The month, dated

Mark the sequence once and the wardrobe plans itself. Karva Chauth: Thursday the 29th of October, the fast running sunrise to moonrise. A week on, the Diwali cluster: Dhanteras on Friday the 6th of November, Lakshmi Puja on Sunday the 8th, with Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj following on the 10th and 11th — the panchangs differ by a day on Bhai Dooj, so follow your family's. Then the strictest observance of the month: Chhath, from Nahay Khay on Friday the 13th of November through Kharna, Sandhya Arghya at the evening river, and Usha Arghya at dawn on Monday the 16th. And fifteen nights after Diwali, on the Kartik full moon — Tuesday the 24th of November — Dev Deepawali, when this city lights every step of its riverfront for the gods themselves to descend and bathe.

Karva Chauth: the bridal revival

Karva Chauth belongs to the North and North-West — Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, the Uttar Pradesh heartland — and its dress custom is the most openly romantic of the season: many women re-wear their wedding finery, or its colours — red, gold, pink, orange — and the retelling is considered auspicious, a deliberate return to the first day. It is the one evening of the year when dressing like a bride is not a faux pas but the point. If the wedding Banarasi is waiting in muslin, this is its annual outing; if the full joda feels like too much for a terrace moonrise, a red Banarasi with the bridal jewellery carries the register exactly.

Chhath: the strictest purity

Chhath is Purvanchal's own — Bihar, Jharkhand and this very corner of Uttar Pradesh — and it is the least ornamental observance of the month: a roughly thirty-six-hour waterless fast, offerings to the setting and then the rising sun, the vratti standing in the river as the light changes. The dress custom that is actually documented is simple and absolute: clothing new and clean — purity before finery. The colours the observance favours are the sun's own — turmeric yellow, red, the deep orange of Bihar's sindoor, worn drawn from nose to forehead in many Purvanchali families. No brocade is required of anyone standing in cold water at dawn; what the custom honours is newness and cleanliness, not weight. A fresh, light saree in haldi yellow or orange serves the ghat better than any heirloom — keep the heirloom for the evening the lamps come out.

Dev Deepawali: Banaras dresses for itself

And then the month ends at home. On Kartik Purnima the gods are said to descend to bathe in the Ganga, and Banaras — which has watched every other city celebrate for a month — lights its entire crescent of ghats in their honour. No scripture assigns a dress code for the watching, and we will not invent one; what we can report is what the city does: it wears its best, because the evening is Banaras receiving guests. The full story of that night — the lamps, the recent and surprisingly young history of the festival, the sky-lamps raised for ancestors all through Kartik — has a Banaras Notebook essay of its own. For the wardrobe, the companion pieces to this one are A Banarasi for Diwali for the night of lamps itself, and The Wedding Guest's Banarasi for the season that begins the moment the diyas burn down.

Plain answers

When is Karva Chauth in 2026?

Thursday, 29 October 2026 — the fast runs from sunrise to moonrise.

What saree do you wear for Karva Chauth?

Red or another warm auspicious colour; many women re-wear their bridal outfit, a North Indian convention considered auspicious.

When is Diwali in 2026?

Lakshmi Puja falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026; Dhanteras is Friday, 6 November.

What are the Chhath Puja 2026 dates?

Nahay Khay 13 November, Kharna 14 November, Sandhya Arghya 15 November, Usha Arghya 16 November.

What do women wear for Chhath Puja?

By custom, new and clean clothing — most often sarees in turmeric yellow, red or orange; in Bihar and Purvanchal many vrattis wear sindoor drawn from nose to forehead.

What is Dev Deepawali?

Varanasi's own festival of lamps on Kartik Purnima — Tuesday, 24 November 2026 — when lakhs of diyas line the ghats fifteen nights after Diwali.