Kojagiri Purnima falls on Sunday, 25 October; private vehicles barred from the Saptashrungi Gad ghat road from Friday morning

Kojagiri Purnima, the full moon of the month of Ashwin, falls on Sunday, 25 October this year. According to Drik Panchang, the Purnima tithi begins before noon that day and ends on Monday morning, so Sunday is the night for the vigil and the moonlit milk. With large crowds expected at Saptashrungi Gad in Nashik district for the occasion, the administration has brought forward the ban on vehicles on the road up to the temple by two days.

Kojagiri 2026: tithi and timings

• Kojagiri Purnima: Sunday, 25 October 2026
• Purnima tithi begins: 25 October, 11.55 am
• Purnima tithi ends: 26 October, 9.41 am
• Moonrise (Mumbai): 25 October, 5.28 pm
• Moonrise (Pune): 25 October, 5.25 pm
• Midnight (nishita) window for Lakshmi puja: Mumbai 11.58 pm to 12.47 am, Pune 11.54 pm to 12.44 am (running into 26 October)

Some people are asking whether it is the 25th or the 26th. The Purnima tithi runs through the whole night of 25 October and ends on the morning of the 26th, which is why Marathi calendars and panchangs list Kojagiri on 25 October. The timings above follow Drik Panchang’s calculations for Mumbai and Pune; moonrise elsewhere may differ by a few minutes.

How Maharashtra marks Kojagiri

The name is traditionally traced to the Sanskrit question ‘ko jagarti?’, or ‘who is awake?’. Families and housing societies gather on terraces and in courtyards late into the night, with talk and songs, and a pot of thickened, spiced saffron milk is first set out in the moonlight and then shared. Many households also perform a Lakshmi puja that night.

Saptashrungi Gad: the revised traffic order

Devotees from across the state visit Saptashrungi Gad in Kalwan taluka for Kojagiri. Because the crowds are expected to swell from 23 October, Nashik’s Additional District Magistrate Rohitkumar Rajput has partly amended his earlier order, according to reports based on his press note.

• Route: the ghat road from Nanduri to Saptashrungi Gad
• Period: from 6 am on Friday, 23 October to 6 am on Monday, 26 October
• Barred: hired vehicles, autorickshaws, and private four-wheelers and two-wheelers of every kind
• Allowed: only Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (ST) buses
• Earlier order: the ban was to run from 6 am on 25 October to midnight on 26 October
• Legal basis: Section 115 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988; violators face action under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Motor Vehicles Act
• The administration has kept the power to relax or change the ban as the situation demands

The road up to the gad is narrow with sharp bends. The administration says the change is meant to stop vehicles from jamming it during the rush, to maintain order and to keep devotees safe.

At the gad, and getting there by ST

• According to the temple trust’s programme, the Kojagiri festival will be held on 25 and 26 October, with the goddess bathed in water carried by kavad pilgrims, followed by a mahapuja.
• Sakal reported on 21 October that a kavad yatra will also be held on Sunday, with thousands of kavad bearers from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka bringing water from several rivers; more than a lakh pilgrims on foot are expected. The transgender community’s traditional chhabina procession will also be taken out.
• MSRTC plans 130 buses for the Nanduri–gad stretch and about 250 buses from 11 depots in its Nashik division (Sakal).
• Extra buses to the gad leave from Nashik’s New CBS (Thakkar) bus stand. From 9 to 26 October they run via Meher Signal, Ashok Stambh, Ravivar Karanja, Panchavati Karanja and Dindori Naka, under a notification from the city traffic branch.

If you are going to the gad

• A private vehicle can only be taken as far as Nanduri. For Navratri, parking for private vehicles was planned at Nanduri; park where the police direct you and take the ST bus up.
• If you can, travel by ST from Nashik itself; with the kavad yatra on Sunday, very large crowds of pilgrims are expected at the gad.
• Darshan timings for the Kojagiri days have not been announced in the reports we have seen. Check with the temple trust before you set out.
• The order can change at short notice, so look for the administration’s latest notice on the day you travel.
• At home, keep the milk set out in the moonlight covered, and don’t leave it out for too long.

Sources: Drik Panchang (Kojagara Puja, Mumbai); Drik Panchang (Kojagara Puja, Pune); Aapla Mahanagar (Kojagiri date); News18 Lokmat (revised traffic order); Deshdoot (revised traffic order); Sakal (Kojagiri and kavad yatra); Sakal (ST route change); Nashik Calling (trust’s festival programme); Mumbai Tarun Bharat (Navratri arrangements)