India GOKartik month: a lamp for Damodara every evening
A month of evening lamps for Damodara
Kartik is the lunar month that follows the autumn full moon, and for Vaishnavas it is the dearest month of the year: every evening a small ghee lamp is offered to Damodara, the child Krishna, while a hymn is sung. In 2026 it runs from 27 October to Kartik Purnima on 24 November; in 2027 from 16 October to 14 November. It is a period rather than a date, so any evening of the month puts you inside it.
The most beloved month of the Vaishnava year: a lamp offered every evening for a whole lunar month
The lunar month of Kartik in the north Indian reckoning, from the day after Sharad Purnima to Kartik Purnima; almanacs list it years ahead.
The legend
In the Bhagavata Purana, Yashoda leaves little Krishna to take the milk off the fire.
The cross little boy smashes the yogurt pot with a stone and hands out butter to the monkeys.
Yashoda tries to tie him to a mortar, but the rope always falls two fingers short, however many ropes she knots together.
Seeing how tired she is, Krishna lets himself be tied: hence his name Damodara, "bound round the belly".
In the Vaishnava calendar, Kartika is simply called the month of Damodara.
Meaning
Vrindavan
At the Radha Damodar temple, founded in 1542, Krishna is worshipped as Damodara, and all month pilgrims walk the circuit round the town.
Pandharpur
On Kartiki Ekadashi the Varkari pilgrims pour into Vithoba's temple, and the festivities run five days, to the full moon.
Jains
Jain monks stay in one place through the rains so as not to harm living things, and in Kartika they take to the road again.
Customs
A lamp for Damodara
Every evening of the month a ghee lamp is offered to Damodara as the Damodarashtakam, a hymn from the Padma Purana, is sung.
💍 Tulsi's wedding
Between the ekadashi and the full moon, the tulsi plant is "married" to Vishnu, with a wedding canopy, a sari, a feast and the guests' applause.
🎋 First sugarcane
The sugarcane harvest starts at the ekadashi: the farmer gives the first canes to the priest, the blacksmith, the carpenter, the washerman and the water-carrier.
Words of the festival
कार्तिक
Kartika
the month is named after Krittika, the Pleiades, beside which its full moon stands
प्रबोधिनी एकादशी
Prabodhini Ekadashi
"the awakening eleventh": the day Vishnu is believed to wake
शालिग्राम शिला
shaligram
a black ammonite stone from Nepal's Gandaki river, a form of Vishnu
दीपदान
deepdan
the gift of a lamp, lit in praise of a god or a river
True or myth
✅ True. In the Bhagavata Purana he drags the mortar between two arjuna trees, and out step Kubera's sons, turned into trees by the sage Narada.
✅ True. The couple bears the cost and stands in the ritual as the parents of the tulsi bride.
❌ Myth. For the four months Vishnu is believed to sleep there are no weddings; the wedding season opens in Kartika, when he wakes.
Where to celebrate
Why Kartik is the month of Damodara
The name comes from a story in the Bhagavata Purana. Yashoda leaves little Krishna to take the milk off the fire; the cross boy smashes the yogurt pot with a stone and hands out butter to the monkeys. She tries to tie him to a mortar, but the rope always falls two fingers short, however many ropes she knots together. Seeing how tired she is, Krishna lets himself be tied: hence Damodara, "bound round the belly". In the Vaishnava calendar Kartik is simply called the month of Damodara.
The practice is the Damodara-vrata (vow): each evening a lamp is offered while the Damodarashtakam, a hymn from the Padma Purana, is sung. A lamp offered in praise of a god or a river is called deepdan. In temple towns this turns the month into one long, quiet festival: rows of small flames in courtyards at dusk, the smell of warm ghee, and singing that carries from one temple to the next.
The month is named after Krittika, the Pleiades, beside which its full moon stands. It also matters beyond Vaishnavism: on Prabodhini Ekadashi ("the awakening eleventh") Vishnu is believed to wake from four months of sleep, the wedding season opens, the tulsi plant is ritually "married" to Vishnu, and Jain monks, who stay in one place through the rains, take to the road again.
Where to keep Kartik: Vrindavan
Vrindavan lives the month in two rhythms. Before dawn pilgrims walk the parikrama (circuit) path, about 10 km around the old town, most crowded on Ekadashi days. At dusk the lamps are lit.
- ISKCON Krishna-Balaram temple, Raman Reti: the evening lamp offering to Damodara every night of the month, the Damodarashtakam sung and the courtyard full of small flames. Anyone can join; shoes off at the entrance.
- Radha Damodar temple: the temple of Damodara himself, founded by Jiva Goswami in 1542, in the old town by Seva Kunj.
- Keshi Ghat: the evening Yamuna aarti, with lamps floated on the river, right on the parikrama path.
Stay close to the parikrama path so the dawn walk starts at your door: Raman Reti around ISKCON is quieter, the lanes around Loi Bazaar are closer to Radha Damodar and Keshi Ghat. Day-by-day plan: [Kartik in Vrindavan](/en/festivals/kartik-month/vrindavan/).
Mayapur in West Bengal keeps the month as fully, with the evening offering at the ISKCON temple every day.
✅ How to take part
Kartik asks little of a visitor except presence at the right hour.
- Dusk is the hour — The lamp offering happens every evening; arrive a little before sunset to find a place in the courtyard.
- Offer a lamp — At the ISKCON temple visitors are welcome to offer a lamp themselves while the hymn is sung.
- Walk the parikrama early — Go before dawn and walk with the pilgrims; Ekadashi mornings are the most crowded.
- Choose your week — The fullest days are Diwali week, with Govardhan Puja just after it, and the last days before Kartik Purnima, the single busiest night.
👣 Booking ahead
Kartik is the peak pilgrimage month in Braj, and room prices are reported to double.
- Rooms
About two months ahead; the Diwali week and weekends fill first.
- Trains
Book to Mathura the day the 60-day window opens: Diwali week also meets the national Diwali and Chhath rush.
- Nights
Two nights give you one dawn walk and one evening of lamps; four let the rhythm settle.
❓ FAQ
When is Kartik month in 2026?
From 27 October to Kartik Purnima on 24 November 2026, in the north Indian reckoning. In 2027 it runs from 16 October to 14 November.
Which month is Kartik in English?
It is a lunar month, so it does not match one calendar month: it usually runs from early or mid-October to mid-November, from the day after Sharad Purnima to Kartik Purnima.
Which god is Kartik month dedicated to?
For Vaishnavas, to Krishna as Damodara, the child bound by Yashoda's rope. The month also marks Vishnu's waking on Prabodhini Ekadashi.
What do people do in Kartik month?
Offer a ghee lamp every evening while the Damodarashtakam is sung, walk the parikrama at dawn in Vrindavan, and float lamps on the river. Many also keep the tulsi wedding between the ekadashi and the full moon.
Is Kartik month a good time to visit Vrindavan?
It is the town at its fullest and most beautiful, and also at its busiest and most expensive. Book about two months ahead.