📿Upanayan (sacred thread)
Upanayan Muhurat, December 2026
December 2026 has 31 days. 16 of them fall inside Dhanu Kharmas (next), and after the tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana filters 2 survive for an upanayan.
2
pass every filter
2
one rule short
16
in a closed period
Dhanu Kharmas (next) — 16 December to 14 January · 16 days of this month
The 2 days that qualify
Krishna Dashami · Uttara Phalguni nakshatra · Priti yoga · Vanija karana
Sunrise 06:57 · sunset 17:23 · Abhijit 11:49-12:31 · Rahu Kaal 13:29-14:47
Krishna Ekadashi · Hasta nakshatra · Ayushman yoga · Bava karana
Sunrise 06:58 · sunset 17:23 · Abhijit 11:50-12:32 · Rahu Kaal 10:52-12:11
The half of the year, and the days that carried a favoured star
The thread ceremony is the one rite here with a preference about the half of the year, and Uttarayana has computed endpoints rather than conventional ones.
In 2026 Uttarayana runs 14 January 2026 to 16 July 2026, taken from the computed Makar and Karka ingresses rather than from the calendar dates usually quoted. December 2026 lies wholly outside it, in the southward half.
| Day | Nakshatra | Tithi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Thu | Uttara Phalguni | Krishna Dashami | passes everything |
| 4 Fri | Hasta | Krishna Ekadashi | passes everything |
| 5 Sat | Chitra | Krishna Dwadashi | Tithi: Krishna Dwadashi is not among the favoured tithis |
| 8 Tue | Anuradha | Amavasya | Tithi: Amavasya is not among the favoured tithis |
| 12 Sat | Uttara Ashadha | Shukla Tritiya | Vara: Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 18 Fri | Uttara Bhadrapada | Shukla Navami | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 19 Sat | Revati | Shukla Dashami | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 20 Sun | Ashwini | Shukla Ekadashi | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 23 Wed | Rohini | Shukla Chaturdashi | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 26 Sat | Pushya | Krishna Tritiya | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 30 Wed | Uttara Phalguni | Krishna Saptami | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 31 Thu | Hasta | Krishna Ashtami | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
One rule short — 2 days
They divide by the rule they missed: 1 on vara, 1 on yoga.
- 12 SatShukla Tritiya, Uttara Ashadha — short on vara: Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays
- 14 MonShukla Panchami, Shravana — short on yoga: Vyaghata is one of the nine ashubha yogas
Which rule did the excluding
16 days of December were shut by a closure and never examined. Of the 15 that were, 2 passed everything, 2 missed by a single rule, and 11 missed by two or more, in a month where one of this rite's 14 accepted nakshatras ran on 16 days. Tithi is the binding constraint here, ruling out 9 of the 15.
| Rule | What it asks for | Days it excluded | On its own |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tithi | 7 of the fifteen — Dwitiya, Tritiya, Panchami, Saptami, Dashami, Ekadashi, Trayodashi and Purnima, Ashtami excluded | 9 | — |
| Vara | Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday | 7 | 1 |
| Nakshatra | 14 of the 27 | 7 | — |
| Yoga | none of the nine ashubha yogas | 6 | 1 |
| Karana | not Vishti (Bhadra) at sunrise | 2 | — |
Read the last column as a counterfactual. 1 day of December fail on vara and nothing else — 12 — so a family willing to set aside that one rule has that day available. No other single relaxation buys as much.
Nakshatra supply. 14 of the 27 are accepted for this rite, and they fell on 16 days of December 2026, with Uttara Phalguni and Hasta and Shravana coming round twice, while Mrigashira did not fall at sunrise at all — of 14 accepted stars the 27-fold division and the calendar month do not divide evenly, so a favoured one can simply be skipped.
Weekday supply. December 2026 holds 18 days of the right weekday (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), 8 of them outside a closure, and 2 survive the rest of the filter — against 16 days supplied by the 14 nakshatras. Unlike the sky's four limbs, this is the one the calendar fixes.
The Uttarayana half of the year is strongly preferred, and the rite has age rules of its own that take precedence over the panchang.
Every day of December 2026, and what ruled it out
All 31 days with the verdict and the reason, each linked to its own panchang page: 16 shut before being read, 15 examined against 14 nakshatras, 2 through.
| Day | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 1 Tue | Krishna Ashtami is not among the favoured tithis; Tuesday is not among the preferred weekdays; Magha is not in this occasion's set; Vaidhriti is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 2 Wed | Krishna Navami is not among the favoured tithis; Purva Phalguni is not in this occasion's set; Vishkambha is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 3 Thu | passes every filter |
| 4 Fri | passes every filter |
| 5 Sat | Krishna Dwadashi is not among the favoured tithis; Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 6 Sun | Sunday is not among the preferred weekdays; Swati is not in this occasion's set |
| 7 Mon | Krishna Chaturdashi is not among the favoured tithis; Vishakha is not in this occasion's set; Atiganda is one of the nine ashubha yogas; Vishti (Bhadra) at sunrise |
| 8 Tue | Amavasya is not among the favoured tithis; Tuesday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 9 Wed | Shukla Pratipada is not among the favoured tithis; Jyeshtha is not in this occasion's set |
| 10 Thu | Shukla Pratipada is not among the favoured tithis; Moola is not in this occasion's set; Shula is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 11 Fri | Purva Ashadha is not in this occasion's set; Ganda is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 12 Sat | Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 13 Sun | Shukla Chaturthi is not among the favoured tithis; Sunday is not among the preferred weekdays; Vishti (Bhadra) at sunrise |
| 14 Mon | Vyaghata is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 15 Tue | Shukla Shashthi is not among the favoured tithis; Tuesday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 16 Wed | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Shatabhisha is not in this occasion's set; Vajra is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 17 Thu | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Shukla Ashtami is not among the favoured tithis; Purva Bhadrapada is not in this occasion's set; Vishti (Bhadra) at sunrise |
| 18 Fri | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Shukla Navami is not among the favoured tithis; Vyatipata is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 19 Sat | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays |
| 20 Sun | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Sunday is not among the preferred weekdays; Parigha is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 21 Mon | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Shukla Dwadashi is not among the favoured tithis; Bharani is not in this occasion's set |
| 22 Tue | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Tuesday is not among the preferred weekdays; Krittika is not in this occasion's set |
| 23 Wed | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Shukla Chaturdashi is not among the favoured tithis |
| 24 Thu | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Krishna Pratipada is not among the favoured tithis; Ardra is not in this occasion's set |
| 25 Fri | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 26 Sat | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Saturday is not among the preferred weekdays; Vaidhriti is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 27 Sun | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Krishna Chaturthi is not among the favoured tithis; Sunday is not among the preferred weekdays; Ashlesha is not in this occasion's set; Vishkambha is one of the nine ashubha yogas |
| 28 Mon | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Magha is not in this occasion's set |
| 29 Tue | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Krishna Shashthi is not among the favoured tithis; Tuesday is not among the preferred weekdays; Purva Phalguni is not in this occasion's set |
| 30 Wed | Dhanu Kharmas (next) |
| 31 Thu | Dhanu Kharmas (next); Krishna Ashtami is not among the favoured tithis |
December 2026 against the rest of 2026
December 2026 contributes 2 of the 13 days 2026 offers for an upanayan — 3rd of the twelve, level with 1 other month, and exactly the median across the seven occasions this month. 5 months of the twelve offer nothing, 3 of them because the month is shut outright.
The other six occasions in December 2026
Same 31 days, seven different filters: in December they return between 1 and 4 qualifying days, median 2. This rite’s 2 is the median itself, and the reason is the 14-nakshatra set and the 3 closures it carries.
Questions about December 2026
How many days in December 2026 are good for upanayan?
2 days of the 31 pass every filter: 3 December (Thursday), 4 December (Friday). They are not evenly spread — the widest gap between two of them is 1 day. 2 further days miss on one rule alone and are listed with the rule they missed.
Is any part of December 2026 closed for auspicious beginnings?
Dhanu Kharmas (next), 16 December to 14 January. The Sun is in Sagittarius. Auspicious beginnings are deferred through the whole transit.
Why do other sites list more upanayan dates in December 2026?
The closures alone take 16 of this month's 31 days — Dhanu Kharmas (next) applies here — and a list assembled without them has 16 more days to draw on than this one does. Of the 15 that were examined, tithi removed 9.
Does the half of the year matter for upanayan?
Yes — Uttarayana, the Sun's northward course, is strongly preferred for the thread ceremony. In 2026 it opens at the Makar Sankranti ingress on 14 January 2026 and closes at the Karka ingress on 16 July 2026. December 2026 lies wholly outside it, in Dakshinayana.
Next
- Upanayan across all twelve months
- The same filter, run interactively
- Why each closed period is closed
- The December panchang in full
Computed at sunrise for New Delhi from the JPL DE421 ephemeris; all five limbs change through the day, so a day listed here can turn at noon.
Ask a pandit for the December muhurat