Valmiki Jayanti marks the birth of Maharishi Valmiki, revered as the Adi Kavi — the first poet — and the author of the Ramayana. By tradition he began life as Ratnakara, a highwayman of the forest, and was turned by a sage's single question toward the name of Rama, until years of penance made him a rishi. In 2026 the day falls on Monday, 26 October.
It is kept on Ashwin Shukla Purnima, the full moon of Ashwin. The Purnima tithi runs from 11:58 AM on 25 October to 9:43 AM on the 26th, and Valmiki Jayanti is observed on the 26th, when the full moon holds the sunrise. (The night before, 25 October, is kept as Sharad Purnima.) The day is also called Valmiki Pragat Diwas, and it carries deep meaning as the anniversary of the poet whose first verse — born of grief for a slain bird — became the seed of the world's first epic.
Valmiki Jayanti 2026 at a glance
- Festival day
- Mon, 26 October 2026
- Lunar month
- Ashwin · Shukla Purnima
- Purnima tithi
- 25 Oct 11:58 AM → 26 Oct 9:43 AM
- The day marks
- Birth of Maharishi Valmiki
- Known as
- The Adi Kavi — the first poet
- His work
- The Ramayana (Adi Kavya)
Valmiki Jayanti 2026 is Monday, 26 October — Ashwin Shukla Purnima. The Purnima tithi opens at 11:58 AM on 25 October and closes at 9:43 AM on the 26th, so the full moon covers the sunrise of the 26th, which is the day it is kept. The night of the 25th, when the full moon rises, is kept separately as Sharad Purnima; confirm your local timing on the panchang.
The making of the Adi Kavi
Ratnakara, the name of Rama, and the anthill
The story of how the poet was made is as loved as the epic itself. Ratnakara robbed travellers in the forest to feed his family, until the wandering sage Narada stopped him and asked a single question: would that family, who shared his gains, also share the sin he gathered for them? He went home and asked, and they said no — the sin was his alone. Shaken to the core, he returned to Narada and was given the name of Rama to meditate on. He could not at first even speak it, and repeated 'mara, mara,' which ran together into 'Rama,' and on that he sat, unmoving, for so many years that an anthill — a valmika — rose and closed over him. When at last he came out of it he was a rishi, and from the anthill he took his name: Valmiki.
Step 1
Ratnakara the robber
A highwayman who waylaid travellers in the forest.
Step 2
The name of Rama
Sage Narada turns him to the name of Rama.
Step 3
The anthill
Years of tapasya; an anthill grows over him.
Step 4
Valmiki the sage
He emerges as the Adi Kavi, the first poet.
The first epic, in brief
What the Ramayana is, and how it began
Valmiki's Ramayana is counted as the Adi Kavya — the first true poem — and everything about it begins a tradition.
Adi Kavya
The first poem ever composed.
First shloka
Born of grief ('shoka') for a slain bird.
Seven Kandas
The seven books of the epic.
~24,000 shlokas
The full span of the Ramayana.
Anushtubh metre
The metre the first verse set.
Lava & Kusha
Sita’s sons first sang it.
How the day is kept
Readings, shobha yatras, and the Valmiki temples
The day is kept with readings and recitations from the Ramayana, and with shobha yatras — processions carrying Valmiki's image through the streets, with bhajans and offerings. Valmiki temples hold special worship and draw their largest gatherings of the year; the day is of deep significance to the Valmiki community, who honour him as their guru and forebear. Many read the Balkand or hear the story of the Adi Kavi, and charitable feeding is common on the full moon.
See the panchang for your city on 26 October
The Ashwin Purnima here — 25 Oct 11:58 AM to 26 Oct 9:43 AM — is for New Delhi. For your own city's sunrise, tithi and choghadiya, open the live panchang.
Valmiki Jayanti 2026 — your questions
The date, the transformation, the first shloka, and how it is observed