Māsik Kālāṣṭamī is the Kṛṣṇa Aṣṭamī of every lunar month, the eighth day of the waning Moon given to Kāla Bhairava, a form of Śiva. Homes that keep it remember Bhairava in the evening with a simple offering. No single kathā is required every month, so the day stays quiet, steady and devotional. How the day is fixed: The day is the Kṛṣṇa Aṣṭamī current at local sunrise, counted in every lunar month of the year. Keep in mind: Tamil and Malayalam pañcāṅgas may not print the name Kālāṣṭamī at all. The tithi is still there in the day's pañcāṅga. 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. Evening worship: Homes that keep the day offer sesame, a black tilak or a simple lamp to Bhairava in the evening. The story: There is no single all-India kathā that must be told every month. The long telling of Kṛṣṇa's birth belongs to Janmāṣṭamī in Śrāvaṇa. Worth remembering: Śukla Aṣṭamī is Māsik Durgāṣṭamī, and Navarātri's Durgāṣṭamī falls on Āśvina Śukla Aṣṭamī. Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī is the Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa Aṣṭamī with its own night vigil, so in that month the same tithi carries both observances. Kālāṣṭamī is kept more in some regions and families than in others, and the offering changes from house to house. Some keep it every month, others only when a vow calls for it. Follow what the elders of your own house have done.
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