tamil Nadu 7 Jan 2027) · You are stronger than you think.
Holi · 22 Mar 2027 · Brave and kind beats big and angry.
Ugadi and Gudi Padwa · 7 Apr 2027 · Sweet and bitter days, faced together.
Ram Navami · 15 Apr 2027 · Keep your word.
Hanuman Jayanti (North India) · 20 Apr 2027 · The best strength helps someone.
Guru Purnima · 18 Jul 2027 · Someone taught us everything we know.
Raksha Bandhan · 17 Aug 2027 · A promise to look after each other.
Krishna Janmashtami · 25 Aug 2027 · Love keeps a little child safe.
Ganesh Chaturthi · 4 Sep 2027 · Begin with care, say goodbye with love.
Onam · 12 Sep 2027 · Share so no one is left out.
Navratri and Dussehra · 30 Sep to 9 Oct 2027 · Together we are stronger than any bully.
Diwali · Lakshmi Puja 29 Oct 2027 (this year 8 Nov 2026) · Be the small lamp in a dark room.
How our calendar works: an engineer explains
Why is Diwali in October one year and November the next, while Sankranti stays on 14 or 15 January? Because our calendar runs on two clocks at once.
🌙The moon clock: months and tithis
A lunar month runs from one new moon to the next, about 29.5 days. It has a bright half (shukla paksha, the moon growing) and a dark half (krishna paksha, the moon shrinking). Each half has 15 lunar days, called tithis. "Navami" is the ninth tithi, "Ashtami" the eighth, "Purnima" the full moon, "Amavasya" the new moon. So "Ram Navami" literally means "Rama's ninth day".
☀️The sun clock: Sankranti and the seasons
Twelve lunar months add up to about 354 days, eleven days short of a solar year. If nothing were done, festivals would slowly drift through the seasons. So our calendar adds an extra month (adhika masa) every two to three years to bring the moon back in step with the sun. That is why Diwali always stays in autumn and Holi in spring.
🌾The farm clock: harvests and rains
Look at the calendar again: Sankranti and Pongal at the winter harvest, Holi as the wheat ripens, Ugadi as the year turns in spring, Janmashtami in the heart of the monsoon, Onam as the rains ease in Kerala, Navratri and Diwali after the monsoon harvest. Our festivals sit where the farming year turns.
🗺️Why your neighbour may celebrate on a different day
North India mostly counts a month from full moon to full moon (Purnimanta); South and West India mostly from new moon to new moon (Amanta). Some states follow a solar calendar for their new year (Tamil Puthandu, Vishu). And a tithi can begin in the middle of a day. So the same festival can fall a day apart in different cities. Always check your local panchang.
Engineer's note
A calendar that keeps a 29.5-day moon in step with a 365-day sun, for centuries, by adding a correction month at the right intervals, is a serious piece of engineering. Show your child the moon on a few nights each month. She will start to see the calendar in the sky long before she can read one on the wall.
Why festivals matter for a small child
A review of 50 years of research linked family routines and rituals with children who cope better and families who feel closer. The researchers point to the meaning rituals carry: "this is who we are".
Fiese et al., Journal of Family Psychology, 2002.Young children copy the actions of adults very faithfully, and copy more exactly when an action is shown as "how we do it". A festival repeated every year, with her own small part in it, is how traditions pass from one generation to the next without a single lecture.
Lyons, Young & Keil, PNAS, 2007; Legare & Nielsen, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2015.The one rule for every festival
Give her one job with her own hands: the first line of the rangoli, the bell at the aarti, the footprints for Krishna, the first ring of the pookalam. Then tell her the story in one line. The doing is what she remembers.
Read next in this series
- Why do we do puja? The meaning behind 12 everyday rituals Read
- The 10 avatars of Vishnu, explained for kids Read
- Why should children learn Indian culture and values? Read
Questions parents ask
Why do Indian festival dates change every year?
Most Indian festivals follow the lunar calendar, which is about 11 days shorter than the solar year. An extra month is added every two to three years to stay in step with the seasons, so dates move within a season but stay in the same season.
Which Indian festivals follow the sun?
Makar Sankranti (with Pongal, Lohri, Uttarayan and Bihu), Onam in Kerala, and the solar new years such as Tamil Puthandu and Vishu. That is why their dates barely move.
What are the main Hindu festivals in order through the year?
Makar Sankranti, Vasant Panchami, Maha Shivaratri, Holi, Ugadi or Gudi Padwa, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Guru Purnima, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, Navratri and Dussehra, and Diwali.
What is a tithi?
A lunar day. Each half of a lunar month has 15 tithis; festivals are named after them, like Navami (ninth), Ashtami (eighth), Purnima (full moon) and Amavasya (new moon).
How can I teach my child about Indian festivals?
One festival at a time: tell its story in one line, give her one job with her own hands, and repeat it every year. Each festival page in this series has a ready story, a 60-second explanation by age and a do-together activity.
If we want thoughtful adults tomorrow, we must be equally thoughtful about childhood today.
Manjunath · father, ex-VinFast lead design engineer, founder of VedaPlay
Follow the build, and the stories we test at home, on Instagram: @manjunath.build
Sources
- Drik Panchang, festival calendars 2026 and 2027 (New Delhi).
- Fiese BH et al. (2002). Journal of Family Psychology 16(4):381-390.
- Lyons DE, Young AG, Keil FC (2007). PNAS 104(50):19751-19756. Legare CH, Nielsen M (2015). Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19(11):688-699.
