Sita Navami: 2026 and 2027 dates by city

Vaishakha Shukla Navami: appearance of Sita, midday puja.

Sita Navami, also called Janaki Jayanti, celebrates the appearance of Sita on the ninth day of the bright half of Vaishakha. She is said to have been found by King Janaka in a furrow while he ploughed the earth, so she is the daughter of the earth, honoured for steadfastness, purity and courage.

In some regions, women fast and worship Sita and Rama together at midday, a time associated with her appearance, with flowers, fruit and readings from the Ramayana; customs differ by community. Temples in Sitamarhi, Janakpur and Ayodhya hold special celebrations. Many families also give to the poor and feed girls.

How the date is set

Navami, shukla paksha (waxing Moon), in the month of Vaishakha by the amanta calendar (the month ends at the new moon). It is kept on the day when the tithi holds the madhyahna, the middle fifth of the daytime.

Dates in 2026 and 2027

The local date in each city; under it, the time of the part of the day the rule looks at, in local time.

In 2026 Delhi keeps it on 25 April; a day apart from that: New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago, São Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires.

In 2027 Delhi keeps it on 14 May; a day apart from that: Los Angeles, Chicago, Mexico City.

Smarta rules as published by Drik Panchang. ISKCON and regional calendars can name another day. The time shown is the part of the day the rule looks at, not a muhurat for a particular puja.

How to read the table

Each row is a city from our panchang list, and the date is the local civil date on which Sita Navami is kept there by its rule. Under the date is the time of the part of the day that rule looks at, in the city's own local time: for example the pradosh kala, the evening after sunset, or the nishita around midnight. A time past midnight carries (+1). Where the rule names no part of the day, such as a solar ingress or a festival tied to another festival, only the date is given. The city's name opens its panchang for today.

Why the date can differ between cities

A tithi begins and ends at the same moment everywhere, but sunrise, noon and evening come at different local times. If the tithi ends shortly before the evening in one city and shortly after it in another, the two cities keep the festival on different dates. That is why a single date for the whole world is wrong for some places, and why this page gives the date city by city. The difference is almost always one day.

Which calendar this follows

These are the Smarta dates, by the decision rules of the Dharmasindhu and Nirnayasindhu as Drik Panchang publishes them; every city in the table was compared with Drik Panchang's calendar for that city. ISKCON keeps some days, Janmashtami among them, by the Vaishnava rule, and regional calendars can name another day. If your family or temple follows a particular calendar, follow it.

Questions

See also

• Delhi
• Hindu festivals 2026–2027
• Ganga Saptami
• Narasimha Jayanti

Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-17.