Bengali Calendar November 2026 is the second-busiest festival month in West Bengal after October’s Durga Puja. Kali Puja coincides with Diwali on 8 November (Sunday), followed by an extended holiday run through Bhai Phonta on 11 November (Wednesday). Chhath Puja falls on 15 November (Sunday), Jagaddhatri Puja lights up Chandannagar on 18 November (Wednesday), and the month closes with Rash Yatra and Guru Nanak Jayanti sharing 24 November (Tuesday). West Bengal’s official holiday list adds several extra days around Kali Puja and Chhath Puja, creating unusually long breaks this year. The full day-by-day table is below.
For households across West Bengal, November is a month worth planning leave around well in advance. This Bengali Calendar November 2026 guide lays out every festival, extra holiday, and bank closure in one place, with the reasoning behind each date explained in plain language.
The Bengali Month: Kartik Moves Into Ogrohayon
Most of November 2026 falls within Kartik, one of the more spiritually significant months on the Bengali calendar. Many households keep the tradition of Akash Pradip through this month — a small earthen lamp hoisted on a tall bamboo pole so its light is visible from a distance, lit in the belief that it guides the souls of departed ancestors through the dark half of the month. By the final week of November, the calendar shifts into Ogrohayon, marking the beginning of Hemanta, the early Bengali winter, when the sharp autumn light starts to soften and mornings turn noticeably cooler.
Festival-by-Festival Guide for November 2026
Kali Puja and Diwali – 8 November 2026 (Sunday)
While most of India lights lamps for Goddess Lakshmi on this night, Bengal turns the same evening toward Goddess Kali — dark, fierce in appearance, and worshipped not out of fear but as “Ma,” the mother who protects her children by confronting darkness directly rather than avoiding it. Homes and pandals across the state stay lit and busy well past midnight, with the most significant puja timing falling around Nishita Kaal, the deepest part of the night. For many Bengali families, this is the single most emotionally intense night of the entire festival calendar, distinct in character from the Lakshmi-Ganesh puja observed elsewhere in the country on the same date.
Why 9 to 12 November Is One Long Festive Stretch
West Bengal’s official 2026 holiday list adds 9 and 10 November as extra Kali Puja holidays, followed by 11 November for Bhai Phonta and 12 November as an additional day off right after it. Combined with the preceding weekend, that is close to a full week where offices and schools across the state stay closed. It is a genuinely useful stretch for families living outside Bengal who want to travel home for both festivals without burning extra leave, so it is worth blocking out early if a visit is being planned.
Bhai Phonta – 11 November 2026 (Wednesday)
Bhai Phonta falls on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya this year, landing on a Wednesday. It is Bengal’s version of the sibling festival known elsewhere as Bhai Dooj, but the ritual carries its own distinct character: sisters apply a phonta, a mark made with sandalwood paste, curd, and kajal, on their brothers’ foreheads while reciting a traditional Bengali verse asking that Yama, the god of death, stay away from their brothers’ door. Sweets like narkeler naru (coconut laddoos), sandesh, and moa are prepared at home, brothers usually arrive bearing gifts, and the extra holiday on 12 November gives many families time to visit relatives they could not reach on the day itself.
Chhath Puja – 15 and 16 November 2026 (Sunday and Monday)
Chhath Puja, dedicated to the Sun God Surya and Chhathi Maiya, falls on 15 November this year, with West Bengal notifying 16 November as an additional holiday in recognition of the festival’s importance to the state’s large Hindi-speaking population, many with roots in Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Unlike most Hindu festivals, Chhath is performed entirely outdoors: devotees fast for two days and stand in water at both sunset and the following sunrise to make offerings to the sun. In Kolkata, the ghats along the Hooghly River, especially Babughat, Princep Ghat, and Millennium Park, draw large crowds of devotees holding brass offering vessels as the sun goes down.
Jagaddhatri Puja – 18 November 2026 (Wednesday)
Jagaddhatri Puja, observed on Kartik Shukla Navami, falls on a Wednesday this year. This is a festival that stays almost entirely within Bengal’s borders in terms of recognition, yet is celebrated with tremendous scale where it is observed. Goddess Jagaddhatri, “she who holds the world,” is shown seated on a lion standing over a subdued elephant, a composition read as divine consciousness holding both ego and raw instinct in balance. The two towns most associated with the festival are Chandannagar in Hooghly district, famous for elaborate light displays strung across the entire town, and Krishnanagar in Nadia district, known for the artistry of its idols.
Rash Yatra and Guru Nanak Jayanti – 24 November 2026 (Tuesday)
Two very different traditions share this date. Rash Yatra, a Vaishnava festival marking Krishna’s circular dance with the gopis of Vrindavan, is celebrated with particular enthusiasm in Nabadwip, the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and across several islands in the Sundarbans, where the day often takes on the feel of a regional fair. On the same date, Guru Nanak Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, founder of Sikhism, observed nationally with Akhand Path readings, processions, and community langar meals at gurdwaras. Both observances are tied to the same Kartik Purnima, Rash Yatra by Vaishnava tradition and Guru Nanak Jayanti by the Sikh lunar calendar. It is a gazetted holiday in West Bengal and most other Indian states.
Bank Holidays in Bengali Calendar November 2026
| Bank Holiday | Date | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Kali Puja and extended holidays | 08–12 November 2026 | West Bengal state holiday |
| Second Saturday | 14 November 2026 | Standard monthly bank holiday |
| Chhath Puja and additional holiday | 15–16 November 2026 | West Bengal state holiday |
| Guru Nanak Jayanti | 24 November 2026 | National gazetted holiday |
| Fourth Saturday | 28 November 2026 | Standard monthly bank holiday |
State holiday notifications can occasionally see minor last-minute revisions, so it is worth a quick check with your bank branch if a transaction is planned close to any of these dates.
Why This Calendar Matters
November is the month West Bengal households build their leave calendar around. The run from Kali Puja through Bhai Phonta covers nearly five continuous days when combined with a weekend, Chhath Puja adds a second extended break, and the month closes with a national holiday on Guru Nanak Jayanti. For families travelling into or out of Bengal, for businesses in Kolkata planning around Chhath Puja crowds at the Hooghly ghats, and for anyone with banking work to finish before month-end, having every date confirmed in one place saves the usual scramble of checking multiple notifications as each festival approaches.
How to Use This Calendar
- Students and office-goers: Block out 8–12 November early if travelling for Kali Puja or Bhai Phonta, since this is the longest continuous holiday stretch of the month.
- Bank customers: Avoid planning transactions on 8–12 November, 14 November, 15–16 November, 24 November, or 28 November; confirm with your branch if a date falls close to any of these.
- Visitors to Kolkata: The Chhath Puja evenings at Babughat, Princep Ghat, and Millennium Park on 15 November draw large crowds; plan travel through the area with extra time.
- Those travelling to Chandannagar or Krishnanagar: Jagaddhatri Puja on 18 November is the single best window to see the light displays and idol artistry these towns are known for.
How These Dates Were Checked
The festival dates in this Bengali Calendar November 2026 guide were checked against the Hindu Panchang and cross-verified against independent festival-date sources rather than taken from a single list. Kali Puja and Bhai Phonta’s day-of-week figures were matched against the 2026 Gregorian calendar, and Jagaddhatri Puja’s date was independently confirmed as falling on Kartik Shukla Navami. The West Bengal-specific extra holidays (9, 10, and 12 November around Kali Puja and Bhai Phonta, and 16 November after Chhath Puja) follow the state’s own holiday notification pattern; always confirm with the latest official West Bengal government gazette closer to the date, since state notifications occasionally see minor revisions.
Frequently Asked Questions on Bengali Calendar November 2026
Q1. When is Kali Puja in November 2026? Kali Puja, coinciding with Diwali, falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
Q2. How many days off are there around Kali Puja and Bhai Phonta? West Bengal’s official 2026 holiday list adds 9 and 10 November as extra Kali Puja holidays and 12 November as an additional day after Bhai Phonta on 11 November, creating a run of holidays from 8 through 12 November.
Q3. When is Chhath Puja in 2026? Chhath Puja falls on Sunday, 15 November 2026, with West Bengal declaring 16 November an additional holiday.
Q4. When is Jagaddhatri Puja celebrated? Jagaddhatri Puja 2026 falls on Wednesday, 18 November, and is celebrated most prominently in Chandannagar and Krishnanagar in West Bengal.
Q5. Why do Rash Yatra and Guru Nanak Jayanti fall on the same day in 2026? Both are tied to the full moon, Purnima, of the Kartik month, which falls on 24 November 2026: Rash Yatra by Vaishnava tradition and Guru Nanak Jayanti by the Sikh lunar calendar.
Q6. What Bengali months does November 2026 cover? November 2026 spans most of Kartik and moves into the early days of Ogrohayon by the end of the month, marking the start of the Hemanta, or early winter, season.
Conclusion
The Bengali Calendar November 2026 carries the second-biggest festival stretch of the year in West Bengal, from the fierce devotion of Kali Puja and the warmth of Bhai Phonta to the riverside rituals of Chhath Puja, the illuminated streets of Chandannagar during Jagaddhatri Puja, and the shared celebration of Rash Yatra and Guru Nanak Jayanti. Keep this guide handy through the month, and check back for the Bengali Calendar for December 2026 once the Hemanta season settles in.