Labh Pancham 2026 is Saturday, 14 November

For many Gujarati traders, the Diwali holidays end on Labh Pancham. Labh (लाभ) means gain or profit, and Pancham is the fifth: the fifth lunar day of the new year. The new account books were worshipped on Diwali night in the Chopda Pujan; on Labh Pancham the shop opens again, the first entry is written in those books, and the first sale of the year is made. The day is also called Saubhagya Panchami, the Panchami of good fortune, and many families keep it for any new start, not only a shop.

Labh Pancham is a custom of the trading families of Gujarat and their communities abroad, not a festival that every Hindu calendar marks. Its date comes from the tithi (lunar day). It is the Shukla Panchami, the fifth day of the bright fortnight, of the month of Kartik. In 2026 that Panchami holds the sunrise of Saturday, 14 November, in every city we computed.

This is the same date in Ahmedabad and in Edison, New Jersey, in Mumbai and in Leicester. What differs from city to city is how long the Panchami lasts on Saturday. The next section gives that for eight cities.

When the Panchami begins and ends in your city

The Panchami begins on Friday, 13 November, at 8:43 pm Indian Standard Time, and ends on Saturday, 14 November, at 11:24 pm. On the local clock abroad it begins and ends earlier, because the tithi is one moment for the whole world. The sunrise of Saturday falls inside it everywhere below, and that is why Saturday is the day.

The end matters most. In India, Dubai and Nairobi the Panchami lasts through Saturday evening, so the whole shop day is inside it. In Leicester it ends at 5:54 pm, near the end of the working day. In Edison it ends at 12:54 pm, so a family there that wants the Panchami running at the moment of the first entry opens the shop in the morning. Read your own row. For a city not listed here, the daily panchang shows the tithi and its end time for your own location.

• Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Mumbai — Friday 8:43 pm to Saturday 11:24 pm (Saturday sunrise 6:44 am to 6:58 am)
• Dubai — Friday 7:13 pm to Saturday 9:54 pm (sunrise 6:34 am)
• Nairobi — Friday 6:13 pm to Saturday 8:54 pm (sunrise 6:11 am)
• Leicester — Friday 3:13 pm to Saturday 5:54 pm (sunrise 7:24 am)
• Edison, New Jersey — Friday 10:13 am to Saturday 12:54 pm (sunrise 6:42 am)

Why the date is Saturday, and not Friday evening

In Edison and Leicester the Panchami has already begun by Friday afternoon. It is natural to ask whether Friday counts. Our panchang dates a day by the tithi at its sunrise, which is how most Hindu calendars name the tithi of a day. Friday’s sunrise falls in the Chaturthi, the fourth lunar day, in all eight cities; Saturday’s falls in the Panchami. So the calendar day of Labh Pancham is Saturday.

Labh Pancham has no evening rite that would make a different rule apply. It is a day of opening the shop and starting work, so the day whose morning belongs to the Panchami is the day. If your mandir or your family priest names a different day for your city, follow them and ask what they used.

The first entry and the first sale

The books worshipped on Diwali night are opened on Labh Pancham for work. In many shops the owner writes the first entry of the new year on the first working page, often with the date and an auspicious word before any accounts. Many traders write Shri (an invocation of Lakshmi) or shubh (auspicious) and labh (gain) at the head of the page. The marks, and who writes them, differ from family to family and trade to trade. If your family has its own first page, keep it.

The first sale of the year is called bohni in many shops, and many traders take care over it: they make the first sale in the morning and to a known customer. These are customs of the trade. The day itself is the Panchami; how the shop marks it is the family’s.

If the shop chooses the hour by choghadiya, the traditional table of good and less good hours of the day, take the list from your own priest or calendar, made for your own city. Our engine does not compute choghadiya, so this page prints no choghadiya times. In Edison and Leicester, check the time you are given against the Panchami’s end above.

Gyan Panchami: the same day for many Jain families

Many Shvetambara Jain families keep the Kartik Shukla Panchami as Gyan Panchami (ज्ञान पंचमी, also written Jnana Panchami), the Panchami of knowledge. On it they honour the sacred books and the tools of learning — books, pens and notebooks. Not every Jain tradition keeps this date. In a Gujarati Jain trading family the shop’s Labh Pancham and the home’s Gyan Panchami are often the same morning.

The practice differs between Jain traditions and between temples. This page does not describe the Jain rite step by step; your upashraya (the Jain community hall) or your temple gives the order it keeps.

The shop-opening puja in order

The steps below are a frame for a short puja in the shop on Labh Pancham morning, built on the Lakshmi Puja the family kept on Diwali. Practice varies by family and trade. This page does not print mantras; our Lakshmi Puja vidhi gives the ones it can source, and your family priest gives the full order.

• Before opening: clean the shop and the doorway. Many shops renew the rangoli at the door and hang a toran (a string of mango leaves or marigolds) across it.
• At the shop’s small shrine or at the counter: set out Ganesha and Lakshmi, a diya and the new books worshipped on Diwali night.
• Light the diya and take the sankalpa (the spoken intention that names who is doing the puja, where, and why). Worship Ganesha first, and then Lakshmi, with flowers, akshat (unbroken rice) and a sweet.
• Open the books: apply tilak to the first page and write the first entry, as your family does.
• Open the doors for business. Make the first sale, and offer the prasad to the family, the staff and the first customers.
• In Edison and Leicester: finish the puja and the first entry before the Panchami ends, at 12:54 pm and 5:54 pm, if your family wants the tithi running at that moment.

Honest questions, honest answers

Can we reopen the shop before Labh Pancham? Yes. Many shops reopen on the new-year day or soon after, and some never close. Labh Pancham is the custom for families who keep the shop shut through the first days of the year, not a rule for every trader.

We are in the United States. Is our Labh Pancham on Friday because of the time difference? No. In Edison the Panchami begins on Friday morning, but Friday’s sunrise is still in the Chaturthi, so the calendar day is Saturday, as in India. What differs is the end: in Edison the Panchami is over at 12:54 pm on Saturday.

The shop is closed on Saturday. Can we do it on Sunday? Sunday is no longer the Panchami: on Sunday, 15 November, the sunrise falls in the Shashthi, the sixth lunar day, in all eight cities. Many families then keep the puja and the first entry at home on Saturday morning and open the shop on its next working day. Ask your priest what your family should do.

We wanted a muhurat for a new business, not a reopening. For a new start on a day you choose, our muhurat tool finds good days for a new start at your location.

Going deeper

For Diwali night and the worship of the books, read our Chopda Pujan 2026 guide. For the new year morning and Bhai Dooj, read the Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj guide. For all five days of Diwali at your own city, open the Diwali 2026 city tool.