Why 365 Wicks on Karthika Pournami? The Meaning, the Scriptures and When to Light It in 2026

Quick answer: One wick for each day of the year. Karthika is the month of lamps, and a family that could not light a lamp every evening offers all 365 at once on Karthika Pournami, for the blessing of a full year of daily deepam. The Skanda Purana gives Kartika lamps a whole chapter of praise, and even praises helping someone else light their lamp. In 2026, light it on the evening of Tuesday 24 November in India (sunset to 8:23 PM IST). In the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe, the Purnima evening is Monday 23 November.

On Karthika Pournami, Telugu homes and Shiva temples glow with one unusually bright lamp: a bundle of 365 cotton wicks soaked in ghee. Most families know it stands for the year. Fewer know why a lunar festival counts the days of the solar year, what the Rig Veda's 360-spoked wheel has to do with it, or what the Skanda Purana says about helping others light their lamps. This guide covers all three, with 2026 lighting times for India and abroad. For the full samagri and step-by-step method, see our 365 vattula deepam guide.

When to light the 365-wick lamp in 2026

Light the lamp after sunset while Purnima tithi is running. Purnima runs from 11:42 PM IST on Monday 23 November to 8:23 PM IST on Tuesday 24 November, so the right evening depends on where you live.

In North America, the UK and Europe, Purnima ends before sunset on Tuesday, which is why the Purnima evening falls on Monday 23 November there. Tuesday is still the festival day in many temple calendars, so many families light a lamp on both evenings; our Karthika Pournami 2026 UK guide explains the choice.

Purnima times are from Drik Panchang, as in our day-by-day Karthika calendar; sunset times are calculated for each city and may differ by a minute or two from your local panchang. For more Indian cities, see our city-wise Pournami timings.

Why 365 wicks? The meaning behind the number

The simple answer is one wick for each day of the year. Karthika asks for a lamp every evening, but few households manage all twelve months, so the 365-wick lamp gathers the year's lamps into one offering: a lamp lit on Karthika Pournami is treated as if lamps had been lit through the whole year.

A lunar festival that counts the solar year

Here is the puzzle. The Telugu calendar is lunar, and twelve lunar months add up to only about 354 days. The 365 follows the solar year instead. The lunar calendar keeps pace with the sun by adding an extra month every few years, and 2026 had one: that adhika masa is why Karthika falls nearly three weeks later this year than in 2025.

360, 365 or 720?

Some families use 360 or 720 wicks instead, the 720 standing for the days and nights of a 360-day year. Those numbers are far older than the festival. The Rig Veda's riddle hymn describes the year as a wheel:

द्वादश प्रधयश्चक्रमेकं त्रीणि नभ्यानि क उ तच्चिकेत । तस्मिन्त्साकं त्रिशता न शङ्कवोऽर्पिताः षष्टिर्न चलाचलासः ॥

dvādaśa pradhayaś cakram ekaṃ trīṇi nabhyāni ka u tac ciketa | tasmin sākaṃ triśatā na śaṅkavo 'rpitāḥ ṣaṣṭir na calācalāsaḥ ||

ద్వాదశ ప్రధయశ్చక్రమేకం త్రీణి నభ్యాని క ఉ తచ్చికేత । తస్మిన్త్సాకం త్రిశతా న శంకవోఽర్పితాః షష్టిర్న చలాచలాసః ॥

"Twelve are the fellies, and the wheel is single; three are the naves. What man hath understood it? Therein are set together spokes three hundred and sixty, which in nowise can be loosened." (Rig Veda 1.164.48, tr. Griffith)

The medieval commentator Sayana reads the wheel as the year of twelve months and its 360 spokes as the days. Earlier in the same hymn (1.164.11), the twelve-spoked wheel carries "seven hundred and twenty sons" in pairs, which Sayana explains as the days and nights.

Whether a family uses 360, 365 or 720 wicks, the lamp says the same thing: every day of the turning year is offered back as light.

Why lamps matter in Karthika: what the Puranas say

The Kartika Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana gives a whole chapter to the special merit of offering lamps in Kartika (chapter 7 in G. V. Tagare's English translation). Its stories make one point again and again: a lamp offered in Kartika outweighs the past of the person who offers it. Among them are a woman whose life had gone astray until a sage urged her to keep the Kartika bath and lamp vow, and a mouse that brightened a lamp and was freed.

The chapter also has a line for anyone who cannot light many lamps: brighten other people's lamps. Giving wicks, oil or vessels, or simply helping others light theirs, is praised alongside lighting your own. Buying 365 wicks for an elderly neighbour, or ghee for your temple's deepotsavam, is part of the same vow.

Many families recite this verse as they light the lamp:

दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

dīpajyotiḥ parabrahma dīpajyotir janārdanaḥ | dīpo haratu me pāpaṃ dīpajyotir namo 'stu te ||

దీపజ్యోతిః పరబ్రహ్మ దీపజ్యోతిర్జనార్దనః । దీపో హరతు మే పాపం దీపజ్యోతిర్నమోఽస్తు తే ॥

"The lamp's light is the Supreme Brahman; the lamp's light is Janardana. May the lamp take away my sins. Salutations to you, light of the lamp."

How to light the 365-wick lamp: a short vidhi

1. Fast if you can. Many families fast through Pournami and break it only after lighting the lamp and seeing the full moon.
2. Prepare the bundle. Soak the 365 wicks in ghee or sesame oil in a wide lamp set on a metal tray.
3. Light inside your window. After sunset, within the Purnima window in the table above, light your daily lamp first and light the bundle from it.
4. Offer and pray. Offer flowers, turmeric and kumkum, and recite the deepa verse, Om Namah Shivaya or Om Namo Narayanaya.
5. Place it with care at the tulasi kota, the home altar or the entrance, or take it to a Shiva temple that allows it.
6. Let it burn down. Stay with the lamp. If you need to put it out, cover it with a metal plate rather than blowing on it.

For the complete method, see the 365 vattula deepam guide.

Ghee or oil? Lamp and wick choices

Some families and temples light 365 small diyas instead of one bundle; the meaning is the same.

Fire safety for a 365-wick lamp

A 365-wick bundle burns as one large flame, far bigger and hotter than a diya, and the pool of ghee under it can catch fire.

• Base: a heavy brass or steel lamp on a metal tray, on stone or tile; never a wooden altar, cloth or plastic.
• Clearance: keep at least a metre from curtains, shelves, paper and decorations; tie back long hair and dupattas.
• Children and pets: keep them at arm's length, and never leave the lamp alone.
• If it flares: smother it with a metal lid or plate, or use sand. Never throw water on burning ghee or oil; it spreads the fire.
• Apartments abroad: check your building's rules, keep a window slightly open and keep the flame away from smoke alarms rather than disabling them. See our Karthika deepam safety guide for apartments.

Other lamp traditions on Karthika Pournami

• Jwala Thoranam: Shiva temples across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana light a blazing arch on Pournami night; see Karthika Pournami 2026.
• Lamps on water: families float lamps in banana-leaf cups on rivers and ponds; use leaf cups and natural oil, never plastic or foil.
• Dev Deepawali, Varanasi: the Ganga ghats glow with lamps on the same full moon.
• Karthigai Deepam: in 2026 the Tamil Karthigai Deepam falls on Tuesday 24 November in India, with Krittika nakshatra until 11:25 PM IST, so Tamil and Telugu homes light their lamps together; see Karthigai Deepam 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Why do we light 365 wicks on Karthika Pournami?

One wick stands for each day of the year. A lamp every evening is the ideal of Karthika, and the 365-wick lamp offers all of the year's lamps at once.

When should I light the 365-wick lamp in 2026?

After sunset while Purnima is running. In India that is Tuesday 24 November, from sunset to 8:23 PM IST; in the UAE until about 6:53 PM; in Singapore until about 10:53 PM; and in Australia any time that evening. In the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe, the Purnima evening is Monday 23 November.

Is Karthika Pournami on 23 or 24 November in the USA?

Purnima ends on Tuesday morning in the US, so the Purnima evening is Monday 23 November. Many families light the lamp on Monday evening and join temple programmes on Tuesday.

Should I use ghee or oil for the 365 wicks?

Cow ghee is the first choice in many Telugu homes, and sesame oil is the traditional alternative; use about 200 to 300 ml.

Why do some people use 360 or 720 wicks?

Older reckonings count a 360-day year, and 720 stands for its days and nights, echoing the Rig Veda's year-wheel.

What if I cannot light 365 wicks?

Light the lamp you can. The Skanda Purana praises giving wicks, oil or vessels, or helping others light their lamps.

Should I blow out the 365-wick lamp?

Tradition says not to blow out a lamp. Let it burn down, or cover it with a metal plate. Never pour water on burning ghee or oil.

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• Karthika Pournami 2026 Purnima time, city-wise
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