August 2026 Hindu Festival Calendar: Vrat, Eclipses and Rakhi

The month opens in the sacred stretch of Shravan, carries a solar eclipse that most of India will sleep through, and closes with Raksha Bandhan arriving later than many households expect.

Shravan: the month behind the month

Nearly everything on this calendar sits inside Shravan, the fifth month of the Hindu lunar year and, by most reckonings, the holiest stretch on the entire Hindu religious calendar. Falling during the monsoon and dedicated principally to Lord Shiva, Shravan draws millions of Kanwariyas on foot to the Ganges each year to collect holy water for abhishek at Shiva temples, while Mondays through the month — known as Shravan Somvar — are kept as fast days by devotees across north and west India in particular.

In 2026, Shravan runs from late July into late August. Kamika Ekadashi, Hariyali Teej, Nag Panchami and the Shravan Amavasya eclipse on 12 August all fall within it, and the month closes on Shravana Purnima — the full moon that gives the month its name and the day on which Raksha Bandhan is tied.

Shrava in north India (begins from July 30) | Shravan in south and west India (begins from August 13) | based on the regional calendar systems |

The solar eclipse Indian skies will miss

The Surya Grahan of 12 August 2026 is a genuine total solar eclipse — the first to sweep across mainland Europe since 1999 — but it will not be visible from any part of India. The path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain, with the eclipse’s maximum falling at roughly 11:16 pm Indian Standard Time, well after the Sun has set across the subcontinent. Because the eclipse is invisible from Indian soil, Sutak Kaal — the traditional inauspicious period before an eclipse — does not apply, and Hariyali Amavasya rituals that coincide with the date proceed without interruption. Indians hoping to watch the eclipse from India will have a longer wait: the next one actually visible from the country, a partial eclipse deeper in the west, falls on 2 August 2027.

Hariyali Teej and the Shravan fasting cycle

Hariyali Teej, on 15 August, opens the month’s principal fasting season. Observed chiefly by married Hindu women invoking Goddess Parvati for marital wellbeing, the day is marked by green attire, henna and swings decorated for the occasion — “hariyali” meaning greenery, a nod to the Shravan monsoon in full flush. Two Ekadashi fasts bookend the month either side of it: Kamika Ekadashi on 9 August and Shravana Putrada Ekadashi on 23 August, both dedicated to Lord Vishnu and traditionally observed with a day-long fast broken the following morning.

Nag Panchami and Simha Sankranti

Nag Panchami, falling on 17 August, is devoted to serpent deities and remains particularly significant in Maharashtra, where live snakes are traditionally worshipped at temples, and in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The same date carries Simha Sankranti, marking the Sun’s transit into the zodiac sign of Leo — an astronomically fixed event of note to Panchang-followers even though it draws less public attention than the lunar festivals around it.

Onam: Kerala’s homecoming festival

Onam begins on 21 August with Atham and builds across ten days to its climax on Thiruvonam, which in 2026 falls on 26 August. The festival marks the mythical annual homecoming of King Mahabali and is Kerala’s most widely celebrated occasion regardless of religious background, observed with the elaborate flower carpets known as pookalam, boat races, and the multi-course vegetarian feast known as the Onam Sadya, traditionally served on a banana leaf.

Raksha Bandhan and the eclipse that follows it

Raksha Bandhan, the festival honouring the bond between brothers and sisters, falls on 28 August 2026 — a Friday, and Shravana Purnima on the Panchang. This year carries an unusual convenience: Bhadra Kaal, the inauspicious window that traditionally must be avoided when tying a rakhi, ends before sunrise, leaving the entire early morning free for the ritual without the customary wait. The same date carries Varalakshmi Vrat, observed by married women for the wellbeing of their husbands and families, and Gayatri Jayanti, marking the goddess Gayatri’s manifestation.

Hours after the day’s rituals conclude, the sky delivers a second astronomical event: a partial lunar eclipse, or Chandra Grahan, visible across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, including from Indian skies — a rare instance of an eclipse actually observable from the subcontinent this August, in contrast to the solar eclipse a fortnight earlier.

Kajari Teej closes the month

The month ends on 31 August with Kajari Teej, a second Teej observance falling roughly a fortnight after Hariyali Teej, associated in particular with Bundelkhand and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where it is marked with folk songs, fasting and the worship of Goddess Parvati under the neem tree.