Gita Jayanti 2026
गीता जयंतीSunday 20 December 2026 · in 50 days
Gita Jayanti marks the day Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna at Kurukshetra. It is kept with recitation, reflection and, for many, the Ekadashi fast.
Pujas for Gita Jayanti, in order
Other mantras for the day
- क्लीं कृष्णाय गोविन्दाय गोपीजनवल्लभाय स्वाहा kleem krishnaya govindaya gopijanavallabhaya svaha
Gita Jayanti 2026: date and timings
- Date
- Sunday 20 December 2026
- Tithi
- Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi
- Ekadashi begins
- 10:10 PM, 19 December
- Ekadashi ends
- 8:15 PM, 20 December
- Sunrise
- 7:08 AM
- Sunset
- 5:28 PM
Times for New Delhi (IST). Use the city button above for your own city.
Other years
Gita Jayanti 2027: date and timings
- Date
- Thursday 9 December 2027
- Tithi
- Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi
- Ekadashi begins
- 3:00 AM, 9 December
- Ekadashi ends
- 3:21 AM, 10 December
- Sunrise
- 7:01 AM
- Sunset
- 5:24 PM
How to observe
- Light a lamp and offer flowers and tulsi before an image of Krishna.
- Read or listen to the Bhagavad Gita, the whole of it or a few chapters.
- Recite together with family or join a group recitation at a temple.
- Spend a quiet moment with one verse and what it means for your own life.
- Keep the Ekadashi fast if you observe it, as your family does.
For your chart
Add your birth details to see whether Gita Jayanti lines up with your birth nakshatra or tithi.
Coming up after Gita Jayanti
About Gita Jayanti
Gita Jayanti falls on Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi, the same day as Mokshada Ekadashi, so many people keep the Ekadashi fast and the day of the Bhagavad Gita together. It is one of the few festivals that celebrates not a birth or a victory but a conversation.
On the field of Kurukshetra, as two armies stood ready, Arjuna looked across and saw his own teachers, elders and cousins on the other side. Overcome with grief and doubt, he put down his bow. Krishna, his friend and charioteer, answered him there, between the armies. He spoke of doing one's duty without clinging to its results, of a steady mind in joy and sorrow, of devotion, and of the self that does not perish. These teachings, gathered in seven hundred verses and eighteen chapters, are the Bhagavad Gita, and the day is remembered as the day they were first spoken.
Kurukshetra in Haryana marks the day with the Gita Mahotsav, a festival of recitation, aarti at Brahma Sarovar, cultural programmes and a fair that runs over many days. Krishna temples and ashrams across India hold continuous readings of all eighteen chapters, and many schools and families recite chosen chapters together.
At home the day is kept simply: a lamp and flowers before Krishna, reading or listening to the Gita, alone or with family, and a quiet time to reflect on a verse that speaks to one's own life. Many also keep the Ekadashi fast, taking fruit and milk or a single meal without grain. When Ekadashi touches two sunrises, families may keep the fast on different days according to their tradition, while the recitation is held on the Ekadashi shown above for your place.