Guru Pūrṇimā falls on Āṣāḍha Pūrṇimā and honours the guru, both spiritual and worldly. It is also kept as Vyāsa Pūrṇimā, the birth anniversary of sage Vedavyāsa. Vyāsa is traditionally held to have divided the single primordial Veda into four, authored the Mahābhārata and the eighteen major Purāṇas, and composed the Brahma Sūtras. For this he is revered as the ādi-guru, the first guru of Hindu tradition. How the day is fixed: The day is Āṣāḍha Pūrṇimā, taken as the day on which the full moon prevails at local sunrise. Keep in mind: The same full moon is the traditional start of Cāturmāsya, the four-month monsoon retreat kept by sannyāsis. For them the day opens a season of settled study rather than travel. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Honouring one's own guru: The day is kept to honour one's own guru, whether a spiritual teacher, an academic teacher or anyone who has shaped one's learning. Where a living teacher is present, disciples offer pādapūjā, the ceremonial washing of the feet, with gifts and guru-dakṣiṇā. Where the guru has passed on, a portrait or pādukā is worshipped instead. Vyāsa pūjā in the maṭhas: In maṭhas and āśramas sannyāsis perform Vyāsa pūjā and begin Cāturmāsya, staying in one place through the four monsoon months for study and teaching. Worth remembering: Buddhist tradition keeps this full moon separately as the anniversary of the Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath to his first five disciples. It is a teacher's day in that tradition too, independent of the Vyāsa association. Customs differ by region. Maharashtra sees crowds at Shirdi, Gondavale and Akkalkot, Sai temples in the Telugu states fill with devotees, and in Odisha the day comes after Ratha Yātrā and the return journey. Beyond the general rules, the fullest fruit comes from following the elders of one's own house.
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