Sharad Purnima: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Sharad Purnima is the full moon of Ashvin, the great full moon of autumn, four to six days after Dussehra. Families stay up under the full moon, sing, and set out a bowl of kheer, rice cooked in milk, in the moonlight, which they share as prasad late at night or the next morning.

Different regions give the night different meanings. In Vraja and in many Vaishnava temples it is the night of Krishna's Rasa dance with the gopis. In Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Mithila it is Kojagari Purnima, when Lakshmi is worshipped at home in the night (Kojagori Lokkhi Puja), and Bengali families keep their own Lakshmi Puja on this full moon rather than at Diwali. Gujarat dances garba once more on Sharad Punam. Maharashtra keeps Kojagiri Purnima with spiced milk set out under the moon and shared. Odisha keeps Kumar Purnima, when unmarried girls fast, worship the moon and play games in its light.

Why it is kept

The Rasa dance. The Vishnu Purana tells that, after the rains, “Krishna, observing the clear sky bright with the autumnal moon, and the air perfumed with the fragrance of the wild water-lily”, began to play his flute, and the gopis of Vraja left their homes to dance with him (H. H. Wilson's translation, book 5, chapter 13). The Bhagavata Purana (book 10, chapters 29 to 33) tells the Rasa Lila at length, and Vaishnava traditions read it as the love between the soul and God. Many temples keep this full moon as the night of the Rasa.

Who is awake? The name Kojagari comes, families explain, from "ko jagarti", "who is awake?". The tradition says that on this night Lakshmi moves through the world asking that question, and blesses the homes where people are awake, the lamps are lit and the house is ready to welcome her. That blessing is the tradition's own word; families keep the night with prayer, games and songs.

The moon of the harvest. Coming at the end of the rains, with the new rice ripening, the autumn full moon is honoured for its light. The kheer set out in the moonlight is offered to the moon and to Lakshmi, and then shared.

The texts behind the story

• Vishnu Purana, book 5, chapter 13 (the Rasa dance on an autumn night). H. H. Wilson (tr.), The Vishnu Purana (London: John Murray, 1840). Wilson died 1860: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (book 5, chapter 13, p. 531)
• Bhagavata Purana, book 10, chapters 29–33 (the Rasa Lila). Summarised in our own words.
• Kojagara on Ashvin Purnima, with the words 'ko jagarti' ("who is awake?") explaining the name, and its other name Kaumudi: P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra, vol. 5, part 1 (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1958), list of vratas. Kane died 1972: cited, not quoted. Lakshmi's night visit is tradition, summarised in our own words. (vol. 5, part 1, pp. 290–291)

When it is kept

Sharad Purnima is Ashvin Purnima, kept on the night on which Purnima is present at moonrise at your location, for the night under the full moon. If Purnima holds moonrise on both days, the first is taken; if on neither, the day whose sunrise has Purnima. The Bengali Kojagari Lakshmi Puja (engine id kojagara-puja) is decided instead by Purnima at nishita, the Hindu midnight, so it can fall on a different day. The app shows the moonrise time.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Sharad Purnima 2027: Sharad Purnima falls on Thursday, October 14, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Ashvin Purnima at moonrise
• Bengali, Odia, Assamese and Maithil: Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, by Purnima at nishita (engine id kojagara-puja)
• Vraja and Vaishnava temples: the Rasa night
• Gujarati: Sharad Punam garba; Marathi: Kojagiri Purnima; Odia: Kumar Purnima

Why the day can differ

Moonrise and midnight are local, so Sharad Purnima and Kojagari Lakshmi Puja can fall on different dates in different cities, and in some years on different days from each other in the same city. Bengali families follow their own panjika for Lakshmi Puja, which can differ by a day.

How to keep it at home

1. In the evening, clean the house and light lamps. Make kheer, and after moonrise, at the time shown in the app, set it out in a clean covered bowl where the moonlight falls, on a balcony, a windowsill or in the garden.
2. Offer water and the kheer to the moon with a prayer, and worship Lakshmi or Krishna as your family does. Many families read or sing about the Rasa, or sing bhajans late into the night.
3. Kojagari Lakshmi Puja (Bengali homes): draw alpana, white rice-paste designs, including small footprints of Lakshmi, from the door to the shrine. Worship Lakshmi at night with flowers, a lamp, fruit and sweets, read the Lakshmi panchali (the vrat katha in verse), and keep awake.
4. Share the kheer as prasad late at night or the next morning. Prayers often said are the 108 names of Lakshmi, the Shri Suktam and Krishna bhajans.

Fasting

Some devotees fast during the day and eat after the night's worship; many Bengali households keep Lakshmi Puja without a strict fast. Anyone unwell should not fast without a doctor's advice. Keep food covered when it is left outside, and do not leave milk dishes out for long in warm weather.

Food

Kheer or doodh-poha (flattened rice in sweetened milk) left in the moonlight. Bengali Lakshmi Puja offerings include narkel naru (coconut sweets), khoi (puffed paddy) and muri (puffed rice), and a bhog of khichuri. Gujarati families eat doodh-poha after the garba.

For children

On the brightest full moon of autumn, Krishna played his flute in the moonlight, and his friends came to dance with him by the river. Some families also say that on this night Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune, walks from house to house asking softly, "Who is awake?" So families stay up a little late, light lamps, sing and share sweet kheer under the moon.

Something to do together

Look at the full moon with a grown-up, find the darker patches on it, and draw what you see. Help set out the bowl of kheer in the moonlight.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules sharad-purnima and kojagara-puja (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each lists.
• H. H. Wilson (tr.), The Vishnu Purana (London, 1840), book 5, chapter 13. Public domain.
• P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra, vol. 5, part 1 (Poona, 1958), pp. 290–291 (Kojagara). Cited, not quoted.

Related guides

• Sharad Navratri and Durga Puja
• Dussehra (Vijayadashami)
• Diwali (Deepavali)