Margashirsha Purnima 2026
23 December 2026

Margashirsha Purnima, called Agahan Purnima in the Hindi belt, is the full moon that closes the month of Margashirsha in the Purnimanta calendar. Krishna names this month among his glories in the Gita: “Of months, I am Margashirsha” (Gita 10.35). Its Purnima is kept with snan in a holy river at dawn, daan, the Satyanarayan katha in many homes, and a vrat ended with arghya (an offering of water) to Chandra when he rises.

The same day is Annapurna Jayanti, when Mata Annapurna, the goddess who gives food, is worshipped, above all at her temple in Kashi near Kashi Vishwanath. It is also Bhairavi Jayanti, for the Mahavidya Bhairavi. Dattatreya Jayanti falls on this Purnima as well and has its own page. With winter setting in, families give food, grain and warm clothes, in the spirit of Annapurna who feeds all.

• Ganga jal
• Image of Vishnu or Satyanarayan, and of Mata Annapurna
• Tulsi leaves
• Roli, akshat and flowers
• Panchamrit (milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar)
• Panjiri, bananas and fruit for the prasad
• Ghee diya and incense
• A lota of water with a little milk for Chandra’s arghya
• Grain, blankets or warm clothes for daan
• Satyanarayan katha book

Source: Popular tradition of Kashi, told on Annapurna Jayanti

Once, the story goes, Shiva told Parvati that the world is maya, an illusion, and that food too is part of that illusion. Parvati, the mother of the world who watches over all that nourishes life, wished to show the worth of what he had dismissed, and she withdrew from the world.

With her gone, the earth grew barren. Crops failed, kitchens stood empty, and gods, sages and people alike went hungry. Even Shiva felt the want.

Then Parvati appeared in Kashi as Annapurna, she who is full of food, and began to feed all who came. Shiva too came before her with his begging bowl, and she fed him with her own hand. Shiva accepted that food cannot be dismissed as illusion, for life rests on it. Kashi has worshipped Annapurna ever since, shown with a ladle and a vessel of food, the form in which she fed him, and devotees believe that in her city no one need sleep hungry.

What to do

• Take the snan early, at or before sunrise, as the day’s snan-daan is reckoned from the morning.
• Give food or warm clothes to someone in need, in the spirit of Annapurna who feeds all.
• Offer arghya to Chandra at moonrise before ending the vrat, as the Purnima vrat is completed with the full moon.
• Hear the Satyanarayan katha with the whole family, since it is meant to be heard together and its prasad shared.

What to avoid

• Avoid wasting food on this day of Annapurna; cook and serve what will be eaten, and share what is left.
• Avoid turning away someone who asks for food, if you are able to give.

A full moon has the same month name in both calendars, so this is Margashirsha Purnima everywhere; in the Hindi belt the month is Agahan, and the day Agahan Purnima. In the Purnimanta north it ends the month and Paush begins the next day; in the Amanta calendar of the west and south it falls in the middle of Margashirsha. The month takes its name from the Mrigashira nakshatra, near which its full moon falls.

The snan-daan follows the Purnima at sunrise, while the vrat and the arghya to Chandra follow the Purnima at moonrise. So when the Purnima begins during the day, a calendar may give the vrat on one day and the snan-daan on the next, and local sunrise and moonrise can move either by a day between places. Arudra Darshan in Tamil Nadu, the worship of Shiva as Nataraja, is a different festival: it follows the Ardra (Thiruvathirai) nakshatra in the solar month of Margazhi, not this Purnima.