Vaikuntha Chaturdashi 2026
23 November 2026

Vaikuntha Chaturdashi falls on Kartik Shukla Chaturdashi, the day before Kartik Purnima. It is the one day of the year on which Vishnu and Shiva are worshipped together, each honouring the other. Tradition holds that on this day Vishnu worshipped Shiva in Kashi, and Shiva in return blessed Vishnu, so the day stands for the oneness of Hari and Hara.

The worship is split across the night. Vishnu is worshipped at nishita, around midnight, and Shiva at arunodaya, the hour before dawn, when devotees in Kashi bathe at Manikarnika ghat. On this day alone tulsi is offered to Shiva and bel patra to Vishnu, an exchange that marks the two as one. Kashi Vishwanath keeps the day with special puja.

• Lotus flowers, or other fresh flowers
• Tulsi leaves (picked the day before)
• Bel patra
• Gangajal
• Milk for the Shivling
• Chandan, roli and akshat (unbroken rice)
• Diya and ghee
• Dhoop
• Fruit and sweets for bhog
• The Vishnu Sahasranama text

Source: Popular tradition of Kashi; Vishnu receiving the Sudarshan chakra for his worship of Shiva with a thousand lotuses is told in the Shiva Purana

Vishnu once resolved to worship Shiva with a thousand lotuses, offering one with each of Shiva’s thousand names. Tradition places this worship in Kashi, on Kartik Shukla Chaturdashi. To test his devotion, Shiva hid one of the lotuses.

When Vishnu reached the last name, one lotus was missing. Vishnu is called Kamalnayan, the lotus-eyed, and so he resolved to offer one of his own eyes in its place, so that the worship would not remain incomplete.

As he was about to do so, Shiva appeared and stopped him, moved by such devotion. Pleased, Shiva gave Vishnu the Sudarshan chakra. Because Vishnu worshipped Shiva and Shiva honoured Vishnu on this day, the two are worshipped together on Vaikuntha Chaturdashi, and each is offered what is dear to the other. The Sudarshan chakra Vishnu holds is remembered as Shiva’s gift, and the name Kamalnayan as a reminder of the eye he was ready to give.

What to do

• Keep the Vishnu puja for the nishita hour around midnight, the hour tradition gives it on this night.
• Offer bel patra to Vishnu and tulsi to Shiva, as this is the one day the exchange is made.
• Pick the tulsi leaves a day ahead, as tradition avoids plucking tulsi after sunset.
• If you are in Kashi, take the Manikarnika snan at arunodaya, before sunrise, as is the custom there.

What to avoid

• Avoid treating the two as rivals, or worshipping one while slighting the other; the day exists to honour both together.
• Families keeping the vrat avoid meat, alcohol, onion and garlic that day, as the meal follows the puja.

The day is kept above all in Varanasi, at Kashi Vishwanath and Manikarnika ghat. In Ujjain it is known for the Hari-Har milan: Mahakal’s procession goes at night to the Gopal Mandir, and the two deities exchange garlands of bel and tulsi. It should not be confused with Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which is kept in the south in the month of Margashirsha (Dhanu) and is a different observance.

It is Kartik Shukla Chaturdashi in both the Purnimanta and Amanta calendars. The day is the one on which the Chaturdashi holds in the evening, in pradosh after sunset, which can differ from the day it holds at sunrise; the Vishnu puja follows at nishita that night and the Shiva puja at arunodaya before the next dawn. Since sunset is read at each place, the date can move by a day between cities.