Hare Krishna!

Kartik Maas, also called Damodar month, runs from Oct 26 to Nov 24, 2026, counted by the tithi at sunrise. The Sharad Purnima night that marks its threshold falls on Oct 25.

Here in Vṛndāvana, you can feel Kartik arrive. Evenings grow cool, and as the sun sets, small ghee lamps begin to glow in temple halls and doorways all across the town. Pilgrims arrive from every corner of the world, and the same eight verses rise again and again into the evening air: the Damodarashtakam.

All of it is for one small figure: the child Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who once let His mother tie Him up with a rope. That is why we call this month Damodar month. In this guide, we share when Kartik Maas falls this year, the pastime behind its name, and how you can observe it, whether you are with us in Vṛndāvana or at home.

Kartik Maas 2026: Key Facts

Detail Kartik Maas 2026
Observance Kartik Maas, also called Damodar month
Begins Monday, Oct 26, 2026
Ends Tuesday, Nov 24, 2026, Kartik Purnima
Threshold Sharad Purnima night, Sunday, Oct 25
Also known as Damodar Maas, Kārttika, the month of the Ūrja-vrata
Key practices Offering lamps, singing the Damodarashtakam, caring for Tulasī
Festivals within Dhanteras, Diwali, Govardhan Puja, Gopashtami, Dev Uthani Ekadashi
Bhishma Panchak Nov 20 to Nov 24

When Does Kartik Maas 2026 Start and End?

This year, Kartik begins on Monday, Oct 26 and ends on Tuesday, Nov 24. In the Vaiṣṇava calendar, the day is counted by the tithi, or lunar day, that is present at sunrise.

  Tithi Begins Ends Day counted
Kartik begins Sharad Purnima 11:57 AM, Oct 25 9:42 AM, Oct 26 Oct 26
Kartik ends Kartik Purnima 11:43 PM, Nov 23 8:24 PM, Nov 24 Nov 24

Times are in IST.

Why Two Start Dates: Oct 25 and Oct 26

If you have seen both dates online, you are not alone in wondering which is right. The answer is that both mark the start in different ways.

The full-moon tithi begins just before noon on Oct 25, so the moonlit night of Sharad Purnima falls on Oct 25. That night is the doorway into Kartik. But the same tithi is still present at sunrise on Oct 26, and because we count the day by the sunrise tithi, Oct 26 is the first day of the month.

Why Some Calendars Show a Different Kartik Month

There is a second reason calendars disagree. India counts its lunar months in two ways. In the pūrṇimānta system, which we follow in Vṛndāvana and across North India, a month runs from one full moon to the next. In the amānta system, used in much of South and West India, a month runs from one new moon to the next.

So a friend in Gujarat, Maharashtra or Karnataka may tell you Kartik starts about two weeks after we say it does. Neither calendar is wrong. They simply draw the month’s boundaries at different moons.

Kartik Maas 2026 Calendar: Key Dates and Festivals

Kartik is not one festival but a whole season of them. Within these thirty days come Dhanteras, Diwali, Govardhan Puja, Gopashtami and Dev Uthani Ekadashi, and the month closes with Kartik Purnima. Where a festival falls across two days this year, both dates are shown, along with the day we celebrate at VCM.

Date Observance
Oct 25 (night) Sharad Purnima, the doorway into Kartik
Oct 26 Kartik Maas and the Kartik vrata begin
Nov 2 Bahulāṣṭamī, the appearance of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa
Nov 5 Rama Ekadashi (fast; break it after sunrise on Nov 6)
Nov 6 / Nov 7 Dhanteras (VCM: Nov 7)
Nov 8 / Nov 9 Diwali (VCM: Nov 9)
Nov 10 Govardhan Puja and Annakut
Nov 13 Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance day (fast until noon)
Nov 17 Gopashtami
Nov 20 Tulsi Vivah
Nov 20 to Nov 24 Bhishma Panchak, the last five days of Kartik
Nov 21 Dev Uthani Ekadashi fast (broken after sunrise on Nov 22)
Nov 24 Kartik Purnima, the last day of Damodar month

Why Is Kartik Called Damodar Month, and Why Is It Significant?

Ask any devotee in Vṛndāvana what Kartik means to them, and the answer will usually come back to one name: Dāmodara.

Dāma means rope, and udara means belly: Dāmodara is the Lord whose waist was bound with rope. He is Kṛṣṇa as a small child, tied by His mother. Kartik is the month devotees give to this form of the Lord, and so the month itself has taken His name. Śrīla Prabhupāda puts it beautifully in The Nectar of Devotion:

“It is said that just as Lord Dāmodara is very dear to His devotees, so the month known as Dāmodara or Kārttika is also very dear to them.”

What makes this month so dear? For most of the year, we remember Kṛṣṇa’s greatness: the Lord who holds the universe, whom great sages meditate on and still cannot reach. In Kartik, we remember Him as His mother knew Him. A child who broke a pot in a temper, ran when He was caught and cried when He was scolded. A child who could have slipped any rope, yet chose to be bound by love.

That, for us, is the heart of Kartik. It is a month to come closer to Kṛṣṇa, not by being great ourselves, but by loving Him simply, as Mother Yaśodā did.

The Damodar Lila: How Mother Yashoda Bound Krishna

The story is told in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 9. We tell it here in our own words, as we love to hear it, every Kartik.

It was an ordinary morning in Gokula. The maidservants were busy elsewhere, so Mother Yaśodā sat down to churn the yoghurt herself. As she pulled the churning rope back and forth, she sang softly about her little son and all the things He had done (SB 10.9.1–2).

Kṛṣṇa came running. He wanted His mother’s milk, and He wanted it now. He grabbed the churning rod so she could not go on and climbed into her lap. Yaśodā held Him close and fed Him, her heart overflowing. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw the milk on the stove boiling over. She set Him down and hurried away (SB 10.9.4–5).

Kṛṣṇa was not finished. Biting His lip in anger, false tears in His eyes, He picked up a stone and smashed the yoghurt pot. Then He slipped into another room and began eating the fresh butter, all by Himself (SB 10.9.6).

When Yaśodā came back and saw the broken pot, she did not need to ask who had done it. She followed the trail and found Him perched on an upturned wooden mortar, handing out butter to the monkeys and glancing around nervously (SB 10.9.8). She crept up behind Him, stick in hand. He saw her, jumped down and ran.

The Bhāgavatam pauses here to point out something wonderful. Great yogīs spend lifetimes in meditation and austerity and still cannot reach the Lord. Yet here was His mother, running after Him through the courtyard as if He were any naughty child (SB 10.9.9). And she caught Him.

He was crying now, rubbing His eyes and smearing the black kajal across His face. Seeing how frightened He was, Yaśodā threw the stick away. She would not punish Him, but she would tie Him to the mortar so He could not make any more mischief (SB 10.9.12).

This is where the real wonder begins. She wrapped a rope around His waist, but it was two fingers too short. She tied on another rope. Still two fingers short. She brought every rope in the house and joined them all together, and each time, the gap remained exactly the same (SB 10.9.15–17). The elder gopīs of the neighbourhood gathered to watch, smiling. Yaśodā was smiling too.

At last she was exhausted, her face wet with perspiration and flowers slipping from her hair. Only then, the Bhāgavatam tells us, did Kṛṣṇa become “merciful to her and agreed to be bound” (SB 10.9.18).

The rope had never been too short. The Lord who controls the entire universe simply chose to come under the control of His devotee (SB 10.9.19). Neither Lord Brahmā, nor Lord Śiva, nor even the goddess of fortune received the mercy that Yaśodā received that day (SB 10.9.20). This is the lesson of Damodar Lila: Kṛṣṇa is not won by effort alone. He is won by love (SB 10.9.21).

Deliverance of the Yamala-Arjuna Trees

The story does not end with the rope. In the courtyard stood two tall arjuna trees, side by side. Long ago, they had been Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, the sons of the wealthy demigod Kuvera. Drunk on wine and pride, they had once refused even to cover themselves when the sage Nārada passed by (SB 10.10.2–3, 6).

Nārada cursed them to stand as trees. But a curse from a Vaiṣṇava is really a blessing in disguise. He promised that, in time, they would see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face (SB 10.10.20–22).

Now that time had come. Still tied to the heavy mortar, the child Kṛṣṇa slowly made His way toward the trees to keep His devotee’s word (SB 10.10.24). He squeezed between them, the mortar caught crosswise behind Him, and with one tug He pulled both trees down with a thunderous crash (SB 10.10.26–27).

From the fallen trunks stepped two shining beings. Folding their hands, they prayed that from then on their words, ears, hands and minds would be used only in Kṛṣṇa’s service (SB 10.10.38). And the little boy, still bound by His mother’s rope, smiled and granted their wish (SB 10.10.39–42).

Damodarashtakam: The Prayer Sung Through Kartik

If Kartik had a sound, it would be the Damodarashtakam. Every evening of the month, devotees gather with lamps in hand and sing these eight verses to Lord Dāmodara.

The prayer comes from the Padma Purāṇa, where it is spoken by the sage Satyavrata Muni. Read it slowly, and you will see the whole pastime in it: Kṛṣṇa running from His mother in fear, His cheeks streaked with tears, His waist tied with the rope. What moves us most is what Satyavrata Muni asks for. Not liberation, not any heavenly reward. Only that this form of the Lord, the little boy bound by love, may always stay in his heart.

This is how the prayer begins:

namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamānam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā

To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who (due to the offense of breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing) is quickly running from the wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yaśodā, but who has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed—to that Supreme Lord, Śrī Dāmodara, I offer my humble obeisances.
— Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam, verse 1, spoken by Satyavrata Muni (Padma Purāṇa). Translation: Vaishnava Songs app

If you are new to the prayer, don’t worry about singing every word perfectly. Hold a lamp, listen, and join in where you can. By the end of the month, you may find you know it by heart.

Deep Daan in Kartik: How to Offer Lamps to Lord Damodar

There is something about a single flame in the dark that says more than words can. That is deep daan: the simple act of offering a lamp to the Lord. In Kartik, it becomes the centre of every devotee’s evening.

The Padma Purāṇa and the Skanda Purāṇa speak at length about the glories of offering lamps in this month, and Vaiṣṇava tradition has treasured the practice for centuries. You don’t need a temple or any special training to take part. A small lamp, a sincere heart and a few quiet minutes are enough.

How to offer a lamp at home

  1. Place a picture of Lord Dāmodara, or of Kṛṣṇa with Mother Yaśodā, on a clean altar.
  2. Keep a Tulasī plant or a few Tulasī leaves beside Him. No offering to Kṛṣṇa is complete without Tulasī.
  3. Light a small lamp with ghee and a cotton wick.
  4. Hold the lamp in your right hand and move it in slow circles before the Lord as you sing the Damodarashtakam.
  5. Offer the lamp to Tulasī as well, then set it down on the altar.
  6. Invite everyone at home, children included, to take a turn.

Try to offer a lamp every evening from Oct 26 to Nov 24. Thirty evenings, thirty small flames, each one offered with love.

How to Observe the Kartik Vrata

A vrata is a vow: a promise to give the Lord a little more of yourself for a set time. The Kartik vrata is kept for the whole month, and Śrīla Prabhupāda calls it one of the most important of the Lord’s ceremonial functions: the Ūrja-vrata.

“Ūrja-vrata is observed in the month of Kārttika (October-November); especially in Vṛndāvana, there is a specific program for temple worship of the Lord in His Dāmodara form.”

In the same chapter, he explains that the Padma Purāṇa asks everyone to observe the Lord’s ceremonies according to their means. So the vrata is not only for monks or scholars. It is for anyone who wants to come closer to Kṛṣṇa this month, in whatever way they can.

At its simplest, the vrata means doing a little more of what devotees already love to do: hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting His names, and offering Him a lamp each evening.

Worshipping Tulasi in Kartik

Tulasī is one of Kṛṣṇa’s dearest devotees, and in Kartik we give her extra care. Water her each morning, offer her a lamp in the evening, and walk around her while chanting. Place a Tulasī leaf on every food offering you make to Kṛṣṇa during the month. For us, Tulasī is not an extra. She is part of every offering.

Optional Austerities

Many devotees also take on a small personal austerity in Kartik. These are personal choices, not rules. A few ideas:

  • Chant a few extra rounds of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra each day.
  • Read the Damodar lila in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10, Chapters 9 and 10.
  • Wake up a little earlier to worship the Lord.
  • Give up a favourite food for the month.

Pick something you can keep happily for thirty days. A small vow kept steadily is better than a big one given up halfway.

Offer Deepdaan Seva at VCM

Why do so many devotees long to spend Kartik in Vraja? Śrīla Prabhupāda gives the answer:

“The execution of devotional service during Ūrja-vrata in the month of Kārttika is especially recommended to be performed at Mathurā.”

He goes on to say that many devotees still travel to Mathurā or Vṛndāvana and stay for the whole month for this very reason. He also quotes the Padma Purāṇa: once devotees have served the Lord in Mathurā during Kārttika, they want nothing but pure devotion to Him.

Our temple, Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, stands right here in that holy land. We begin our Kartik vrata on Oct 26, and we would love for you to be part of it. Even if you cannot travel to Vṛndāvana this year, you can still offer a lamp to Lord Dāmodara here through our Deepdaan Seva.

Offer Deepdaan Seva

You can also serve with us this Kartik through:

  • Annadan Seva: Help us serve hot prasādam to sādhus and pilgrims in Vṛndāvana this Kartik. Offer Annadan Seva
  • Sampurna Seva: Take part in all of our Kartik sevas with a single offering to Lord Dāmodara. Offer Sampurna Seva
  • Mandir Nirman Seva: Contribute to building Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, a temple dedicated to spreading the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Offer Mandir Nirman Seva

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Kartik month the same as Damodar month?

Yes, they are two names for the same month. We call it Damodar month because it is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa as Dāmodara, the child bound by Mother Yaśodā’s rope. In 2026 it runs from Oct 26 to Nov 24.

2. What is Bhishma Panchak?

Bhishma Panchak is the final five days of Kartik, when devotees deepen their vrata before the month ends. This year it runs from Nov 20 to Nov 24, from the Ekādaśī tithi day to Kartik Purnima. We cover it in our guide to Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026.

3. What happens on the last day of Kartik?

The month closes on Kartik Purnima, Nov 24 this year. It is the day of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Rasayatra, and devotees offer lamps and complete their Kartik vrata. Read more in our guide to Kartik Purnima 2026.

The Heart of Kartik

Kartik is a month of small things. A small lamp. A small prayer. A small boy with butter on His hands, running from His mother.

We do not need great learning or great austerity to please Kṛṣṇa this month. Mother Yaśodā had neither in mind when she chased Him through the courtyard. She simply loved Him, and the Lord of the universe let Himself be caught.

So this Kartik, we offer our lamp, sing our prayer, care for Tulasī and hear the pastimes of Lord Dāmodara. And with Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, we pray:

“Henceforward, may all our words describe Your pastimes…”

May Lord Dāmodara bind all our hearts with the same rope of love.

Hare Krishna!