BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi in Diwali 2026: Puja, Aarti, Annakut Display & More

BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi on Diwali 2026

In this guide, you will find the 2026 programme day by day, a look back at last year with the mandir's own videos, and a full section on the Maha Annakut. After that comes the practical help, from booking and the online puja to what to wear and how to get there from Dubai.

ALSO READDiwali in Dubai 2026 🪔14 GUIDES

START HEREDiwali in Dubai 2026: Date and Where to Celebrate

Celebrate Diwali in Dubai6 to 10 Nov · events on

Diwali Celebrations in DubaiDiwali Fireworks in DubaiGlobal Village Drone ShowDiwali Parties in DubaiDiwali Events for Kids

Diwali Food and ShoppingDinners 29 Oct to 15 Nov

Diwali Dinner in DubaiDiwali Shopping in Dubai

Diwali at the TemplesPujas 6 to 10 Nov

Hindu Temples on DiwaliHindu Temple Dubai

BAPS Mandir Abu DhabiREADING NOW

Diwali at Home and at WorkOrder early

Diwali Party at HomeDiwali Catering in DubaiCorporate Diwali Gifts

BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi Diwali 2026 Schedule, Day by Day

BAPS Hindu Mandir is the carved stone temple at Abu Mureikhah, on the motorway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Diwali is its biggest week of the year. Over five days, it will hold an online puja, a Diwali night puja and three days of the Maha Annakut. Each day is set out below.

Friday 6 November, Dhanteras

Dhan Puja, online only. The Dhan Puja is a prayer to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, for wealth and well-being. This year you will follow it from home, and it will end at 10pm. The start time, how to join and what to set out at home are in the section on watching the Dhanteras puja online, further down.

Sunday 8 November, Diwali

Mandir darshan, 9am to 9pm. Darshan means seeing the deities and praying before them. On Diwali, the mandir will stay open an hour later than usual, so families have more time to pray together.

Diwali Puja, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. This puja at the mandir asks for a good year ahead. Business families have a special reason to come. You can bring your office ledgers and account books to be blessed, as traders have done for generations. A place costs AED 251 for up to four family members. You book it on the mandir's Diwali page.

Sunday 8 to Tuesday 10 November, Maha Annakut

Maha Annakut darshan, 9am to 8pm. Volunteers will cook hundreds of vegetarian dishes and lay them out before the deities. This year the display will have a theme of sacred birds carrying the offerings. The mandir will even open on Monday 9 November, a day it is normally closed. You will find more about the Annakut, with videos, further down.

Tuesday 10 November, Hindu New Year

New Year's darshan, 9am to 8pm. For many Gujarati families, Tuesday is the first day of the new year. They will come to pray, give thanks for the year gone by and see the Annakut on its last day.

What Happened at BAPS Mandir at Diwali 2025

More than 60,000 people came over Diwali 2025. It was only the mandir's second Diwali, and its own report says many visitors were seeing Diwali for the first time. Diwali fell on Monday 20 October that year. The week went like this.

Dhanteras, Saturday 18 October. The Dhanteras puja was online only, from 7.20pm to 8.20pm.

Diwali, Monday 20 October. Prayers went on from morning to evening, and the Diwali prayers ran from 7.30pm to 8.30pm. The best moment came after dark. This was Sharda Pujan, the blessing of account books. Families and business owners placed hundreds of account books, and even laptops, before the deities. Priests sang Vedic hymns and blessed the books with flower petals and grains of rice. Swami Brahmaviharidas, who heads the mandir, spoke to the gathering.

Hindu New Year, Wednesday 22 October. People came early in the morning for the first arti of the year. In an arti, or aarti, lamps are waved in circles before the deities. Later in the day, the mandir offered an annakut of hundreds of vegetarian dishes.

Maha Annakut, Saturday and Sunday 25 and 26 October. Thousands came to see the "great annakut", the biggest display of the week. It was open from 9am to 9pm.

Music, chanting and classical dance, through the week. These cultural programmes were free with your visit, and they took place in two spots:

• Abhishek Mandap: the hall where visitors pour water over a small murti (sacred image) as a prayer
• Ganga Ghat: the steps by the water channel outside

Kids' Diwali, Saturday 1 November. This was a separate festival day planned around children. The mandir has not announced a children's day for 2026.

5:04

With small children, a weekday slot will likely be calmer than the weekend. For more family outings, see our guide to Diwali events for kids in Dubai.

The Maha Annakut at BAPS Hindu Mandir

Annakut means "a mountain of food". It is a huge offering of vegetarian dishes made to God. Families give thanks for the year's food and start the new year with gratitude. The idea comes from an old story. Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill to shelter the villagers, and they thanked him with a mountain of food. After the darshan, the food is shared as prasad, blessed food.

At BAPS Abu Dhabi, the Annakut is also a work of art. In 2025, volunteers and families cooked hundreds of dishes and sweets at home. They shaped them into sacred trees from India, one in front of each of the mandir's seven shrines:

The 2025 display also had models of UAE landmarks, all made from sweets and savoury dishes:

• Burj Khalifa: the world's tallest building, in Dubai
• Louvre Abu Dhabi: the art museum under its great dome
• Ferrari World: the theme park on Yas Island
• An Emirates plane: a model of the Dubai airline's jet

This year the theme will change to sacred birds carrying the offerings.

Offer an Annakut thali

Your family can be part of the offering too. Through Annakut Thali Seva, you choose a shrine and pay for one or more thalis, or plates of food. Seva means service, and the thalis are offered in your family's name. You book it on the mandir's Diwali page, and you still need a visit booking as well. These are the prices:

• Farsan (savoury snacks): AED 151
• 1 thali: AED 251
• 2 thalis: AED 501
• 5 thalis: AED 1,001
• 11 thalis: AED 2,501
• 25 thalis: AED 5,001
• 51 thalis: AED 11,001
• A whole shrine: AED 25,001

You can choose one of seven shrines:

• Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan: the central deity of BAPS
• Shri Radha Krishna: Krishna with Radha, his beloved
• Shri Padmavati Shrinivas: Lord Venkateswara, or Balaji, with his consort
• Shri Jagannath: the form of Krishna worshipped at Puri
• Shri Sita Ram: Rama with Sita, whose return home Diwali celebrates
• Shri Parvati Shankar: Shiva with Parvati
• Shri Ayyappa Swami: the deity of Sabarimala in Kerala

Watch the Maha Annakut

The mandir films its Annakut every year. In the 2025 film, skip to 0:56 to see the trees, and to 5:05 to see how the food is made.

14:28

The 2024 film comes from the mandir's first Diwali. It explains what the Annakut means, and from 1:58 it shows how the offering was made.

12:35

Last year, the Maha Annakut came on the weekend after Diwali. This year it will start on Diwali day itself, Sunday 8 November, and stay for three days. For smaller crowds, go on Monday 9 or Tuesday 10 November.

How to Register for BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi at Diwali

Every visitor must book ahead, and the mandir does not allow walk-ins. Booking is free. You can do it on the mandir's website or in the Mandir Abu Dhabi app, on Google Play and the App Store. Book each person separately, and only after you arrive in the UAE.

The Diwali Puja and the Annakut thalis have their own booking, on the mandir's Diwali page. They do not count as a visit booking. So if your family is joining the 6.30pm Diwali Puja, you make two bookings: one for the puja, and a visit booking for every person.

1. Open the booking page. Go to mandir.ae/book-visit, which opens visit.mandir.ae, or use the Mandir Abu Dhabi app.
2. Choose the day and time. Weekend slots and Diwali night go first, so book those early.
3. Add each visitor. Enter names and details exactly as on each person's Emirates ID or passport.
4. Save every QR code. Keep one per person on your phone, or print them.
5. Bring the physical ID. An Emirates ID card or passport for each person. A photo of it is not enough.
6. At the gate. Show the QR code and ID, then go through the security check.

Is There an Entry Fee at BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi?

No. Entry is free, at Diwali and all year. You only pay for the extras. The price of the Diwali Puja on Sunday 8 November depends on the size of your family:

• 1 to 4 family members: AED 251
• 5 to 8: AED 502
• 9 to 12: AED 753
• 13 to 16: AED 1,004

Annakut thalis start at AED 151.

How to Watch the Dhanteras Puja Online

Open the mandir's Diwali page, mandir.ae/diwali, at the start time on Friday 6 November. The "join online" button in the mandir's puja guide leads straight there. The puja will be online only, and it will end at 10pm UAE time.

When does it start? The mandir's own pages give two different times. Its Diwali web page says 8.50pm. Its downloadable puja guide says 8.30pm, and so does The National. Be ready at 8.30pm, and check the mandir's Instagram, @abudhabimandir, on the day.

Before the puja begins, set out these things at home. They come from the mandir's guide:

• a murti or picture of God
• a ghee diya, a small lamp that burns ghee
• an aarti lamp and a bell
• a low table covered with a red cloth
• sweets and four whole fruits
• mukhwas, a mouth freshener of seeds
• a Lakshmi coin or some jewellery
• a plate of rice, flowers and kumkum (red powder)

BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi Timings and Aarti Time

The mandir is open from 9am to 8pm, Tuesday to Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. Diwali changes this. On Sunday 8 November it will stay open from 9am to 9pm. On Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 November it will be open from 9am to 8pm, so you can visit on the Monday too.

The Ganga Aarti is an evening prayer at the Ganga Ghat. The ghat sits beside channels that carry water from the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in India. After dark, the aarti lamps glow over the water. At weekends, arrive 20 to 30 minutes early, because the security check takes time.

BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi Dress Code

Cover your shoulders and knees. The mandir is strict about this, and security can turn away anyone whose clothes are not suitable. These are not allowed:

• shorts and skirts above the knee
• sleeveless tops
• tight or see-through clothes
• very shiny clothes
• noisy accessories
• clothes with slogans

Got it wrong on the day? Do not worry. You can buy a sarong at the front desk and wrap it over your clothes.

What You Cannot Bring Into BAPS Mandir

This list is stricter than at most temples. It includes water, food, fruit, flowers and even prasad, which many families bring as an offering. For Diwali, the mandir also asks you not to bring bags or belongings inside. Leave them in the car or in the cloakroom. If you get hungry, there is a food court on site, and wheelchairs are available too. You can take photos on your phone for personal use.

How to Reach BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi From Dubai: Bus, Car and Parking

The easiest way from Dubai is by car or taxi. Take Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Road (E11) towards Abu Dhabi and leave at Exit 366. It takes about 40 minutes from Jebel Ali. From central Dubai, allow up to 90 minutes in traffic. Parking is free, right next to the mandir.

There is no direct bus from Dubai, so the bus only makes sense if you are already in Abu Dhabi. Bus 203 runs at weekends only. If you plan to take it on Monday 9 November, check first.

Many families visit more than one temple over Diwali. For the temples in Jebel Ali and Bur Dubai, see our guide to Diwali at Hindu temples in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.