Karthika Masam 2026 Deepam Timings City-Wise: Sunset Lamp and Sunrise Snanam Times for 13 Indian Cities
When should you light the Karthika deepam today, and how early should the snanam be? This page gives sunset (lamp) and sunrise (bath) times in IST for Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Warangal, Rajahmundry, Srisailam, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi on every key date of Karthika Masam 2026, with safe-lamp tips for apartments.
When should you light the Karthika deepam today, and how early should the snanam be? This page gives sunset (lamp) and sunrise (bath) times in IST for Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Warangal, Rajahmundry, Srisailam, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi on every key date of Karthika Masam 2026, with safe-lamp tips for apartments.
Quick answer: The Karthika deepam time today is your local sunset. In Karthika Masam 2026 (Tuesday 10 November to Tuesday 8 December), sunset is roughly 5:40 PM in Hyderabad, 5:33 PM in Vijayawada, 5:21 PM in Visakhapatnam, 5:42 PM in Tirupati, 5:51 PM in Bengaluru and 5:40 PM in Chennai (IST), changing by only a minute or two over the month. The morning snanam is taken before sunrise, which moves about a quarter of an hour later from start to end of the month.
The tables below cover 13 cities on ten key dates. Times are IST and approximate to plus or minus one minute; local panchangams may differ slightly.
Why the lamp is lit at sunset and the bath before sunrise
Karthika Masam is, above all, the month of light. Per Karthika Puranam tradition, a lamp offered in this month, especially at a Shiva or Vishnu shrine, on the threshold of the house or beside the tulasi plant, is believed to carry great merit. The lamp is lit at dusk, in pradosha kala, the twilight period that begins at sunset and is traditionally sacred to Shiva. That is why the deepam time is tied to your own sunset rather than to a single all-India clock time.
The other pillar of the month is Karthika snanam, a bath taken before sunrise. The ideal is Brahma muhurta, generally understood as the period of roughly an hour and a half before sunrise. Whether in a river or at home, the aim is to finish before your city's sunrise.
Sunset (deepam) times city-wise, 10 to 21 November 2026
All times are PM, IST.
| City | Tue 10 Nov | Fri 13 Nov | Mon 16 Nov | Fri 20 Nov | Sat 21 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 5:42 | 5:41 | 5:41 | 5:40 | 5:40 |
| Vijayawada | 5:35 | 5:34 | 5:33 | 5:33 | 5:33 |
| Visakhapatnam | 5:23 | 5:22 | 5:21 | 5:21 | 5:21 |
| Tirupati | 5:43 | 5:43 | 5:42 | 5:42 | 5:42 |
| Warangal | 5:37 | 5:36 | 5:35 | 5:35 | 5:35 |
| Rajahmundry | 5:29 | 5:29 | 5:28 | 5:28 | 5:28 |
| Srisailam | 5:42 | 5:42 | 5:41 | 5:41 | 5:41 |
| Bengaluru | 5:51 | 5:51 | 5:51 | 5:51 | 5:51 |
| Chennai | 5:41 | 5:40 | 5:40 | 5:40 | 5:40 |
| Mumbai | 6:02 | 6:01 | 6:01 | 6:00 | 6:00 |
| New Delhi | 5:31 | 5:29 | 5:28 | 5:27 | 5:26 |
| Kolkata | 4:55 | 4:54 | 4:53 | 4:52 | 4:52 |
| Varanasi | 5:13 | 5:12 | 5:10 | 5:09 | 5:09 |
Key days: 10 Nov month begins; 13 Nov Nagula Chavithi; 16 Nov first Somavaram and Vrishchika Sankranti; 20 Nov Devutthana Ekadashi; 21 Nov Ksheerabdi Dwadasi and Tulasi Vivah.
Sunset (deepam) times city-wise, 23 November to 8 December 2026
All times are PM, IST.
| City | Mon 23 Nov | Tue 24 Nov | Mon 30 Nov | Mon 7 Dec | Tue 8 Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 5:40 | 5:40 | 5:41 | 5:42 | 5:42 |
| Vijayawada | 5:33 | 5:33 | 5:33 | 5:35 | 5:35 |
| Visakhapatnam | 5:21 | 5:21 | 5:21 | 5:23 | 5:23 |
| Tirupati | 5:42 | 5:42 | 5:43 | 5:45 | 5:45 |
| Warangal | 5:35 | 5:35 | 5:35 | 5:37 | 5:37 |
| Rajahmundry | 5:27 | 5:28 | 5:28 | 5:29 | 5:30 |
| Srisailam | 5:41 | 5:41 | 5:41 | 5:43 | 5:43 |
| Bengaluru | 5:51 | 5:51 | 5:52 | 5:53 | 5:54 |
| Chennai | 5:40 | 5:40 | 5:41 | 5:43 | 5:43 |
| Mumbai | 6:00 | 6:00 | 6:00 | 6:01 | 6:02 |
| New Delhi | 5:26 | 5:25 | 5:25 | 5:25 | 5:25 |
| Kolkata | 4:52 | 4:52 | 4:52 | 4:53 | 4:53 |
| Varanasi | 5:09 | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:09 | 5:09 |
Key days: 23 Nov Somavaram and Vaikuntha Chaturdashi; 24 Nov Karthika Pournami; 30 Nov Somavaram; 7 Dec Somavaram and Masik Shivaratri; 8 Dec Amavasya.
Sunrise (snanam) times city-wise, 10 to 21 November 2026
All times are AM, IST. Finish the bath before these times.
| City | Tue 10 Nov | Fri 13 Nov | Mon 16 Nov | Fri 20 Nov | Sat 21 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 6:17 | 6:18 | 6:20 | 6:22 | 6:22 |
| Vijayawada | 6:07 | 6:08 | 6:10 | 6:12 | 6:12 |
| Visakhapatnam | 5:58 | 6:00 | 6:01 | 6:03 | 6:04 |
| Tirupati | 6:08 | 6:09 | 6:11 | 6:12 | 6:13 |
| Warangal | 6:13 | 6:15 | 6:16 | 6:18 | 6:19 |
| Rajahmundry | 6:03 | 6:04 | 6:06 | 6:08 | 6:08 |
| Srisailam | 6:13 | 6:15 | 6:16 | 6:18 | 6:19 |
| Bengaluru | 6:15 | 6:16 | 6:17 | 6:19 | 6:19 |
| Chennai | 6:04 | 6:05 | 6:06 | 6:08 | 6:09 |
| Mumbai | 6:41 | 6:43 | 6:45 | 6:47 | 6:47 |
| New Delhi | 6:38 | 6:40 | 6:43 | 6:46 | 6:46 |
| Kolkata | 5:44 | 5:46 | 5:48 | 5:51 | 5:51 |
| Varanasi | 6:10 | 6:12 | 6:14 | 6:17 | 6:17 |
Sunrise (snanam) times city-wise, 23 November to 8 December 2026
All times are AM, IST.
| City | Mon 23 Nov | Tue 24 Nov | Mon 30 Nov | Mon 7 Dec | Tue 8 Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyderabad | 6:23 | 6:24 | 6:28 | 6:32 | 6:32 |
| Vijayawada | 6:13 | 6:14 | 6:17 | 6:21 | 6:22 |
| Visakhapatnam | 6:05 | 6:06 | 6:09 | 6:13 | 6:14 |
| Tirupati | 6:14 | 6:14 | 6:17 | 6:21 | 6:22 |
| Warangal | 6:20 | 6:21 | 6:24 | 6:28 | 6:29 |
| Rajahmundry | 6:10 | 6:10 | 6:14 | 6:18 | 6:18 |
| Srisailam | 6:20 | 6:20 | 6:24 | 6:28 | 6:28 |
| Bengaluru | 6:20 | 6:21 | 6:24 | 6:27 | 6:28 |
| Chennai | 6:10 | 6:10 | 6:13 | 6:17 | 6:17 |
| Mumbai | 6:49 | 6:49 | 6:53 | 6:57 | 6:58 |
| New Delhi | 6:48 | 6:49 | 6:54 | 6:59 | 7:00 |
| Kolkata | 5:53 | 5:53 | 5:57 | 6:02 | 6:03 |
| Varanasi | 6:19 | 6:20 | 6:24 | 6:29 | 6:30 |
How sunset and sunrise shift through the month
Two things stand out in the tables. First, sunset hardly moves. In the Telugu states it changes by only about two minutes over four weeks, dipping slightly towards Pournami and creeping back by early December. Your first evening's deepam time holds almost all month.
Second, sunrise keeps getting later. Hyderabad's sunrise goes from 6:17 AM to 6:32 AM, Visakhapatnam's from 5:58 AM to 6:14 AM, and New Delhi's from 6:38 AM to 7:00 AM. If you set a fixed alarm for the pre-dawn bath, you gain a little extra margin as the month goes on.
Geography matters too: Kolkata's sunset comes more than an hour before Mumbai's, and Visakhapatnam lights its lamps about twenty minutes before Tirupati. A single all-India "deepam time" forwarded on WhatsApp is rarely right for your city.
A simple daily deepam routine
- Light the lamp a few minutes before your city's sunset so the flame is steady when the Sun goes down.
- Place one lamp at the main door, one before the tulasi plant if you have one, and one at your home shrine. Many families also keep an Akasha Deepam burning on a pole or balcony through the month.
- Offer a short prayer. A widely recited verse is Shubham karoti kalyanam arogyam dhana sampadah, shatru buddhi vinashaya deepa jyotir namostute, meaning "I bow to the light of the lamp, which brings auspiciousness, well-being, health and wealth, and destroys hostile thoughts."
- On Mondays, add a lamp at a Shiva temple or before a Shiva lingam at home.
For why the sky lamp matters, see our Akasha Deepam guide, and for lamp donation see Karthika Snanam and Deepa Daanam 2026.
Safe lamp placement in apartments
- Use a deep brass or clay lamp on a metal plate, never directly on a wooden shelf or plastic railing.
- Keep lamps well away from curtains, dried flower garlands, paper decorations and anything that flaps in the wind on a balcony.
- On windy high-rise balconies, use a niche or a glass chimney.
- Keep children and pets away, and put the lamp out before leaving the flat or going to sleep, or let it burn only under supervision.
- Where rules forbid open flames, an LED diya is a reasonable substitute.
Special evenings: Somavarams, Pournami and Amavasya
On the four Somavarams (16, 23, 30 November and 7 December), many devotees fast and break the fast after the evening lamp; see our Somavaram upavasam rules and the Karthika Somavaram 2026 dates in India. On Karthika Pournami, Tuesday 24 November, Purnima tithi ends at 8:23 PM IST, after sunset in every Indian city, so the evening lamps fall within Purnima; our Karthika Pournami 2026 India city-wise page has the details. Karthika Amavasya on Tuesday 8 December closes the month; read about it in Karthika Amavasya 2026.
Living abroad?
Do not use these IST times outside India; sunsets and even some dates differ. Our USA, UK, Canada and Australia pages give local times.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Karthika deepam time today?
The evening Karthika deepam is lit at or just after sunset. During Karthika Masam 2026, sunset is between about 5:40 and 5:42 PM in Hyderabad, 5:33 and 5:35 PM in Vijayawada, 5:21 and 5:23 PM in Visakhapatnam, and 5:51 and 5:54 PM in Bengaluru (IST). Use the tables on this page for your city and the nearest date.
Can I light the Karthika lamp before sunset?
The tradition is to light it at dusk, in pradosha kala, when day turns to night. Lighting a few minutes before sunset so the flame is steady at the moment of sunset is common and perfectly acceptable. A morning lamp at the time of puja is a separate, additional practice.
How early should I take the Karthika snanam?
Traditionally the bath is taken before sunrise, ideally in Brahma muhurta, the period of roughly an hour and a half before sunrise. In Hyderabad sunrise moves from 6:17 AM on 10 November to 6:32 AM on 8 December, so a bath by about 6:00 AM keeps you before sunrise all month.
Is the deepam time the same across India?
No. Tithi times are the same instant across India, but sunset is local. On Karthika Pournami (24 November) sunset ranges from 4:52 PM in Kolkata to 6:00 PM in Mumbai, more than an hour apart.
Which dates in Karthika Masam 2026 are most important for lamps?
Every evening of the month counts, but the four Mondays (16, 23, 30 November and 7 December), Ksheerabdi Dwadasi (21 November), Karthika Pournami (24 November) and the final Amavasya (8 December) are the days most families make a special effort.
Are LED lamps acceptable in an apartment?
Where building rules forbid open flames or there is a real fire risk, many priests and families accept an LED diya. An oil or ghee lamp is traditional, but sincerity and safety come first.
Editor's note
Editor's note (9 October 2026): This page has been restored at its original address. Sunrise and sunset are computed for each city in IST using a method validated against Drik Panchang for New Delhi, and are approximate to plus or minus one minute; local panchangams may differ slightly. Dates are from Drik Panchang. We do not list temple deepotsavam schedules here; check the temple's official announcements.
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