Dashain 2027 begins with Ghatasthapana on Thursday 30 September in Nepal and the United States, Friday 1 October in Australia and New Zealand, and reaches Vijaya Dashami, the day of tika, on Sunday 10 October 2027 in Nepal and Australia and Saturday 9 October in the USA. Tika continues to be given until Kojagrat Purnima on Friday 15 October. Dashain 2027 is about ten days earlier than Dashain 2026, whose tika fell on 20/21 October.
Dashain 2027 day by day
| Day | Tithi | Nepal (Kathmandu) | Australia and New Zealand | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghatasthapana (Navratri begins) | Ashvina Shukla Pratipada | Thu 30 Sep | Fri 1 Oct | Thu 30 Sep |
| Phulpati | Ashvina Shukla Saptami | the day before Maha Ashtami | the day before Maha Ashtami | the day before Maha Ashtami |
| Maha Ashtami (Kal Ratri) | Ashvina Shukla Ashtami | Thu 7 Oct | Fri 8 Oct | Thu 7 Oct |
| Maha Navami | Ashvina Shukla Navami | Sat 9 Oct | Sat 9 Oct | Fri 8 Oct |
| Vijaya Dashami · Tika · Dussehra | Ashvina Shukla Dashami | Sun 10 Oct | Sun 10 Oct | Sat 9 Oct |
| Kojagrat Purnima (tika ends) | Ashvina Shukla Purnima | Fri 15 Oct | Fri 15 Oct | Fri 15 Oct (West Coast: Thu 14 Oct) |
Phulpati is kept on Saptami, which in 2027 is the day before Maha Ashtami in every city listed: 6 October in Nepal and the USA, 7 October in Australia. Where a tithi is skipped or doubled a local panchang may move it; the city calendars below show the tithi times.
Why the date can differ between Kathmandu, Sydney and New York
A festival is kept on the civil day whose sunrise falls inside the governing tithi (lunar day), and sunrise comes at a different moment in each city. When a tithi ends in the small hours, Nepal and Australia can be on one date and the Americas on the one before. Every date below is computed for the city's own sunrise, with the Lahiri ayanamsa, by the same engine that runs our city festival calendars; temple and community dates occasionally differ by a day where a tradition follows a different rule, and the local temple's announcement should win.
What each day holds
Ghatasthapana. A vessel of holy water is set in the prayer room and barley is sown in sand; the jamara that sprouts over nine days is given with the tika. Navratri, the nine nights of Durga, begins.
Phulpati. The sacred flowers, leaves and sugarcane arrive from Gorkha at Hanuman Dhoka; households bring their own phulpati into the puja room. In the diaspora this is often the first day families gather.
Maha Ashtami and Kal Ratri. The fiercest form of the goddess is honoured; in Nepal the night is marked by sacrifice at the Taleju and Dakshinkali temples, and many households keep a vegetarian offering instead.
Maha Navami. Vehicles, tools and instruments are blessed, and the temples of Taleju open their doors for the one day of the year.
Vijaya Dashami. Elders place the red tika of rice, yoghurt and vermilion on the forehead and jamara behind the ear, with a blessing and, for the young, dakshina. Families travel for days to receive tika from their eldest; in Australia and the USA it is usually taken on the nearest weekend, which in 2027 falls kindly: Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 October.
Kojagrat Purnima. The full moon ends the season; Lakshmi is said to walk the earth that night asking who is awake (ko jagrat), and tika may be given until then.
Dashain 2026, for comparison
Dashain 2026 had tika on Tuesday 20 October in the USA and Wednesday 21 October in Nepal and Australia. See Dashain 2026 in the USA and Dashain 2026 in Australia, and the rest of the year in Hindu and Nepali festival dates 2027.
City calendars
For every observance, every Ekadashi and every full and new moon, month by month: Kathmandu, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Auckland, New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Seattle.