Chitragupta Puja 2026 on November 11: why Dubai, Berlin calendars say 10

Chitragupta Puja 2026, the Kalam-Dawat (pen and inkpot) worship observed mainly by Kayastha families, falls on Wednesday, 11 November 2026 in India, according to the Drik Panchang calendar for New Delhi. The calendar gives an afternoon (Aparahna) puja window of 1:10 pm to 3:20 pm. Some online listings have said 10 November, and calendar listings for Berlin (Drik Panchang) and Dubai do place the puja on Tuesday, 10 November. The difference comes from where the Dwitiya tithi (the second lunar day) falls against the local afternoon, not from any disagreement about the festival itself. In Buxar, Bihar, the local puja committee has fixed its observance for 11 November, beginning at 10 am.

Chitragupta, according to tradition, is the divine record-keeper who writes down the deeds of every person and presents the account to Yama, the lord of death. That is why the day falls on Yama Dwitiya, and why Kayastha families, who trace their lineage to Chitragupta in their own tradition, worship the pen, the inkpot and their account books on this day. Many families set aside writing and book-keeping until the puja is done, then resume it as a fresh start for the year. These are matters of belief and custom; the date question, by contrast, follows a clear calendar rule that anyone can check.

Hindu festival dates are set by the tithi, the lunar day, which does not begin at sunrise and can start or end at any hour. Each observance also has a preferred part of the day. For Chitragupta Puja, the calendars give an Aparahna, or afternoon, muhurat. The question is therefore which date has the Dwitiya tithi running through the afternoon window. In 2026 the tithi begins at 2:00 pm on 10 November, which is after the afternoon window in India has already opened, and it lasts until 3:53 pm on 11 November, which is after that day's window closes. So in India the full afternoon window falls inside Dwitiya only on 11 November.

The same tithi begins at the same moment everywhere in the world, but the clock time differs. For families outside India, that is what moves the date, and it explains why some posts circulating online gave 10 November. This is why calendar sites publish a separate date and muhurat for each city, and why a family in the Gulf, Europe or North America would look at a panchang for its own city rather than an Indian one.

Peepals calculation: In India, Dwitiya begins at 2:00 pm on 10 November, 50 minutes after the 1:10 pm start of the afternoon window, but on 11 November it lasts until 3:53 pm, 33 minutes past the 3:20 pm close (3:53 - 3:20 = 33 minutes). Dubai time is 1 hour 30 minutes behind Indian time, so in Dubai the tithi begins at 12:30 pm on 10 November, before the local 1:09 pm window opens, and ends at 2:23 pm on 11 November, before the 3:21 pm close. That is why Dubai's listing moves to 10 November. Berlin, 4 hours 30 minutes behind India in November, sees the tithi begin at 9:30 am on 10 November. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Families in India can plan the pen-and-inkpot puja for the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 November, the day after the Dwitiya tithi begins. Community events, such as the Buxar committee's, are being held on the same day.

Long-term: The case is a small example of how the Hindu lunar calendar works across time zones. As more families observe festivals abroad, the habit of checking a local panchang, rather than forwarding an Indian date, matters more each year.

Who is affected: Kayastha families and others who observe Chitragupta Puja in India and abroad, puja committees, and anyone who also marks Bhai Dooj on the same lunar day.

What to watch next: The Dwitiya tithi ends at 3:53 pm on 11 November in India, after which the Kartik Shukla Tritiya begins.

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