Annaprashan Muhurat 2026 अन्नप्राशन
Annaprashana is the first feeding of solid food, and the classical rule about it is one of the few in the whole muhurat corpus that depends on the child's sex. Boys are fed in an even month of life — the sixth is the standard — and girls in an odd month, the fifth or the seventh. The rite is not performed before the child has begun teething, and it is not performed in the month of birth. Within the chosen month the panchang tests are gentle: a waxing tithi outside the Rikta group, a light or soft nakshatra, and a day ruled by the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter or Venus.
The nakshatras that suit this rite are the nourishing ones rather than the fixed ones — Pushya above all, which is literally the star of nourishment, with Rohini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Anuradha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha and Revati behind it. Tuesday and Saturday are set aside, as they are for most infant samskaras. The one caution worth stating plainly: this is a feeding, and a paediatrician's judgement about when a particular child is ready to take solids outranks every date on this page.
Best annaprashan dates in 2026
Scanned 365 days of 2026 at New Delhi sunrise · 27 clear every classical bar for this occasion.
These are panchang-shortlisted dates, not a personal verdict. Each date below clears the classical tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana tests for this occasion, computed with a Lahiri sidereal ephemeris at New Delhi sunrise. The lagna rising at the hour you actually choose, your own birth chart (Chandra bala, running dasha, any dosha) and the day’s Rahu Kaal are NOT checked here — that layer only exists once a date is run against a real chart on the muhurat finder or with Soma.
| Date | Tithi | Nakshatra | Why it qualifies | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 — 3 dates | ||||
| Mon, 17 Aug | Shukla Panchami | Chitra | Chitra is a classical star for this act; Panchami is a favoured tithi | Excellent |
| Wed, 19 Aug | Shukla Saptami | Swati | Swati is a classical star for this act; Saptami is a favoured tithi | Excellent |
| Wed, 26 Aug | Shukla Trayodashi | Shravana | Shravana is a classical star for this act; Trayodashi is a favoured tithi | Excellent |
| September 2026 — 5 dates | ||||
| Sun, 13 Sep | Shukla Dvitiya | Hasta | Hasta is a classical star for this act; Dvitiya is a favoured tithi | Good |
| Mon, 14 Sep | Shukla Tritiya | Chitra | Chitra is a classical star for this act; Tritiya is a favoured tithi | Excellent |
| Thu, 17 Sep | Shukla Shashthi | Anuradha | Anuradha is a classical star for this act; the weekday lord supports this act | Good |
| Wed, 23 Sep | Shukla Dwadashi | Shravana | Shravana is a classical star for this act; Dwadashi is a favoured tithi | Excellent |
| Thu, 24 Sep | Shukla Trayodashi | Dhanishta | Dhanishta is a classical star for this act; Trayodashi is a favoured tithi | Good |
| October 2026 — 1 date | ||||
| Mon, 12 Oct | Shukla Dvitiya | Swati | Swati is a classical star for this act; Dvitiya is a favoured tithi | Good |
Frequently asked questions
Why are boys and girls fed in different months?
The texts prescribe even months for boys and odd months for girls, and give no reason beyond the pattern itself — it belongs to the same even/odd logic that governs several other samskaras. In practice the sixth month for boys and the fifth or seventh for girls are what almost every family uses, and both fall inside the window paediatric guidance also points at.
Does the food itself have to be prescribed?
Traditionally the first mouthful is kheer or a sweetened rice preparation, offered after the puja, and the rite often includes the ceremony where objects are placed before the child to choose from. Neither affects the timing. If the child has any dietary restriction, follow it — no classical text requires a specific food over a child's health.
Can annaprashan and namkaran be combined?
They are separate samskaras with separate windows — naming falls around the eleventh day, first feeding around the fifth to seventh month — so they cannot genuinely share a date. Where a naming was delayed to the first birthday, some families perform both together at that point, which is a compression of convenience rather than a classical option.
Related occasions
How these annaprashan dates were computed
Tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana are read at sunrise in New Delhi from a Lahiri sidereal ephemeris; the Sun's sidereal sign drives the solar-month exclusions and the Sun–Venus and Sun–Jupiter separations drive the asta (combustion) bars.
The tests are Annaprashan's own, listed in full on the Annaprashan hub: 12 of the twenty-seven nakshatras carry its star bonus, 8 of the fifteen tithis its tithi bonus, and 4 weekday lords its weekday bonus. Across 2026's 365 sunrises those three were met on 161, 195 and 209 days, and 27 days cleared every bar and still scored 6 or better. Beyond the bars every act on this site carries, annaprashan additionally rules out the waning fortnight outright and Tuesday and Saturday as weekdays. Where a family practice differs from what is written here, the family practice governs.
Written and maintained by Savan Vyas. Corrections are welcome — a rule we have applied wrongly is a bug, and we would rather hear about it.
For a full personalised muhurat matched to your own birth chart, ask Soma on AskSoma.