Radha Ashtami 2026: Date & Madhyahna Muhurat

Radha Ashtami 2026 falls on Saturday, 19 September — and the hour it is kept tells the whole story. Fifteen days earlier, on Janmashtami, Krishna was born at nishita, the dead of night, on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami. Radha appeared on Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami, the same Ashtami of the bright fortnight, but at madhyahna — the middle of the day. Same tithi number, opposite paksha, opposite hour: his is a midnight janmotsav, hers a midday pragatya. That single fact is why the Radha Ashtami puja is a madhyahna rite and not a midnight one.

Because the appearance is at midday, the observance follows the madhyahna-vyapini rule: the vrat is kept on whichever day the Ashtami covers the midday window. This year the Ashtami runs into the afternoon of the 19th, ending at 3:29 PM, so it holds the midday cleanly and there is no split-date confusion. The madhyahna itself is the middle fifth of the daytime, measured from your own sunrise and sunset — so it opens at 11:01 AM in New Delhi and 11:18 AM in Mumbai. The same morning also begins the sixteen-day Mahalakshmi Vrat, so many households light their first lamp for Lakshmi alongside the Radha puja.

Radha Ashtami 2026 at a glance

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Festival day

Sat, 19 September 2026

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Tithi

Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami

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Madhyahna puja

Delhi 11:01 AM – 1:28 PM

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Ashtami ends

19 Sep, 3:29 PM IST

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Mahalakshmi Vrat

Begins today · 16 days

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After Janmashtami

15 days · His midnight to her midday

Madhyahna puja muhurat, by city

The middle fifth of the day — computed for where you are

New Delhi

11:01 AM – 1:28 PM

Sunrise 06:08 · Sunset 18:21

Mumbai

11:18 AM – 1:45 PM

Sunrise 06:26 · Sunset 18:37

The madhyahna is the third of the five equal parts the daytime is split into, so its start and end depend entirely on when the sun rises and sets where you live. That is why a single printed time is misleading: the sun rises at 6:08 AM and sets at 6:21 PM in Delhi, and the middle portion of that span opens at 11:01, while in Mumbai — rising and setting a little later — the same window opens at 11:18. Sit for the abhishek and aarti anywhere inside your city’s window. For a place not listed here, split the stretch between your own sunrise and sunset on the 19th into five equal parts and take the middle one, and you have your muhurat.

Puja vidhi, and the vrat that begins today

Worshipping Radha-Krishna, and the Mahalakshmi Vrat

Radha and Krishna are worshipped together as a yugal, and on this one day Radha is named and honoured first — the order the whole tradition reads her name in. Bathe the deities and dress them in yellow, the colour of Bhadrapada’s harvest, and set them on a small jhula wound with flowers, rocking it gently as the bhajan is sung. Offer red and yellow flowers, tulsi and a bhog of panjiri or kheer, and keep the fast on fruit and milk until the midday puja is done. Do the main abhishek and aarti inside the madhyahna window, and read or hear the katha of Radha’s appearance. This same morning opens the sixteen-day Mahalakshmi Vrat, kept from Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami to Ashwin Krishna Ashtami; households that observe it tie a sixteen-knot thread and begin the daily Lakshmi puja alongside the Radha worship.

Who Radha is, and why her name comes first

Radha tattva, hladini shakti and her appearance

Radha is revered not merely as Krishna’s beloved but as his hladini shakti — the power of his own bliss and love made a person, so that in the bhakti traditions she is inseparable from him and, in a sense, higher, since it is through her that he is loved at all. Tradition holds she appeared rather than was born in the ordinary way: found as an infant by Vrishabhanu and his wife Kirti, and raised at Barsana near Vrindavan, with Raval also honoured as her place of pragatya. To worship Radha is to worship pure devotion itself, and that is why the devotee places her name ahead of the Lord’s — Radha-Krishna, Radhe-Shyam — and why her appearance day is kept with the same tenderness as his birth.

Live Panchang

See today’s panchang and muhurat for your city

The madhyahna windows above are for Delhi and Mumbai. For your own city’s tithi, sunrise and choghadiya on the 19th — or any day — open the live panchang.

Today’s Panchang Today’s Choghadiya

Radha Ashtami 2026 — your questions

Date, the midday muhurat, puja vidhi and the vrat

When is Radha Ashtami in 2026?+

Radha Ashtami 2026 is on Saturday, 19 September. It is the Shukla Ashtami of Bhadrapada, falling exactly fifteen days after Janmashtami on 4 September. The Ashtami tithi ends at 3:29 PM on the 19th, so it comfortably holds the midday — and because Radha is said to have appeared at midday, the puja is kept on the day the Ashtami covers that midday window, which this year is unambiguously the 19th.

Why is the Radha Ashtami puja at midday when Janmashtami is at midnight?+

This is the most telling detail of the festival. Krishna was born at nishita, the dead of night, on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami; Radha appeared at madhyahna, the middle of the day, on Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami fifteen days later. Same Ashtami, opposite fortnight, opposite hour. His janmotsav is therefore a midnight rite and her pragatya utsav a midday one, and that is why the Radha Ashtami muhurat is a madhyahna window rather than a midnight one.

What is the Radha Ashtami 2026 madhyahna muhurat?+

The madhyahna is the middle fifth of the daytime, measured from your own sunrise to sunset, so it is not one national time. It runs 11:01 AM to 1:28 PM in New Delhi and 11:18 AM to 1:45 PM in Mumbai, opening a little later as you move west. Sit for the puja anywhere inside your city’s window; for a place not listed here, split the span between your local sunrise and sunset on the 19th into five equal parts and take the middle one.

How do you do Radha Ashtami puja at home?+

Radha and Krishna are worshipped together as a yugal, and Radha is named and honoured first — this is the one day her name clearly leads his. Bathe and dress the deities in yellow, place them on a small flower-decked jhula and rock it gently, offer red and yellow flowers, and set a bhog of panjiri or kheer. Do the main abhishek and aarti in the madhyahna window, read or hear the Radha katha, and keep the fast on fruit and milk until the midday puja is complete.

Does the Mahalakshmi Vrat begin on Radha Ashtami?+

Yes. The sixteen-day Mahalakshmi Vrat begins on this same Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami and is kept until Ashwin Krishna Ashtami, sixteen days later, when it concludes with the main Mahalakshmi puja. Many households start the vrat on the morning of the 19th alongside the Radha Ashtami worship, tying a sixteen-knot thread and honouring Lakshmi for the prosperity of the home.

Who is Radha and where did she appear?+

Radha is revered not merely as Krishna’s beloved but as his hladini shakti — the very power of his bliss and love. Tradition holds that she appeared rather than was born in the ordinary way: found as an infant by Vrishabhanu and his wife Kirti, and raised at Barsana near Vrindavan, with Raval also named as her place of appearance. Because she embodies bhakti itself, devotees place her name before Krishna’s — Radha-Krishna, Radhe-Shyam.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 →Hartalika Teej 2026 →

Source & Disclaimer: Dates and timings are computed for the cities named, in IST, using the Lahiri ayanamsha, and the New Delhi madhyahna window has been cross-checked against published panchangs. Muhurat windows shift with your city’s sunrise and sunset, so confirm your local timing on the panchang before you begin. Anyone fasting who is pregnant, unwell or elderly should follow a doctor’s advice rather than a strict vrat.