Śarad Pūrṇimā is the bright autumn full moon of Āśvina. Bhāgavata tradition places Kṛṣṇa's rāsa līlā on this night, when the gopīs, drawn by his flute, circled with him in the moonlit forest of Vṛndāvana until dawn. In parts of North India the night is also given to Lakṣmī pūjā. Households set sweetened milk or kheer under the moon overnight, believing its rays infuse it with healing and auspicious qualities before it is taken as prasāda. How the day is fixed: The pañcāṅga takes the day on which Āśvina Pūrṇimā prevails at local sunrise. It falls five days after Vijayadaśamī, usually in October. Keep in mind: The full moon may begin in the evening of one day and end the next, so the sunrise rule and the moonlit night do not always fall on the same civil date. Check the local pañcāṅga for both the day and the evening of the full moon. 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. Milk under the moon: Sweetened milk or kheer is set out in the open overnight and taken as prasāda the next morning. Cardamom and saffron are often added, and the vessel is covered with a light cloth. Fast and moon darśana: Many keep a fast or a light sattvic meal and offer worship to the moon after sunset. Some North Indian temples hold Lakṣmī pūjā on this night, and at Mathurā and Vṛndāvana it is the night of the rāsa. Regional customs: Gujarat plays its last great garbā of the season under this moon, Maharashtra keeps the Kojāgirī vigil and waves a lamp before the eldest child, and in Odisha unmarried girls worship the sun by day and the moon by night as Kumāra Pūrṇimā. Worth remembering: Bengal keeps the same Āśvina Pūrṇimā as Kojāgarī Lakṣmī Pūjā, an all-night Lakṣmī vigil with lamps and payesh after Durgā Pūjā. It shares the tithi but is a distinct observance. Whether the night is given to Kṛṣṇa's rāsa, to Lakṣmī, to the moon or to the fields depends on region and family. Some keep a fast, some only set out the milk, and some sit up through the night. The custom handed down by the elders of one's own house is the one to follow.
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