Dasara 2026: What time is the Vijay muhurat in your city? Timings for 7 Maharashtra cities, and fresh Marathi wishes

Today is Tuesday, 20 October: Dasara. The afternoon window everyone waits for to exchange ‘gold’, worship tools and cross the village boundary, the Vijay muhurat, opens around 2 pm across Maharashtra and lasts barely three quarters of an hour. It does not open at the same moment everywhere, though: in Nagpur, in the east, it begins a full 25 minutes before Mumbai.

Vijay muhurat in seven cities

• Nagpur: 1.54 pm to 2.40 pm
• Solapur: 2.08 pm to 2.54 pm
• Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: 2.09 pm to 2.56 pm
• Kolhapur: 2.15 pm to 3.01 pm
• Pune: 2.16 pm to 3.02 pm
• Nashik: 2.16 pm to 3.02 pm
• Mumbai: 2.19 pm to 3.06 pm

These timings are from Drik Panchang. The Dashami tithi begins at 12.50 pm today and runs until 2.11 pm tomorrow, Wednesday. The time for the nearest of these cities roughly applies to your town; for the exact minute, check a local panchang.

The day, hour by hour

• 7.40 am: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Vijayadashami Utsav at Reshimbagh, Nagpur. Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat speaks; Dainik Jagran editor-in-chief Sanjay Gupta is the chief guest.
• 12.50 pm: the Dashami tithi begins.
• 2 pm to 3 pm: the Vijay muhurat, by city; the puja, purchases and new beginnings.
• Evening: seemollanghan and the exchange of apta-leaf ‘gold’.
• In Mumbai today: two separate Dasara rallies by the two Shiv Senas, at Shivaji Park and in Goregaon.

Two grounds, two rallies in Mumbai

Balasaheb Thackeray held the first Dasara rally at Shivaji Park in 1966. Sixty years on, the two Shiv Sena factions are once again showing their strength on two different grounds. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) holds its rally, as usual, at Shivaji Park in Dadar. The Mumbai municipal corporation granted permission with 24 conditions.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena holds its rally at the NESCO ground in Goregaon. With drought in the state, the Shinde faction has dedicated this year’s rally to farmers in distress and dropped entertainment in favour of speeches only. With local body elections ahead, both rallies are being watched closely.

From apta ‘gold’ to the slate puja

In Maharashtra, the apta leaf is treated as gold today. The young give leaves to their elders, bow, and receive the blessing ‘take gold, and stay as precious as gold’. In the evening, those who cross the village boundary are welcomed home with an aarti.

Farmers worship their ploughs, sickles and bullock carts; craftsmen and traders their tools and account books. Children draw Saraswati in chalk on their slates, and flowers and leaves are offered on the books at home, as in the photograph above. The festival recalls two victories: Ram’s over Ravan and the goddess’s over Mahishasur.

Seven new wishes in Marathi to send

• वेशीपलीकडे नवी क्षितिजे, अंगणात आपट्याचं सोनं आणि मनात विश्वास. यंदाचा दसरा तुमच्या प्रत्येक प्रयत्नाला यशाचं तोरण बांधो! (New horizons beyond the boundary, apta gold in the courtyard and faith at heart: may this Dasara crown every effort of yours with success.)
• आज पाटीवर सरस्वती, उद्या आयुष्याच्या पाटीवर यशाची अक्षरं. दसऱ्याच्या मनापासून शुभेच्छा! (Saraswati on the slate today, the letters of success on life’s slate tomorrow. Heartfelt Dasara wishes!)
• नांगर-विळ्याची पूजा, अंगणात झेंडूचा दरवळ आणि शेतात भरघोस पिकाची आस. बळीराजाला दसऱ्याच्या शुभेच्छा! (Plough and sickle worshipped, marigolds in the air and hope of a rich harvest: Dasara wishes to our farmers.)
• जुने रुसवे वेशीबाहेर सोडा, नात्यांचं सोनं घरी आणा. सीमोल्लंघनाच्या शुभेच्छा! (Leave old grudges outside the boundary and bring home the gold of your relationships.)
• आपट्याचं एक पान, पण त्यात आपुलकीचं अख्खं सोनं. तुम्हाला आणि कुटुंबाला विजयादशमीच्या शुभेच्छा! (Just one apta leaf, but all the gold of affection in it.)
• आज मोबाईलवरून नाही, प्रत्यक्ष भेटून सोनं देऊ या! दसऱ्याच्या भरभरून शुभेच्छा. (Not by phone today: let’s meet and give the gold in person!)
• गाव तेथे आनंद, घर तेथे विजय! माय महा राष्ट्रकडून सर्व वाचकांना दसऱ्याच्या शुभेच्छा. (Joy in every village, victory in every home: Dasara wishes to all readers from My Maha Rashtra.)

Sources: Drik Panchang (muhurat); ETV Bharat (rallies); Organiser (RSS utsav)