Sharda Puja as it was kept in 2023.
Next date: 29 October 2027Sharda Puja 2023
Sunday, 12 November 2023, in Ahmedabad
ObservanceGujarati · Hindu
Sharda Pujan
Panchang on the day
12
Sunday
Waning Fourteenth
until 14:45
Libra
- રRa
- તTa
Puja time
17:57 to 20:21
At dusk, IST
- Sunrise
- 06:49
- Sunset
- 17:57
- Moonrise
- 05:41
- Nakshatra
- Swati
- until 02:51 next day
- Yoga
- Ayushman
- until 16:24
- Karana
- Shakuni
- until 14:45
- Rahu Kalam 16:34 to 17:57
- Yamaganda 12:23 to 13:47
- Abhijit muhurat 12:01 to 12:45
Why this date
Aso New Moon, taken at dusk
Runs from 12 Nov 14:45 IST to 13 Nov 14:57 IST.
In short
Sharda Puja is a festival observed according to the Hindu calendar. Its date and customary practices can vary by region and local Panchang.
The story
Sharda Puja is a Gujarati Diwali observance honouring Saraswati as Sharda, the divine source of learning, language and wise judgement. In many trading households Sharda is worshipped alongside Lakshmi and Ganesha. Books, pens, account ledgers and instruments used for learning or livelihood are arranged respectfully before the deities. The association reminds people that wealth must be guided by knowledge, fairness and discipline.
Sharda is a name of Saraswati in Hindu devotional traditions, but no single historical event explains all forms of Gujarati Diwali worship. Sharda Puja is related to Chopda Puja, when business ledgers are sanctified around the Gujarati New Year. The practices overlap, though worship of wisdom and the opening of commercial accounts have different emphases.
Families offer lamps, flowers and sweets and pray for clarity of mind. The festival's timing is associated with Diwali Amavasya and its local evening worship period. A generic dusk-Amavasya rule needs independent validation against community puja schedules and should not be confused with Navratri Saraswati worship.
Why it matters
Sharda Puja is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.
What people do
The pen and the new ledgers are placed before the image, and nothing is written with that pen until the puja is done.
Told differently elsewhere
Gujarati Diwali Sharda worship overlaps with Chopda Puja; distinct from Navratri Saraswati observances.
Questions people ask
- When is Sharda Puja in 2023?
- On Sunday, 12 November 2023 in India. Runs from 12 Nov 14:45 IST to 13 Nov 14:57 IST.
- Why does the date change every year?
- It is kept by the lunar calendar, so its day on the civil calendar moves from year to year.
- Is the date the same everywhere?
- Yes. It is kept everywhere on the day it falls on in India.
