Holi 2027
Holi, the festival of colours, is on Monday, 22 March 2027. Holika Dahan, the sacred fire, is the evening before, on Sunday, 21 March 2027, on Phalguna Purnima. Below are the Holika Dahan timings for your city, the Bhadra times that decide them, and what the two days are about.
In 130 days
Holika Dahan 2027: timings for New Delhi
- Holika Dahan:
- Sunday, 21 March 2027
- Pradosh Kaal:
- 6:32 PM to 8:54 PM
- Purnima tithi:
- 6:22 PM on 21 March to 4:14 PM on 22 March
- Bhadra:
- 6:22 PM on 21 March to 5:16 AM on 22 March
- Bhadra punchha:
- 1:27 AM to 2:32 AM
- Bhadra mukha (avoided):
- 2:32 AM to 4:21 AM
- Holi (colours):
- Monday, 22 March 2027
This year Bhadra covers the whole evening. Its mukha, which is never used, comes much later in the night, so Holika Dahan is kept in Pradosh Kaal with Bhadra running. Families who prefer to avoid Bhadra altogether can light the fire after it ends at 5:16 AM and before sunrise at 6:24 AM.
Times are in IST. Panchangs can differ from one another by a minute or two, depending on how they time sunset.
Holika Dahan 2027 timings by city
Pradosh Kaal begins at local sunset, so it moves with the city. Purnima and Bhadra begin and end at the same moment everywhere.
- New Delhi6:32 PM to 8:54 PM
- Mathura6:30 PM to 8:52 PM
- Mumbai6:49 PM to 9:11 PM
- Kolkata5:47 PM to 8:10 PM
- Chennai6:19 PM to 8:42 PM
- Bengaluru6:30 PM to 8:52 PM
- Hyderabad6:26 PM to 8:49 PM
- Ahmedabad6:50 PM to 9:13 PM
- Pune6:45 PM to 9:07 PM
- Jaipur6:37 PM to 9:00 PM
- Lucknow6:17 PM to 8:39 PM
- Patna6:00 PM to 8:22 PM
- Varanasi6:09 PM to 8:31 PM
- Bhopal6:31 PM to 8:53 PM
- Chandigarh6:34 PM to 8:56 PM
- GuwahatiMonday, 22 March, 5:34 PM to 7:56 PM
The story of Holika and Prahlad
The demon king Hiranyakashipu demanded that everyone worship him, but his young son Prahlad stayed devoted to Bhagwan Vishnu. After many attempts on the boy's life failed, the king's sister Holika, who had a boon that fire could not burn her, sat in a blazing pyre with Prahlad in her lap. The boon failed her and she was consumed, while Prahlad, repeating the name of Bhagwan Vishnu, came out unharmed. Soon after, Bhagwan Vishnu appeared as Narasimha and ended Hiranyakashipu's rule.
Holika Dahan remembers that night: the fire burns away what is false and harmful, and devotion comes through. The colours of the next morning belong to Braj, where Bhagwan Krishna played Holi with Radha Rani and the gopis, a tradition still celebrated for days in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Nandgaon.
How Holika Dahan is done
- The pyre is built in the days before, often at a crossroads or open ground shared by the neighbourhood.
- In the muhurat, families offer water, roli, rice, flowers, raw cotton thread, turmeric, moong, coconut and fresh ears of wheat or barley.
- The raw thread (kacha sut) is wound around the pyre while walking round it three or seven times.
- After the fire is lit, the new grain is roasted in it and shared as prasad, and many take a little of the ash home the next morning.
Holashtak and Kharmas
Holashtak is the eight days before Holika Dahan, counted from Phalguna Shukla Ashtami. In 2027 that tithi runs from 10:52 AM on 15 March to 8:55 AM on 16 March. Many families do not hold weddings, griha pravesh or other new beginnings in these days.
In 2027 the Sun also enters Meena on 7:00 AM on 15 March, which begins Kharmas, so the pause in auspicious beginnings carries on after Holi until 3:28 PM on 14 April.
Holi across India
- Braj (Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Nandgaon): Holi is played for days, with Lathmar Holi in Barsana and Nandgaon and flower Holi in Vrindavan's temples.
- Bengal and Odisha: Dol Jatra or Dol Purnima, when Radha and Krishna are taken out on a decorated palki and swung.
- Punjab: Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib, begun by Guru Gobind Singh, the day after Holi.
- Maharashtra and Goa: Shimga, and Rang Panchami on Krishna Panchami a few days after Holi, when colours are played again.
Holi in the coming years
- Holi 2028: Saturday, 11 March 2028 (Holika Dahan on Friday, 10 March)
Questions about Holi 2027
When is Holi in 2027?
Holi, the festival of colours (Dhulandi or Rangwali Holi), is on Monday, 22 March 2027. Holika Dahan is the evening before, Sunday, 21 March 2027.
What is the Holika Dahan muhurat in 2027?
In New Delhi, Pradosh Kaal on Sunday, 21 March runs from 6:32 PM to 8:54 PM. Purnima is running from 6:22 PM on 21 March to 4:14 PM on 22 March. Bhadra runs through the whole evening this year, until 5:16 AM on 22 March; its mukha, which tradition always avoids, falls from 2:32 AM to 4:21 AM, well after the evening.
Why is Holika Dahan done in the evening?
The rule for Holika Dahan is Purnima running in Pradosh, the first part of the night after sunset, and free of Bhadra wherever possible. Bhadra (Vishti karana) is the first half of Purnima; within it, the mukha (its "mouth") is never used, while the punchha (its "tail") may be when there is no other time.
What is Holashtak?
The eight days before Holika Dahan, counted from Phalguna Shukla Ashtami. In 2027 that tithi runs from 10:52 AM on 15 March to 8:55 AM on 16 March. Many families do not hold weddings, griha pravesh or other new beginnings during Holashtak.
Every festival of 2027, with Ekadashi, Purnima and the other vrat days, is on the Hindu calendar 2027.
After Holi: your own year ahead
Holi falls on the same day for everyone. Which months after it are strong for you, and which ask for patience, depends on your birth chart. The complete reading looks at your next twelve months: your dasha periods, the Saturn, Jupiter and Rahu–Ketu transits over your chart and your annual chart, and points out the months to act in.
Start with a question. It gets its own chapter in your report:
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