Paryushan 2027 runs Saturday 28 August to Saturday 4 September for Shvetambara Jains, with Samvatsari on Saturday 4 September 2027 (Sunday 5 September for sanghs that keep Shukla 5). Digambara Das Lakshana runs Sunday 5 to Tuesday 14 September 2027, and Kshamavani follows on Thursday 16 September. Every year to 2030 is in the table further down.
This year’s dates, for reference:
Paryushan 2026 ran from Tuesday 8 September to Tuesday 15 September for Shvetambara Jains, with Samvatsari on Tuesday 15 September 2026. Digambara Das Lakshana runs Wednesday 16 September to Friday 25 September 2026, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi, and Kshamavani follows on Sunday 27 September 2026.
| Tradition | Starts | Ends / Samvatsari | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shwetambar (most Murtipujak) | Tue 8 September | Samvatsari: Tue 15 September | 8 |
| Sthanakvasi / Terapanth | Tue 8 September† | Samvatsari: Wed 16 September | 8† |
| Digambar (Das Lakshana) | Wed 16 September | Ananta Chaturdashi: Fri 25 September | 10 |
| Digambar (Kshamavani) | Single day | Sun 27 September | 1 |
†This site has independently verified the Sthanakvasi/Terapanth Samvatsari date (Bhadrapada Shukla 5, Wednesday 16 September) but not a separately confirmed start date for that reckoning. Confirm the opening day with your own sangh before we would print one as fact.
These are computed from the tithi running at sunrise. Confirm against your own sangh's published panchang before fixing vows or travel, because traditions differ on which civil day a tithi is observed. See the note on kshaya and vriddhi at the foot of this page.
Related dates: Samvatsari · Das Lakshana · Kshamavani · Michhami Dukkadam · full 2026 Jain calendar.
Paryushana is the most important observance in the Jain year. Not a celebration in the ordinary sense: a period of deliberate withdrawal, fasting, scriptural reading and, at the end, the annual asking of forgiveness that closes the year’s accounts with every living being.
The dates move each year because they are set by the lunar calendar, not the civil one. Here they are for 2026.
The two observances are not the same festival
People often assume Shvetambara and Digambara Jains keep the same festival on slightly different days. They do not. They keep two related but distinct observances, of different lengths, that happen to sit back to back.
| Shvetambara Paryushan | Digambara Das Lakshana | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 8 days | 10 days |
| 2026 dates | 8 to 15 September | 16 to 25 September |
| Begins | Bhadrapada Krishna 12 | Bhadrapada Shukla 5 |
| Ends | Bhadrapada Shukla 4 (Samvatsari) | Bhadrapada Shukla 14 (Ananta Chaturdashi) |
| Central text | Kalpasutra, read across the 8 days | The ten dharmas, one contemplated per day |
| Closing rite | Samvatsari Pratikraman | Kshamavani, the following Ashvina Krishna 1 |
| Forgiveness said | Michhami Dukkadam | Uttam Kshama and Michhami Dukkadam |
Note what follows from the table: in 2026 the Digambara observance begins the day after the Shvetambara one ends. The two run consecutively, 8 to 25 September, so the whole span is a season of restraint rather than a single week.
Why the date moves
Paryushana is fixed to Bhadrapada, a lunar month, and to particular tithis within it. A lunar month is about 29.53 days, so twelve of them fall roughly eleven days short of a solar year. The festival therefore drifts earlier against the Gregorian calendar until an extra month (adhika masa) is inserted to pull it back.
There is a subtlety here that trips up a lot of published date tables. The lunar month is named for the sidereal sign the Sun occupied at the new moon that began it, not the sign the Sun is in on the day you are looking at. Over one lunation the Sun advances about 29 degrees, so it usually crosses a sign boundary partway through the month. Read the Sun’s position on the wrong day and you will name the month wrongly for most of the dark fortnight.
That is exactly why 20 September 2026 is still Bhadrapada Shukla 9, even though the Sun has moved into Virgo by then.
Paryushan dates 2026 to 2030
Every date below is computed, not copied. The method is the one described above: the tithi running at local sunrise names the day, the lunar month is anchored on the new moon that began it, Samvatsari is Bhadrapada Shukla 4, Paryushan is the eight days ending on it, and Das Lakshana runs Shukla 5 to Shukla 14. Sunrise is taken at Ahmedabad.
| Year | Paryushan (Shvetambara) | Samvatsari | Das Lakshana (Digambara) | Kshamavani |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Tue 8 to Tue 15 Sep | Tue 15 Sep · Shukla 5: Wed 16 Sep | Wed 16 to Fri 25 Sep | Sun 27 Sep |
| 2027 | Sat 28 Aug to Sat 4 Sep | Sat 4 Sep · Shukla 5: Sun 5 Sep | Sun 5 to Tue 14 Sep | Thu 16 Sep |
| 2028 | Wed 16 to Wed 23 Aug | Wed 23 Aug · Shukla 5: Thu 24 Aug | Thu 24 Aug to Sat 2 Sep | Mon 4 or Tue 5 Sep |
| 2029 | Tue 4 to Tue 11 Sep | Tue 11 Sep · Shukla 5: Wed 12 Sep | Wed 12 to Fri 21 Sep | Sun 23 Sep |
| 2030 | Sun 25 Aug to Sun 1 Sep | Sun 1 Sep · Shukla 5: Mon 2 Sep | Mon 2 to Tue 10 Sep | Thu 12 Sep |
Three of those rows need a footnote, and the footnotes are the interesting part.
- 2028 and 2029 both lose Shukla 3. The tithi begins and ends between two sunrises, so no civil day carries it. Samvatsari still lands on Shukla 4, but the bright fortnight is a day shorter than the arithmetic suggests.
- Kshamavani 2028 is genuinely undecided here. Krishna 1 runs across two sunrises that year, 4 and 5 September, which is a vriddhi. Different sanghs resolve a doubled tithi differently and we are not going to pick for them. Take it from your own panchang.
- Das Lakshana 2030 occupies nine civil days, not ten. Shukla 13 is lost that year, so the ten dharmas run 2 to 10 September. The observance is still ten tithis; it is the calendar that is short.
Confirm before you commit to anything
These are astronomical tithis at sunrise. Sects and gacchas differ on which civil day a tithi is observed, particularly where one is lost or doubled, and Shvetambara and Digambara calendars resolve those cases by different rules. Outside India the local sunrise can move a date by a full day. Before fixing a vow, booking leave or buying a ticket, check the published panchang of your own sangh. Where the traditions differ, none of them is wrong.
The ten dharmas of Das Lakshana
The Digambara observance contemplates one virtue per day. These are the das lakshana, the ten characteristics of dharma, and they are the reason the festival carries that name.
| Day | Date 2026 | Virtue | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wed 16 Sep | Uttam Kshama | Supreme forgiveness |
| 2 | Thu 17 Sep | Uttam Mardava | Humility, the absence of pride |
| 3 | Fri 18 Sep | Uttam Arjava | Straightforwardness, no crookedness of speech or act |
| 4 | Sat 19 Sep | Uttam Shaucha | Purity, freedom from greed |
| 5 | Sun 20 Sep | Uttam Satya | Truth |
| 6 | Mon 21 Sep | Uttam Samyam | Restraint of the senses |
| 7 | Tue 22 Sep | Uttam Tapa | Austerity |
| 8 | Wed 23 Sep | Uttam Tyaga | Renunciation, giving |
| 9 | Thu 24 Sep | Uttam Akinchanya | Non-possession, owning nothing inwardly |
| 10 | Fri 25 Sep | Uttam Brahmacharya | Chastity, dwelling in the self |
Kshama comes first, and that ordering is doctrinal rather than accidental. Forgiveness is treated as the gateway: without it the other nine cannot be practised honestly, because a mind holding a grievance is not actually restrained, humble or truthful.
What is actually observed
Fasting, by degree
Jain fasting is graded, and the vocabulary matters because people commit to a specific level, not to “fasting” in general.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Navkarsi | First food only 48 minutes after sunrise |
| Porsi | Nothing until one prahar (a quarter of daylight) after sunrise |
| Biyasana | Eating on two occasions in the day |
| Ekasana | Eating once, seated, in a single sitting |
| Ayambil | One bland meal, no salt, oil, sugar, milk or vegetables |
| Upvas | A full day without food; water usually permitted (tivihar) |
| Chauvihar | Neither food nor water after sunset |
| Attham | Three consecutive days of upvas |
| Atthai | Eight consecutive days of upvas, the classic Paryushan vow |
| Maskhaman | Thirty consecutive days |
Our Jain Panchang computes navkarsi, porsi, purimuddha and chauvihar times from the sunrise and sunset at your own city, which matters if you are keeping these vows outside India.
The Kalpasutra
Across the eight Shvetambara days the Kalpasutra is read aloud. It narrates the lives of the Tirthankaras, with the life of Mahavira at its centre, and on the fifth day the account of his birth is read, which is the emotional high point of the week for most sanghs.
Pratikraman
Pratikraman means turning back. It is a structured review of one’s conduct against the vows, performed daily by the observant, fortnightly on Chaudas, and annually on Samvatsari. The annual one, Samvatsari Pratikraman, is the longest and the one nearly every lay Jain attends.
Samvatsari: 15 September 2026
Samvatsari closes the Shvetambara observance and is the single most important day in the Jain year. Whatever has accumulated in twelve months of ordinary living, resentment, carelessness, injury done knowingly or not, is brought forward, examined, and released.
Then comes the sentence that everyone knows: Michhami Dukkadam. It is not “sorry”, and the difference matters. We have written that up in full on its own page.
Michhami Dukkadam: what the words actually mean
The Prakrit, the etymology, the full Khamemi Savve Jiva verse, who you say it to, and why treating it as an apology gets it backwards.
A note worth stating plainly: not all Shvetambara Jains keep Samvatsari on the same day. Most Murtipujak sanghs observe it on Bhadrapada Shukla 4, which is 15 September 2026. Many Sthanakvasi and Terapanth sanghs observe it on Shukla 5, which is 16 September 2026. Neither is a mistake. The difference is old, deliberate, and recorded.
The sky during Paryushana
Since this is an astrology site, the honest observation: Paryushana is not timed astrologically. It is timed by tithi within Bhadrapada, which is a calendrical rule, not an elective one. No one selected these dates for a favourable configuration.
What the classical framework does say is that the parva tithis falling inside the period, Bij, Pancham, Aatham, Agiyaras and Chaudas, are days when restraint is traditionally intensified. In 2026 the Shvetambara span contains Chaudas (10 September) and Amas (11 September) back to back, then runs through Bij, Tij and Choth.
This fits the Jain reading of planetary positions generally. The grahas indicate the karmic weather; they do not cause it, and no configuration compels anyone to do anything. A day is auspicious because of what you do on it. Paryushana is the clearest demonstration of that principle in the entire calendar: an ordinary run of lunar days made significant purely by collective intention.
You can see the live positions for any day of the period on the Jain Panchang, which also flags any kalyanaka falling on that tithi.
Practical notes
- Working around it. Samvatsari falls on a Tuesday in 2026. If you intend to keep Samvatsari Pratikraman, block the afternoon and evening; it runs long.
- The diaspora problem. Tithis are computed from local sunrise, so the civil day can differ by one between India and North America. Your local sangh’s calendar governs. Our panchang lets you set your city and see the times that actually apply to you.
- Atthai. Eight days of upvas is a serious undertaking. It is begun under guidance, not decided alone.
- Children. Most sanghs encourage graded participation rather than full fasting, and there is no doctrinal merit in pushing a child beyond capacity. Restraint that produces resentment is not restraint.
On tithi differences between traditions
Where a tithi is skipped (kshaya) or repeated (vriddhi), Shvetambara and Digambara calendars, and gacchas within each, resolve it differently. This page computes the astronomical tithi at sunrise. For vrat, pratikraman and festival observance, follow the published panchang of your own sangh. Where traditions differ, none of them is wrong.
Frequently asked questions
↳ When is Paryushan 2026?
Shvetambara Paryushan runs from Tuesday 8 September to Tuesday 15 September 2026, eight days ending on Samvatsari. Digambara Das Lakshana is a separate ten-day observance running Wednesday 16 September to Friday 25 September 2026. The two run back to back, so the whole season of restraint spans 8 to 25 September. The dates are set by tithi within the lunar month Bhadrapada, which is why they move every year.
↳ What date is Samvatsari 2026?
Tuesday 15 September 2026 for most Shvetambara Murtipujak sanghs, who keep Samvatsari on Bhadrapada Shukla 4. Many Sthanakvasi and Terapanth sanghs keep it on Shukla 5, which is Wednesday 16 September 2026. Neither is a mistake; the difference is old, deliberate and recorded. Samvatsari Pratikraman runs long, so block the afternoon and evening if you intend to attend.
↳ How many days is Paryushan?
Shvetambara Paryushan is eight days, beginning on Bhadrapada Krishna 12 and ending on Samvatsari. Digambara Das Lakshana is ten days, beginning on Bhadrapada Shukla 5 and ending on Ananta Chaturdashi. They differ in length because they are two distinct observances, not one festival counted two ways. Where you see Paryushan described as ten days, it is the Digambara Das Lakshana Parva being described.
↳ What is the difference between Paryushan and Das Lakshana?
They are related but distinct. Shvetambara Paryushan lasts eight days, centres on the reading of the Kalpasutra, and closes with Samvatsari Pratikraman. Digambara Das Lakshana lasts ten days, contemplates one of the ten dharmas each day starting with Uttam Kshama, and closes on Ananta Chaturdashi, with forgiveness formally exchanged at Kshamavani afterwards. In 2026 the Digambara observance begins the day after the Shvetambara one ends.
↳ When is Kshamavani 2026?
Sunday 27 September 2026. Kshamavani Parva is the Digambara day of forgiveness, kept on Ashvina Krishna 1, the day after the full moon that follows Das Lakshana. It is not the same day as Ananta Chaturdashi, which ends Das Lakshana on Friday 25 September 2026. Published calendars often merge the two; they are two days apart.
↳ Can you drink water during upvas?
Usually yes. The common form of upvas is tivihar, a full day without food in which boiled water is permitted, generally between sunrise and sunset. Chauvihar is the stricter form and allows neither food nor water after sunset. Which level you are keeping is a specific vow rather than a detail, so take it under guidance from your own sangh rather than deciding alone.
↳ What are the Sthanakvasi and Terapanth Paryushan 2026 dates?
Many Sthanakvasi and Terapanth sanghs keep Samvatsari on Bhadrapada Shukla 5, which is Wednesday 16 September 2026, one day after the Shukla 4 date most Murtipujak sanghs keep. This site has verified that closing date; it has not independently verified a separate opening date for the Shukla-5 reckoning, so it is not printed here. Confirm the start of your sangh's Paryushan with them directly.
↳ What are the Shwetambar and Digambar Paryushan 2026 dates?
Shwetambar (Shvetambara) Paryushan runs Tuesday 8 to Tuesday 15 September 2026, eight days ending on Samvatsari. Digambar Jains keep a separate ten-day observance, Das Lakshana, from Wednesday 16 to Friday 25 September 2026, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi. They are not the same festival on different days; they are two distinct observances that happen to sit back to back in 2026.
↳ What is the last day of Paryushan 2026?
For Shvetambara Paryushan, the last day is Samvatsari: Tuesday 15 September 2026 for most Murtipujak sanghs, or Wednesday 16 September for many Sthanakvasi and Terapanth sanghs. If you mean the whole back-to-back season through the Digambara observance, the final day is Ananta Chaturdashi, Friday 25 September 2026, when Das Lakshana ends. Kshamavani, two days after that, is a separate closing day again.
↳ What does "Paryushan 2026 date and time" mean?
Jain dates are tithis, not clock times. A tithi is the period the moon takes to gain twelve degrees on the sun, and it runs between roughly nineteen and twenty-six hours, so it starts and ends at an odd hour rather than at midnight. By convention almost every Indian calendar follows, the tithi running at a place's sunrise names that whole civil day. So Paryushan "starting" on 8 September 2026 means Bhadrapada Krishna 12 is the tithi at sunrise that morning; the day, not a clock time, is what governs observance.
↳ When is Paryushan 2027 and 2028?
In 2027, Shvetambara Paryushan runs Saturday 28 August to Saturday 4 September, with Samvatsari on 4 September (Shukla 5: 5 September), and Digambara Das Lakshana runs 5 to 14 September. In 2028, Paryushan runs Wednesday 16 to Wednesday 23 August, with Samvatsari on 23 August (Shukla 5: 24 August), and Das Lakshana runs 24 August to 2 September; that year also loses Bhadrapada Shukla 3, so the bright fortnight is a day shorter than the arithmetic suggests. Full working and the 2029 and 2030 rows are in the table above.
Sources. The shape of the festival follows standard Shvetambara and Digambara practice: Paryushan as the eight days ending on Samvatsari, Bhadrapada Shukla 4, and Das Lakshana from Shukla 5 to Shukla 14, with the ten dharmas in the enumeration of chapter nine of the Tattvartha Sutra. Civil dates for 2026 to 2030 are computed, not copied: the tithi running at local sunrise names the day, sunrise is taken at Ahmedabad, and each lunar month is anchored on the new moon that began it. Communities that keep Samvatsari on Shukla 5, and gacchas that resolve a lost or doubled tithi by a different rule, will differ by a day; the published panchang of your own sangh decides.