Karthika Puranam 2026: 30 Adhyayas Day by Day, Today's Adhyaya and How to Read It at Home (10 November to 8 December)

Last updated: 21 October 2026. Dates and tithis for Karthika Masam 2026 follow Drik Panchang for Hyderabad. The chapter summaries are our own short retellings, not the text.

Quick answer: Telugu families read one adhyaya of the Karthika Puranam each day of Karthika Masam. In 2026 the month runs from Tuesday 10 November to Tuesday 8 December (amanta calendar). Read adhyaya 1 on 10 November, adhyaya 15 on Karthika Pournami (24 November) and adhyaya 30 on Karthika Amavasya (8 December). Because the month has 29 days and 30 tithis, two days carry two adhyayas (21 and 28 November) and one day repeats (19 November). The full table is below.

Karthika Puranam 30 Days (కార్తీక పురాణం 30 రోజులు): The 2026 Reading Table

Each adhyaya is matched to the tithi running at sunrise, the way Telugu panchangams count the days of the month: Shukla Pratipada is adhyaya 1, Purnima is adhyaya 15, Krishna Pratipada is adhyaya 16 and Amavasya is adhyaya 30. Tithis are for Hyderabad (Drik Panchang, IST); the end times are the same moment everywhere in India.

• Two adhyayas on one day: Shukla Dwadashi begins at 6:31 AM on 21 November and ends before the next sunrise, and Krishna Panchami begins at 6:39 AM on 28 November and ends before the next sunrise. Neither tithi is running at a sunrise, so many families read its adhyaya on the day it begins: adhyayas 11 and 12 on 21 November, and 19 and 20 on 28 November.
• A repeat day: Shukla Navami is running at sunrise on both 18 and 19 November. On 19 November there is no new adhyaya: re-read adhyaya 9 or catch up on a day you missed.
• If you prefer to read straight through: read one adhyaya a day from 10 November and read the last two together on 8 December. Both ways are common; follow your family's custom.

The themes follow the Skanda Purana telling as it appears in the Telugu text on Telugu Wikisource (Karthika Maha Puranamu). Printed Telugu editions do not always break the chapters at the same place, so a story may start one adhyaya earlier or later in your book. If your book differs, follow your book.

Karthika Puranam Today's Adhyaya (కార్తీక పురాణం ఈరోజు అధ్యాయం): How to Find It

• In India: find today's date in the table above. The four Karthika Somavarams (16, 23 and 30 November and 7 December) fall on adhyayas 7, 14, 22 and 29.
• In the USA, Canada and the UK: Shukla Pratipada is already running at sunrise on Monday 9 November, so the local Karthika Masam starts a day earlier there and ends on 8 December. If you follow your local panchang, read adhyaya 1 on 9 November and check each day's tithi in the USA Karthika Masam 2026 guide or the UK Karthika Masam 2026 guide.
• In Australia: the month runs from 10 November to 9 December locally, so the last adhyayas shift by a day.
• Daily tithi, sunrise and sunset: see our Karthika Masam 2026 calendar day by day.

Which Text? Skanda Purana, Padma Purana and Telugu Editions

The Telugu text opens by naming its own sources: the sage Suta tells the sages of Naimisharanya that Vyasa described the glory of Karthika (Karthika Mahatmyam) in two Puranas. In the Skanda Purana the sage Vasishtha explains it to King Janaka; in the Padma Purana Lord Krishna explains it to Satyabhama. The 30 adhyayas that most Telugu families read one a day follow the Skanda Purana telling.

Editions arrange the month differently. The Telugu Wikisource text, for example, reads two Skanda Purana adhyayas a day for the first 15 days, finishing on Karthika Pournami, and then reads the Padma Purana's Karthika Mahatmyam (the sage Narada speaking to King Prithu, Satyabhama's earlier life and the story of Jalandhara) on days 16 to 30. Popular one-adhyaya-a-day books, temple readings and TV readings follow the Skanda Purana order across the whole month.

Please treat the summaries on this page as a guide to what each day is about, not as the text. For the parayanam itself, read from a Telugu edition your family trusts, or from the freely available text on Telugu Wikisource.

Karthika Puranam Adhyaya Summaries (కార్తీక పురాణం అధ్యాయాల సారాంశం)

These are short retellings in our own words. Many chapters also list practices and the merit tradition attaches to them; we mention those as the text's teaching, not as promises.

Adhyayas 1 and 2: Vasishtha, Janaka and the Somavaram vow

Vasishtha comes to King Janaka's court, and Janaka asks him why Karthika is praised as the best month. Vasishtha describes the daily discipline of the month: an early bath, worship, reading or hearing the Purana and a lamp in the evening. He then explains the Karthika Monday vow in its forms (a full fast, one meal a day, a meal after dark, eating only what is offered unasked, or simply a bath with prayer for those who cannot fast) and tells of a harsh woman who was reborn as a dog and freed when a kind man gave her the merit of a single Somavaram.

Adhyayas 3 and 4: Tattvanishtha and the three spirits; Prince Shatrujit

A truthful, kind traveller named Tattvanishtha meets three frightening spirits living in a banyan tree on the Godavari bank. Each tells the past life and the wrongs that led to this state, and they are released through the merit of the Karthika bath. Vasishtha then tells of a childless king who keeps the vow and offers lamps on a sage's advice; his son Shatrujit grows up wayward, yet a lamp lit in a ruined Shiva temple on a Karthika Pournami that fell on a Monday changes his fate. The theme is that even a small lamp in Karthika is never wasted.

Adhyayas 5 and 6: The vana bhojanam and Devadatta

Vasishtha praises reading the Purana in the Lord's presence and worship with tulasi, and describes the vana bhojanam: a meal shared in a garden or grove that has an amla (usiri) tree, after worship under the tree. He then tells of Devadatta, a wayward son on the Kaveri bank whose father urges him to bathe at dawn and light a lamp through the month. See our Karthika vana bhojanalu 2026 guide for how families hold the meal today.

Adhyayas 7 and 8: Flowers, lamps and small acts of service

These chapters list offerings for the month: lotus, tulasi, jasmine and bilva for worship, mango-leaf garlands at the shrine, lamps of every kind, prostration, and giving dry clothes to someone who has just bathed in the cold. The message is that simple service, done with devotion, is honoured in Karthika.

Adhyayas 9 and 10: Ajamila

Ajamila, who had fallen into bad ways, calls out the name "Narayana" as he dies. The messengers of Yama come to take him and the messengers of Vishnu stop them, and the two sides argue about sin, duty and the power of the divine name. Adhyaya 10 tells Ajamila's earlier life and why the name changed his course. It is one of the best-known stories of the month.

Adhyayas 11 and 12: Manthara, Dwadashi gifts and Dharmaveera

Adhyaya 11 tells the story of Manthara (not the Ramayana character) and teaches the worth of hearing the Purana in Karthika. Adhyaya 12 describes gifts on Karthika Dwadashi, including the gift of a Salagrama, with the story of Dharmaveera. In 2026, families who follow the tithi read adhyaya 12 on 21 November, the day of Ksheerabdi Dwadashi.

Adhyayas 13 and 14: Suveera and Shrutakirti

King Suveera learns from an ascetic that giving a daughter in marriage freely is a great gift, and that living on a bride price is condemned. Adhyaya 14 turns to King Shrutakirti and to the observances of the vow and the things to avoid during the month. For a practical list today, see our Karthika Masam 2026 rules, food and do's and don'ts.

Adhyayas 15 and 16: The mouse and the lamp; the pillar lamp

An ascetic cleans a neglected Vishnu temple on the Saraswati and lights a lamp. A mouse, drawn to the wick, keeps the flame alive and is freed into a divine form. In adhyaya 16 the sages place a lamp on a wooden post on Karthika Pournami; the post itself is freed, and the being released from it tells of the greed of his past lives. The pillar lamp (stambha deepam) of Pournami comes from this chapter. Read more about lamps on our Akasha Deepam in Karthika Masam page.

Adhyayas 17 and 18: Angirasa's teaching

The freed being asks who the self is, what binds it and what frees it. The sage Angirasa answers with teaching that Shiva once gave Parvati, on the body, the self, karma and knowledge. Adhyaya 18 continues the teaching, calls Karthika the best of sacred times and tells how Narayana and Lakshmi wandered as an elderly couple, noticing who welcomed them.

Adhyayas 19 to 23: Jnanasiddha and King Puranjaya

In adhyaya 19 the ascetic Jnanasiddha praises Vishnu in a long hymn, and Vishnu grants his wish and speaks of the Chaturmasya vow, the four months that end in Karthika. From adhyaya 20 Vasishtha tells of Puranjaya, a king of Ayodhya who grows proud and harsh and is attacked by allied kings. Within this story the sage Atri takes up the telling for the sage Agastya. With the Karthika vow and wise counsel Puranjaya wins the battle, gives up his old ways and keeps the vow every year. Adhyaya 23 dwells on why devotion and the vow are precious in the Kali age.

Adhyayas 24 to 29: Ambarisha and Durvasa

Atri explains the Shukla Dwadashi of Karthika, called Haribodhini, and why the Ekadashi fast should be broken (parana) before Dwadashi ends. The example is King Ambarisha: his guest, the sage Durvasa, is late returning from his bath while Dwadashi is ending. Advised that sipping water both breaks the fast and does not slight the guest, Ambarisha sips water. Durvasa is angered, and Vishnu's Sudarshana chakra pursues him. Durvasa seeks shelter and Vishnu sends him back to Ambarisha, who faces the chakra and asks it to spare his guest. In adhyaya 29 Ambarisha honours Durvasa, who blesses him. For the Ekadashi itself see our Karthika Ekadashi 2026 page.

Adhyaya 30: The closing chapter

The last chapter sums up the vow and gives its phalashruti, the merit tradition says comes to those who keep the month and read or hear the Purana. Telugu Wikisource closes the Skanda Purana part on Karthika Pournami by recalling its main stories: Tattvanishtha, Shatrujit, the vana bhojanam, Devadatta, Ajamila, Manthara, Shrutakirti and Ambarisha. Many families read adhyaya 30 on Karthika Amavasya (8 December in 2026) and end the month with a simple puja.

Karthika Puranam Parayanam at Home: A Simple Daily Routine

• Choose one time: many families read after the morning bath, before sunrise or soon after; many read in the evening after lighting the Karthika lamp. In Hyderabad during the month, sunrise is between about 6:18 AM and 6:34 AM and sunset about 5:40 PM. Keep the same time each day if you can.
• Light a lamp: a small lamp with ghee or sesame oil before your home shrine or tulasi. Never leave a flame unattended, keep it away from curtains, and in apartments abroad keep it clear of smoke detectors.
• Begin simply: sit facing the lamp, remember Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (Damodara) in your own words, and say which adhyaya you are reading today.
• Read or listen: one adhyaya usually takes 15 to 30 minutes aloud. One person can read while the family listens; the text praises listening as much as reading.
• Close: offer a flower or a little prasadam, bow, and say a short prayer. If your family has its own closing shloka, keep it.

A closing prayer (optional): the first verse of the Damodarashtakam

The Damodarashtakam is the hymn to Damodara (Krishna) sung in Karthika, placed in the Padma Purana and traditionally attributed to the sage Satyavrata. The verse below is the first verse of the hymn (verse 5 in the source numbering), copied unchanged from the text published by sanskritdocuments.org:

सत्यव्रत उवाच ।
नमामीश्वरं सच्चिदानन्दरूपं लसत्कुण्डलं गोकुले भ्राजमानम् ।
यशोदाभियोलूखले धावमानं परामृष्टमत्यन्ततो दूतगोप्या ॥ ५॥

satyavrata uvāca |
namāmīśvaraṃ saccidānandarūpaṃ lasatkuṇḍalaṃ gokule bhrājamānam |
yaśodābhiyolūkhale dhāvamānaṃ parāmṛṣṭamatyantato dūtagopyā || 5||

For the full hymn with meaning, see our Damodarashtakam text and meaning. Families whose month centres on Lord Shiva often close by repeating "Om Namah Shivaya" instead; both are in keeping with the month.

What Tradition Says About the Benefits (Phalashruti)

Each chapter of the Karthika Puranam ends by describing the merit of the practice it teaches, and the last chapter gives a phalashruti for the whole month. These are statements of the tradition, meant to encourage devotion. We do not promise any result: the reading is an act of faith, and families keep it for the discipline, the stories and the time spent together before the lamp.

Fasting and Health

Many readers also keep the Somavaram fast or eat one meal a day in Karthika. The text itself offers lighter forms for those who cannot fast. If you are pregnant, elderly, diabetic, on regular medicine or have any health condition, speak to your doctor before fasting, and choose a lighter form such as fruit, one meal, or prayer alone. Children do not need to fast to join the reading. See our Karthika Somavaram upavasam rules for the different kinds of fast.

Karthika Masam 2026: Related Pages

• Karthika Masam 2026: dates, rituals, vrat and festivals (the main Karthika guide)
• Karthika Somavaram 2026 dates in India: 16, 23 and 30 November and 7 December
• Kartik Purnima 2026: date, snan, deep daan and puja vidhi
• Karthika Pournami 2026: Deepotsavam, Jwala Toranam and story
• Akasha Deepam in Karthika Masam 2026
• Karthika Masam 2026 calendar day by day

Sources: dates and tithis from Drik Panchang (Hyderabad), as used on our Karthika calendar, cross-checked with our own astronomical calculation; chapter themes checked against the Telugu text on Telugu Wikisource (21 October 2026); the Damodarashtakam verse from sanskritdocuments.org.

Editor's note (21 October 2026): We rewrote this page on 21 October 2026 as a daily reading guide for Karthika Masam 2026. The earlier version mainly retold the birth of Lord Kartikeya and the defeat of Tarakasura, which come from other Puranas, not the Karthika Puranam, and included several stories we could not trace to the text, along with an unsourced lamp verse. We removed those. The chapter themes are now checked against the Telugu Wikisource text, the dates come from Drik Panchang, and the only verse is copied from a verified source.