Across traditions
Hindu households observe it with guru puja; Buddhist monasteries mark Asalha Puja and begin the vassa rains retreat; Jain temples mark Mahavira's first initiation. It is one of the few days observed by all three.
Loading page
गुरु पूर्णिमा
The day for teachers — and for Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas.
This date has passed
Guru Purnima 2026
No login needed to share or download anything on TyoharHub.
Ashadha Purnima (full moon of the Hindu month of Ashadha)
Guru Purnima is the day for honouring teachers and spiritual guides, observed on the full moon of Ashadha. In 2026 it falls on 28 July. It is dedicated to Ved Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas, the Mahabharata and the Puranas, which is why the day is also called Vyasa Purnima.
The observance is universal across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions, each for its own reason. Buddhists mark it as the day the Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath and the day he was born and attained nirvana, which in the Theravada calendar makes it Asalha Puja and the start of the vassa, the rains retreat. Jains mark it as the day Mahavira made his first disciple, Gautama Swami.
The ritual itself is simple: visit or call your guru or teacher, offer gratitude and a small gift, and touch their feet. In ashrams and schools, the day is marked with puja, a discourse, and a charity. For most people today it is a day to call the teachers who mattered, which is a genuinely useful social function.
Copy any message in one tap. Written by hand, not pulled from a quote database.
In the order a household actually does them.
Set up a puja with an image of Vyasa or your guru, offer flowers, fruit and a coconut, and recite the Guru Stotram or the Guru Gita.
Visit your teacher, physically or in spirit, with a small gift. In the Indian tradition the gift is intentionally simple — fruit, a shawl, or a book.
Donate books, stationery or money to a school or a student. Since the day honours the transmission of knowledge, education-related charity is the most on-theme act.
Attend the temple for chanting and the dhamma talk, and mark the start of the rains retreat. Offer robes and requisites to monks.
This is where most festival sites give one national answer to a question that has several.
Hindu households observe it with guru puja; Buddhist monasteries mark Asalha Puja and begin the vassa rains retreat; Jain temples mark Mahavira's first initiation. It is one of the few days observed by all three.
Guru puja at home and ashrams, with the Guru Gita and Guru Stotram recited, and visits to teachers.
Observed as Vyasa Purnima with puja and the recitation of the Guru Stotram and the Bhagavad Gita in temple settings.
Widely observed as Guru Purnima and Asalha Puja, with Buddhist monasteries in the region beginning their rains retreat on this day.
Gift categories, honestly described — not a list of sponsored products.
The most appropriate Guru Purnima gift — a book for the teacher is the traditional offering, especially a text they have wanted.
Suits: teacher, student, mentor
Sponsoring a student's books or donating stationery to a school is the charity most directly tied to the meaning of the day.
Suits: school, student, community
The classical guru dakshina: a simple shawl, a fruit box, or a puja item. Deliberately modest rather than expensive.
Suits: teacher, elder, mentor
TyoharHub does not currently use affiliate links. These are plain links to a marketplace search, with no tracking attached. We earn nothing from them. Read the full disclosure.
Including a note on why each dish belongs to this festival.
The standard Guru Purnima prasad across traditions — simple to make in large quantities for a school, ashram or community meal.
About 50 minutes
Ingredients
Every page below has its own content — we do not publish empty topic pages.
Guru Purnima falls on 28 July 2026, on Ashadha Purnima.
It honours Ved Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas, Mahabharata and Puranas. Buddhists mark the same full moon as the day the Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, and Jains mark Mahavira's first initiation.
It is named after Ved Vyasa, who is credited with compiling the four Vedas, the eighteen Puranas and the Mahabharata. Teachers and gurus are honoured on his day.
The Buddhist observance on the same full moon, marking the Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath. In Theravada traditions it begins the vassa, the three-month rains retreat for monks.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026. This page covers a regionally specific festival — where practices differ, they are described separately rather than averaged. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.