Karwa Chauth 2026 in the USA Is 28 October, Not 29

Karwa Chauth 2026 falls on Wednesday, 28 October across the United States. In India, the UK and Australia it is Thursday, 29 October, and some US holiday listings carry the Indian date. If you are fasting in America, the 29th is a day late.

Why the US date is a day earlier

The fast follows the Chaturthi tithi, not the calendar date. In India that tithi runs from 1:06 AM to 10:09 PM on 29 October. Read on an American clock, the same stretch of time starts on the 28th.

On the East Coast the Chaturthi tithi begins at 3:36 PM on 28 October and ends at 12:39 PM on the 29th. In Central time it runs 2:36 PM to 11:39 AM, and on the Pacific coast 12:36 PM to 9:39 AM. Moonrise on the evening of the 28th falls inside it in every city below, and DrikPanchang puts all nine of them on Wednesday.

Moonrise and puja times by city

All times are local, from DrikPanchang.

New York: moonrise 7:35 PM. Puja 5:57 PM to 7:18 PM. Fast 7:22 AM to 7:35 PM, 12 hours 14 minutes.

Washington, DC: moonrise 7:55 PM. Puja 6:12 PM to 7:32 PM. Fast 7:31 AM to 7:55 PM, 12 hours 24 minutes.

Atlanta: moonrise 8:43 PM. Puja 6:49 PM to 8:07 PM. Fast 7:53 AM to 8:43 PM, 12 hours 50 minutes.

Chicago: moonrise 7:27 PM. Puja 5:50 PM to 7:11 PM. Fast 7:18 AM to 7:27 PM, 12 hours 9 minutes.

Houston: moonrise 8:41 PM. Puja 6:38 PM to 7:55 PM. Fast 7:32 AM to 8:41 PM, 13 hours 9 minutes.

Dallas: moonrise 8:38 PM. Puja 6:40 PM to 7:58 PM. Fast 7:42 AM to 8:38 PM, 12 hours 57 minutes.

San Jose and the Bay Area: moonrise 8:07 PM. Puja 6:14 PM to 7:33 PM. Fast 7:28 AM to 8:07 PM, 12 hours 39 minutes.

Los Angeles: moonrise 8:04 PM. Puja 6:04 PM to 7:22 PM. Fast 7:09 AM to 8:04 PM.

Seattle: moonrise 7:24 PM. Puja 5:58 PM to 7:21 PM. Fast 7:48 AM to 7:24 PM, 11 hours 37 minutes.

The fast is longest in Houston, shortest in Seattle

Of these nine cities, Houston has the longest fast at 13 hours 9 minutes. It starts at 7:32 AM and the moon does not rise until 8:41 PM. Seattle has the shortest at 11 hours 37 minutes, mostly because its moon comes up early, at 7:24 PM.

Atlanta has the latest moonrise on the list at 8:43 PM, 79 minutes after Seattle's on the clock. A time printed for New York is not a safe guide for a family in Texas or Georgia.

Seattle has three minutes between puja and moonrise

In every city here the puja muhurat closes before the moon rises, so the order is the same as in India: puja, then the wait, then breaking the fast when the moon is seen.

The wait is where the cities differ. In Houston the puja window closes 46 minutes before moonrise. In Seattle it closes at 7:21 PM and the moon rises at 7:24 PM, which leaves three minutes. A Seattle household will want the thali and everything for the fast-breaking laid out before the puja begins.

If you live somewhere else

The fast is calculated from exact local sunrise and moonrise, so look up your own city on DrikPanchang rather than borrowing the nearest one on this list. The timings for India, London, Toronto and Sydney are in our Karwa Chauth 2026 guide.

The hours before moonrise are when the katha is read. If you are sending a message to someone who is fasting, a few specific lines work better than a long one. Mehndi is better applied a day or two ahead, since the colour keeps darkening for 24 to 72 hours, as our piece on the mehndi ceremony explains.

Diwali comes eleven days later, on Sunday 8 November, the same date in New York as in India. The New York puja window is in our Diwali 2026 guide.