
Tirumala Pushpayagam on November 16: TTD cancels three sevas for flower festival
TTD will perform the annual Pushpayagam at Tirumala on 16 November 2026 after Ankurarpanam on 15 November, cancelling Kalyanotsavam and two other sevas.

TTD will perform the annual Pushpayagam at Tirumala on 16 November 2026 after Ankurarpanam on 15 November, cancelling Kalyanotsavam and two other sevas.

Ahead of Sabarimala's Mandalam season from 17 November 2026, the state capped entry at 80,000 a day and asked pilgrims not to dump clothes in the Pamba river.

West Bengal has made Chandannagar's Jagaddhatri Puja a state festival with an initial Rs 5 crore, and planning has begun for the mid-November 2026 celebrations.

The Ranivas mound near Bihar's Kesariya Stupa, with ASI finds of monastery cells and a stupa sealing, became a site of national importance on 4 November 2026.

Donald Trump lit a diya in the Oval Office on 6 November 2026 to mark Diwali, with Indian-American leaders and Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra present.

The ASI plans to take apart and rebuild the 1,100-year-old Mala Devi temple at Gyaraspur, Vidisha, on a new base after finding its foundation brittle (reported 3 November 2026).

Governors of Idaho, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota and Washington hosted first-ever Diwali events, and 22 Washington cities lit lamps in council chambers, with more due on November 10.

Chowdiah Utsava 2026 runs 11-15 November at Bengaluru's Chowdiah Memorial Hall with Karnatik and Hindustani artists, free lobby concerts and a new student Sangeetha Mela.

The Supreme Court on 2 November 2026 closed pleas for a CBI probe into alleged donation theft at Ayodhya's Ram temple, after an SIT chargesheet against eight accused.

The Supreme Court on November 2, 2026 allowed green crackers in Delhi-NCR on November 7 and 8, from 6-7 am and 8-10 pm, with the full ban back from November 9.

Cuttack began auctioning 2,044 stall plots for Bali Jatra on November 2, 2026; the maritime heritage fair runs from November 24 to December 1 on both grounds.

TTD will hold the Deepavali Asthanam at Tirumala's Srivari temple from 7 am to 9 am on November 8, 2026, and has cancelled arjitha sevas such as Kalyanotsavam that day.

Kashmiri Pandits and residents are restoring Srinagar's roughly 700-year-old Shri Durgeshwari Temple in Bana Mohalla without government funds, reports said in late October 2026.

At Haryana's 60th statehood celebrations in Kurukshetra on November 1, 2026, President Droupadi Murmu praised women's empowerment and called for sex ratio parity.

Chhattisgarh's 26th and Madhya Pradesh's 71st foundation days opened three-day Rajyotsav celebrations in Nava Raipur and Bhopal on November 1, 2026.

The Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela formally begins on 31 October 2026 with flag hoisting at Ramkund and Kushavarta; it runs to 24 July 2028.

Kurukshetra University's Ratnavali Haryanvi folk festival now runs November 1-4, 2026; President Murmu will open it on Haryana's 60th foundation day.

The Buddha's Piprahwa relics will be shown in Tawang, Bomdila and Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh from October 31 to November 21, 2026, the Culture Ministry says.

Ahead of the 27th Hornbill Festival from December 1 to 10, 2026, Nagaland is pressing the Centre to scrap the Protected Area Permit and readying tribal morungs at Kisama.

Thailand launched its month-long Amazing Thailand Grand Diwali Festival on October 29, 2026, with seven free events in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.

Cuttack's Bali Jatra 2026 will have Indonesia as its first partner country and go plastic-free; second-phase plot registration runs until October 30 ahead of auctions in November.

Bhubaneswar's Lingaraj Temple will change darshan timings from November 1, 2026, pausing afternoon darshan while the ASI repairs and cleans the sanctum for about a month.

UNESCO experts who reviewed Hampi from October 24, 2026 will report in six weeks; they want parking moved from the Salu Mantapa, the DC said.

London's Diwali on the Square, set for October 25, 2026 in Trafalgar Square, was cancelled a day earlier as Storm Boelo made setting up the stages unsafe.

On 25 October 2026 the Muthu Kolakki Amman temple chariot at Puthagaram, Kanchipuram, entered the Dalit colony for the first time in 42 years.

Uttar Pradesh says 22 projects worth about Rs 83 crore are under way at 20 Devi shrines in 19 districts, as temples reported bigger Navratri crowds in October 2026.

TTD said on 20 October 2026 it will not accept recommendation letters for Tirumala darshan or rooms while Andhra Pradesh's local body poll code is in force.

Maharashtra invited President Murmu on 21 October 2026 to the Simhastha Kumbh flag hoisting at Ramkund and Trimbakeshwar on 31 October, at 12.02 pm.

The Teppotsavam float festival closing Dasara at Vijayawada's Kanaka Durga temple was held on the Krishna on October 20, 2026, after floods stopped it in 2024 and 2025.

Shivamogga's Dasara Jamboo Savari was stopped midway on October 21, 2026 after elephant Somanna, carrying the silver Ambari with Goddess Chamundeshwari's idol, turned and ran.

Thiruvananthapuram airport scheduled a five-hour halt to flights on October 20, 2026 so Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple's Alpashi Arattu procession could cross its runway to the sea.

Durga Puja ended on Bijoya Dashami, October 21, 2026, with Sindoor Khela; Bengal set immersions from October 21 to 24 under senior police officers.

About 65,000 pilgrims reached Sabarimala on the first darshan day of the Thulam month pooja; the temple closes on October 22 after a rush that exposed transport gaps.

London's free Diwali On The Square returns to Trafalgar Square on 25 October 2026, opening with 200 dancers, two weeks before Diwali on 8 November.

On Dussehra, October 20, 2026, Bisrakh in Greater Noida again skips Ravan effigy burning; by local tradition it is Ravan's birthplace and villagers pray for his soul.

Diwali at Times Square, New York's public Diwali festival, holds its 11th edition on October 24, 2026, with free entry, a concert, diya lighting and a bazaar.

The ASI says the missing head of the 11th-century Vishnu idol at Khajuraho's Javari temple was found in its store and will be reattached.

A Muslim artist family from Meerut is making the Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad effigies at Shimla's Jakhu temple for Dussehra on October 20, 2026.

Dussehra falls on October 20, 2026, for most of India, with Ravan Dahan after sunset; Bengal, Kerala and Mysuru hold Vijayadashami rituals on October 21.

Kolkata's Santosh Mitra Square puja won the top 'Serar Sera' prize in Bengal's Devi Durga Samman 2026, announced on October 16; 23 committees were honoured.

Bastar Dussehra's Phool Rath began its rounds in Jagdalpur on October 13, 2026; President Droupadi Murmu will attend the festival's Muria Darbar on October 23.

Pitampura's Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee will burn a 30-foot cockroach effigy with Ravan on October 20, 2026, saying it stands for filth, not politics.

Bangladesh's Hindus began Durga Puja with Maha Shashthi on October 16, 2026, at more than 33,000 mandaps, with border guards deployed and a five-day holiday ahead.

Saddula Bathukamma falls on October 18, 2026; a 4 pm procession leads to Tank Bund for a 5-10 pm programme, with immersion at Bathukamma Ghat and Necklace Road.

A 19-year-old accused of plotting a mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, was ordered detained on October 14, 2026.

Tamil Nadu's HR&CE Department now lets devotees carry switched-off phones into temples, easing a September 1 ban; photos and videos stay banned.

International Kullu Dussehra runs 21-27 October 2026 with 300-plus valley deities and troupes from about 24 countries, organisers said at a Delhi curtain raiser on 14 October.
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