Vivaha-Muhurta · 2026
Marriage Muhurat 2026 — Classical Calendar of Auspicious Wedding Dates
Choosing a wedding date in 2026 is not a question of picking a season. It is a five-limb conjunction of tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana and vara, set against the couple's chandra-bala and the priest's reading of the day's yoga.
Auspicious months for 2026
The Hindu solar months below are the windows inside which the highest concentration of marriage-favoured nakshatras and tithis fall in 2026. The exact daily conjunction must be read against the wedding location and the couple's charts; see the calculator at the bottom.
| Hindu month | Approx. Gregorian window | Why it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Magha (माघ) | Late Jan to Mid Feb 2026 | Strong shukla-paksha windows; Magha and Uttara Phalguni nakshatras well-favoured. |
| Phalguna (फाल्गुन) | Mid Feb to Mid Mar 2026 | Classical "burning month" rest from Holi onwards; pre-Holi shukla-paksha days strongest. |
| Vaishakha (वैशाख) | Late Apr to Late May 2026 | Akshaya Tritiya falls on May 18, 2026. A universal muhurta day, no chart needed. |
| Jyeshtha (ज्येष्ठ) | Late May to Late Jun 2026 | Rohini and Uttara-trio nakshatras concentrate in this month for 2026. |
| Margashirsha (मार्गशीर्ष) | Late Nov to Late Dec 2026 | Post-Chaturmas window reopens; Mrigashira, Anuradha, Revati dates abundant. |
| Pausha (पौष) | Late Dec 2026 to Late Jan 2027 | Limited muhurtas; classically a quieter month except shukla-tritiya and panchami. |
Periods to avoid in 2026
- ·Chaturmas (Devshayani Ekadashi to Prabodhini Ekadashi): July 16, 2026 through Nov 11, 2026. Vishnu sleeping; no marriages.
- ·Shukra Asta (Venus combust) and Guru Asta (Jupiter combust) periods. Refresh from a current panchang before fixing a date.
- ·Adhik Maas (intercalary month): there is no adhik maas in 2026; the next falls in 2029.
- ·Kharmas: roughly Dec 15, 2025 to Jan 14, 2026 (Dhanu sankranti window) and Dec 15, 2026 to Jan 14, 2027.
How to read this calendar
Inside any of the windows above, the two columns that decide a wedding date are nakshatra (which lunar mansion the moon transits that day) and tithi (the lunar day). A favoured nakshatra on a difficult tithi is rejected; a difficult nakshatra on a strong tithi is also rejected. The third column to read is yoga. If the day's yoga falls in the inauspicious list (Vyatipata, Vaidhriti, Parigha, Ganda, Vyaghata, Vajra, Atiganda, Vishkambha and a few others), the window is downgraded regardless of how good the other limbs look.
To find the actual dates inside these windows, scored against the couple's birth charts and the wedding city, use Vidhata's marriage muhurat calculator. It returns the top 8 windows in the next 60 days for the resolved location and (with a free account) layers chandra-bala and tara-bala from each chart.
Classical rules, briefly
Vivaha-muhurta is treated in two principal texts. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra Chapter 79 lists the favoured and forbidden nakshatras, the prohibition on Bhadra (Vishti karana) and the chandra-bala requirement that the moon transit a friendly rashi for both the bride and the groom on the wedding day. Muhurta Chintamani Chapter 4, the canonical electional handbook, adds the panchaka-dosha test (avoidance of Dhanishta-second-half through Revati for cremation-adjacent windows), the kanya-vara rule on weekday selection, and the precise yoga-list to reject. Pandit J. N. Bhasin's tables reconcile these with modern lunar-calendar publishing.
Find your marriage muhurat
The calculator scores every day in the next 60 days against the classical rules and layers your chart factors. Free.
Open marriage muhurat calculatorFAQ
- What is a marriage muhurat?
- A marriage muhurat is an auspicious window for solemnising a Hindu wedding, fixed by joint satisfaction of five panchang limbs (tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana) plus the bride and groom's individual chart factors (chandra-bala, tara-bala, dasha state). Muhurta Chintamani Chapter 4 treats it formally.
- Which nakshatras are best for marriage in 2026?
- Classical Vivaha-Muhurta accepts Rohini, Mrigashira, Magha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Mula, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati. Bharani, Krittika, Ashlesha, Vishakha and Jyeshtha are avoided. The 2026 calendar simply asks which of these favoured nakshatras the moon is transiting on a candidate day.
- How many marriage muhurat dates are there in 2026?
- A general-purpose count is misleading. The answer depends on the couple's charts, the location of the wedding, and how strict the priest is about tithi-yoga combinations. A common figure cited by panchang publishers is 60 to 80 broadly-auspicious dates across the year, of which 15 to 25 will pass a stricter chart-aware filter for any given couple.
- Is there a single best 2026 wedding date for everyone?
- No. Akshaya Tritiya (May 18, 2026) and Devuthani Ekadashi (Nov 11, 2026) are widely accepted as abhujit-style universal muhurtas where chart-matching is relaxed. Beyond those, every other "best date" claim ignores the bride and groom's nakshatra and dasha, the two factors that materially change the outcome.
- How does Vidhata's calculator improve on a printed 2026 panchang?
- A printed panchang lists the day's tithi and nakshatra and stops there. The Vidhata calculator scores each candidate day against the marriage rule-set (favoured and avoided nakshatras, weekday and paksha bias, yoga and karana penalties), then layers chandra-bala and tara-bala from the bride's and groom's moon nakshatras. The result is a personalised top-N list, not a generic almanac extract.