Datta Jayanti 2026: the birthday of Dattatreya
Datta Jayanti is the birthday of Dattatreya, kept on the full moon of Margashirsha. The birth is marked at dusk, and in many Marathi homes the Gurucharitra is read through the week before.
When it falls next
Datta Jayanti in each region
What Datta Jayanti is
Dattatreya is held to be Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in one form, born to the sage Atri and to Anasuya. He is pictured with three faces and six arms, with a cow behind him and four dogs at his feet, under an audumbar tree.
He is worshipped as the guru of gurus. Shripad Shrivallabh and Narasimha Saraswati are revered as his forms, and the Gurucharitra, which tells their lives, is the book of the tradition.
He is also remembered as the wandering teacher who learned from twenty-four gurus in the world around him, the earth, the wind, the sea, the bee and a child among them, as the Bhagavata tells.
How families keep it at home
Many families read the Gurucharitra over the seven days that end on the full moon, a parayan kept with simple food and early rising.
On the day, an image or the padukas of Datta are worshipped. At dusk, the hour of his birth in the tradition, the birth is marked with a cradle, flowers and the Datta aarti, "Trigunatmak Traimurti".
Sunthavada, a sweet of dry ginger, and a meal are offered, and the family chants "Digambara Digambara Shripad Vallabh Digambara".
Many keep a fast on the full moon itself, and temples hold an annadan, a meal given to every visitor, which the tradition counts among the day's best offerings.
How it differs by region
In Maharashtra the great gatherings are at the Datta kshetras, Narsobawadi and Audumbar on the Krishna river, and at many Datta temples in towns.
Ganagapur in Karnataka, Pithapuram in Andhra Pradesh and Girnar in Gujarat keep the day with large fairs.
In Gujarat pilgrims climb Girnar to the footprints of Datta at its peak, and in many Marathi towns the day closes a week of bhajans and kirtans.
How its date is set
Datta Jayanti is the purnima of Margashirsha, kept on the day the purnima holds at dusk, the hour of the birth.
Read the Datta aarti, "Trigunatmak Traimurti", sung at the birth, at dusk.