Tulsi vivah 2026 falls on Saturday 21 November — every source we checked agrees on the date, which is rare enough to be worth saying up front. What they do not agree on is the tithi start time, the length of the evening muhurat, or whether some regions keep the ceremony on Kartik Purnima instead. This page gives the verified Delhi timings, the puja vidhi, and the part almost nobody connects: Tulsi Vivah is the first wedding of the season, and the human wedding calendar opens the very same day.
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Run the free kundali match →Tulsi vivah 2026 date: Saturday 21 November
The tithi is Kartika Shukla Dwadashi. DrikPanchang’s Hindu calendar, with the location set to Delhi, lists Tulasi Vivah on 21 November 2026 alongside Gauna Devutthana Ekadashi and Yogeshwara Dwadashi. Astroyogi, SmartPuja and Dr R.P. Sharma all name the same Saturday.
It sits one day after Dev Uthani Ekadashi, which DrikPanchang places on Friday 20 November for Delhi. That ordering is the whole point of the festival: Vishnu wakes on Ekadashi, and on Dwadashi he is married to Tulsi. Chaturmas ends and the marriage season opens in the same forty-eight hours.
If you have seen 20 November quoted somewhere, that is the Ekadashi, not the Tulsi Vivah. And if you have seen 24 November, that is the Kartik Purnima observance kept in parts of Maharashtra and elsewhere — a real regional practice, covered further down.
The tithi window, and where the published timings disagree
Two of our sources publish exact Dwadashi moments and they do not match. DrikPanchang’s Delhi panchang and Astroyogi both give 06:31 AM on 21 November to 04:56 AM on 22 November. SmartPuja gives 06:56 AM to 04:47 AM — twenty-five minutes later at the start, nine minutes earlier at the end — and does not name the city the figures are for.
We are going with the DrikPanchang and Astroyogi pair, because they agree to the minute and DrikPanchang states its location explicitly. The 06:31 AM start also cross-checks cleanly: it is exactly the moment the Ekadashi tithi ends on DrikPanchang’s Prabodhini Ekadashi page for Delhi.
| Detail (Delhi) | Time IST | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tulsi Vivah date | Saturday, 21 November 2026 | All four sources |
| Kartika Shukla Dwadashi begins | 06:31 AM, 21 Nov | DrikPanchang, Astroyogi |
| Dwadashi ends | 04:56 AM, 22 Nov | DrikPanchang, Astroyogi |
| Dwadashi window (alternative) | 06:56 AM – 04:47 AM | SmartPuja (city not stated) |
| Sunrise / sunset | 06:48 AM / 05:25 PM | DrikPanchang |
| Nakshatra | Revati from 06:50 AM | DrikPanchang |
| Kartika Purnima (regional variant) | Tuesday, 24 November 2026 | DrikPanchang, Dr R.P. Sharma |
Pradosh kaal: when the ceremony is actually performed
Tulsi Vivah is an evening rite. It is performed in pradosh kaal, the twilight period that begins at sunset, because a Hindu wedding is traditionally solemnised after dark. Delhi sunset on 21 November 2026 is 05:25 PM, so the ceremony starts there and not before.
How long the window runs depends on whom you ask. DrikPanchang publishes sayahna sandhya for that day as 05:25 PM to 06:46 PM and godhuli muhurta as 05:25 PM to 05:52 PM. SmartPuja publishes a much wider 05:24 PM to 08:46 PM as the shubh vivah muhurat for the puja. Both are in use.
The practical guidance most pandits give is to begin within the first hour after sunset and finish the pheras and aarti before the tithi is anywhere near its end. On the Delhi figures that means starting between 05:25 PM and roughly 06:45 PM. Get your own city’s sunset if you are far east or west of Delhi.
Dwadashi or Kartik Purnima? The regional split
In much of north India Tulsi Vivah is a single evening on Dwadashi. In Maharashtra and several other regions the observance is treated as a season rather than a date — households perform it any evening from Dwadashi through to Kartik Purnima, and neighbourhood ceremonies are staggered across that stretch.
In 2026 that gives a five-day span: 21 November through 24 November, since DrikPanchang places Kartika Purnima on Tuesday 24 November with the Purnima tithi holding until 08:23 PM. Dr R.P. Sharma’s page carries both framings — the main text names 21 November, and an FAQ block on the same page describes 24 November as the day marking the marriage of Devi Tulsi to Vishnu.
Neither is wrong. If your family has always done it on Purnima, keep doing it on Purnima. If you have no fixed custom, 21 November is the majority date and the one that lines up with the Ekadashi you have just observed.
The story: Vrinda, Jalandhar and the Shaligram
The Padma Purana account, as SmartPuja relates it, begins with Vrinda, the devoted wife of the asura king Jalandhar. Her chastity made her husband effectively invincible, and no god could defeat him while it held. Vishnu broke it by approaching her in Jalandhar’s form.
When Vrinda understood what had happened she cursed Vishnu to become stone — the Shaligram — and gave up her life. From her ashes grew the tulsi plant. Vishnu, honouring her devotion, promised to marry her every year in that form. That annual promise is what the ceremony enacts. If the date works for your family, run both kundalis first — Sahita on Google Play gives the full 36 guna result free, in eleven Indian languages.
It is a story about a wrong acknowledged rather than a victory celebrated, which is why the tone of the ritual is tender rather than triumphant. Performing Tulsi Vivah is held to earn the merit of kanyadaan, and couples without a daughter often keep it for that reason.
Tulsi Vivah puja vidhi, step by step
- Clean the tulsi vrindavan and raise a small mandap around it using four sugarcane stalks tied at the top.
- Dress the plant as the bride: red chunri around the pot, bangles, bindi, and a garland. Dress the Shaligram or Vishnu murti in yellow.
- Draw rangoli around the courtyard and light lamps as the sun sets.
- Perform the gathbandhan — tie a yellow thread linking Tulsi and Shaligram — and chant “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”.
- Shower both with akshat (rice with turmeric) and kumkum, as you would a bride and groom.
- Offer the bhog: sweet potato, tamarind, amla and fresh sugarcane from the new harvest.
- Close with the Tulsi aarti and distribute prasad. Those who fasted break the fast once the ceremony ends.
Unmarried women in many households keep the puja and a partial fast, praying for a suitable partner. It is worth pairing that intention with something practical: the free Sahita app on Google Play will run a full 36 Guna match on any prospect the moment the family brings one, without an appointment or a fee.
Why tulsi vivah 2026 opens the human wedding calendar
This is the connection the puja-vidhi pages never make. Tulsi Vivah is the first marriage of the season by convention — nothing else is solemnised before it — and in 2026 the very same Saturday is also the first available vivah muhurat, with a window that runs more than seventeen hours.
Below are the four dates that follow, in IST for Delhi, from DrikPanchang’s Vivah Muhurat page and cross-checked against VedicFeed, VedicMatch and Dr R.P. Sharma’s classical-rule list. The consensus column tells you how many of the four back each date, so you can see at a glance which are safe and which are contested.
| Date | Day | Tithi | Nakshatra | Muhurat window (IST, Delhi) | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 2026 | Saturday | Dwadashi (until 04:56 AM, 22 Nov) | Revati (from 06:50 AM) | 06:48 AM – 12:08 AM (22 Nov) | All sources |
| 24 Nov 2026 | Tuesday | Pratipada (Purnima ends 08:23 PM) | Rohini (from 11:25 PM) | 11:25 PM – 06:52 AM (25 Nov) | Some sources (3 of 4) |
| 25 Nov 2026 | Wednesday | Pratipada, Dwitiya | Rohini, Mrigashira | 06:52 AM – 06:52 AM (26 Nov) | All sources |
| 26 Nov 2026 | Thursday | Dwitiya, Tritiya | Mrigashira | 06:52 AM – 05:47 PM | All sources |
24 November is the contested one: it is a Tuesday and it is Kartika Purnima, so the strict classical filter drops it while the panchang engines keep it with a window opening only at 11:25 PM. The full month-by-month picture is in our vivaha muhurta 2026 guide for India and the two-year run in auspicious marriage dates 2026-2027.
If your own wedding is on 21 November
Plenty of families deliberately marry on Tulsi Vivah day for the symbolism, and the panchang supports it: Revati nakshatra holds from 06:50 AM until 05:54 AM the next morning, and Revati is one of the eleven classical marriage stars. The muhurat is long enough to place the pheras almost anywhere.
Two honest cautions. Temples and pandits are heavily committed that evening because of the Tulsi Vivah ceremonies themselves. And the Delhi panchang for the day also shows Panchaka running through and Ganda Moola from 06:50 AM; DrikPanchang still publishes a full marriage muhurat, but ask your family pandit if your tradition is strict about Ganda Moola.
Before any of that, settle the match. The pandit fixes the lagna for your venue only after the guna milan is agreed, and with four dates in the month there is no room to lose a fortnight. Bengali families with their own seasonal rules will also want the Bengali Poush and Sankranti wedding rules. Families who want the reading in Marathi, Gujarati or Hindi can get it from the free Sahita app before approaching the priest.
Match first, then fix the date
A festival date is the same for every household in the country. A muhurat chosen for your pair is not. That second step needs the 36 Guna score, the eight koota breakdown, and the Manglik position in both charts, and it needs them before the pandit will spend an hour on Tarabala and lagna.
Run the free kundali matching tool and you will have all of it on one screen in under a minute. It computes in your browser, so nothing about either chart is uploaded, and it prints which cancellations fired rather than just flagging a dosha and leaving you anxious.
Elders who want a sheet to carry to the temple can use the free Sahita app, which reads in eleven languages and works with no internet at all. If your pair is already matched, wedding muhurta 2026 for matched couples is the logical next page.
Frequently asked questions
Tulsi vivah 2026 kab hai?
Saturday, 21 November 2026, on Kartika Shukla Dwadashi. DrikPanchang, Astroyogi, SmartPuja and Dr R.P. Sharma all name the same day. The Dwadashi tithi runs from 06:31 AM on 21 November to 04:56 AM on 22 November for Delhi, and the ceremony itself is performed in the evening after sunset at 05:25 PM.
What is the Tulsi Vivah muhurat time in 2026?
Pradosh kaal, beginning at sunset. Delhi sunset on 21 November 2026 is 05:25 PM. DrikPanchang gives sayahna sandhya as 05:25 PM to 06:46 PM; SmartPuja publishes a wider 05:24 PM to 08:46 PM window without naming a city. Starting within the first hour after sunset satisfies both.
Is Tulsi Vivah on Kartik Purnima or Dwadashi?
Both, depending on region. The majority practice, and every source we checked, puts it on Dwadashi — 21 November 2026. In Maharashtra and elsewhere it is kept any evening from Dwadashi through Kartik Purnima, which falls on Tuesday 24 November 2026. Follow your family’s custom; neither is incorrect.
Can weddings be held on Tulsi Vivah day?
Yes. 21 November 2026 is also the first vivah muhurat of the season, running 06:48 AM to 12:08 AM the next morning at Delhi under Revati nakshatra. It is the most contested date of the year for venues and pandits, precisely because the symbolism and the muhurat land on the same Saturday.
Can unmarried girls perform Tulsi puja?
Yes, and it is a common practice. Unmarried women keep the Tulsi Vivah puja and often a partial fast, with the intention of a good marriage. The ceremony is also held to earn the merit of kanyadaan, which is why households without a daughter frequently perform it.
What do we offer at the Tulsi Vivah ceremony?
A red chunri, bangles and a garland for the plant; yellow cloth for the Shaligram; a sugarcane mandap; akshat and kumkum for the shower. The bhog traditionally includes sweet potato, tamarind, amla and fresh sugarcane from the new harvest, followed by aarti and prasad for everyone present.
Related reading: Auspicious wedding dates 2026 · Griha pravesh muhurat 2026 · Wedding muhurta 2026 for matched couples
