Quick answer: The Nanda Devi Mela is the September fair held around Nanda Ashtami, which in 2026 falls on Saturday, 19 September. The main mela is at the Nanda Devi temple in Almora, running roughly five days across the days before and after the Ashtami — approximately 16–20 September 2026. The Nanda Devi Mahotsav of Nainital, at the Naina Devi temple above the lake, runs about a week over the same stretch. Exact opening dates are fixed each year by the local mela committees, usually announced in late August.
Nanda Ashtami is the ritual day. The Nanda Devi Mela is what the ritual day turns into when a whole town shows up for it — five days of banana-stem idols, a palanquin carried through a bazaar, a fairground, and the largest crowds of the Kumaoni year. Most people searching for "Nanda Devi Mela" want the second thing: where to go, which days, what actually happens. This page is that. For the tithi, the goddess and the meaning of the worship, see Nanda Ashtami 2026.
Nanda Devi Mela 2026 Dates
Everything is anchored to Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami — Nanda Ashtami — which in 2026 falls on Saturday, 19 September. The melas open in the days before it and close on or just after it.
| Mela | Where | 2026 window | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanda Devi Mela, Almora | Nanda Devi temple, old bazaar | approx. 16–20 September | 5 days (sometimes 7) |
| Nanda Devi Mahotsav, Nainital | Naina Devi temple, Mallital | approx. 13–19 September | about a week |
| Bhowali, Ranikhet, Kot | Local Nanda temples | around 19 September | 2–3 days |
| Johar valley (Munsyari, Milam, Martoli) | Village Nanda shrines | around 19 September | 1–3 days |
A word of caution on those dates, because you will find sites quoting them with a confidence nobody in Almora actually has. The Ashtami date is fixed and reliable — 19 September 2026. The mela windows around it are set annually by the temple and mela committees, and they shift by a day or two depending on how the tithis fall and how the committee schedules the cultural programme. Treat the windows above as the expected shape, and confirm the opening date in the first week of September. The Almora committee and the Nainital Shri Nanda Devi Mahotsav samiti both publicise the schedule locally and in the regional press before the fair.
If you only have one day: go on the Ashtami itself, 19 September, which is when the dola procession runs.
The Almora Mela
Almora is the historic centre and, by common agreement, the main fair. It is held at the Nanda Devi temple in the middle of the old bazaar — not on a fairground outside town, but in the dense heart of it, which is much of what makes it feel the way it does.
The temple was built in the seventeenth century by Dyot Chand, and the fair is traced back further, to Raja Kalyan Chand in the sixteenth. Nanda was the kul devi — the family goddess — of the Chand dynasty who ruled Kumaon from Almora, and that is the reason a Himalayan mountain goddess is also a town goddess with a bazaar temple. The mela is, in a real sense, a surviving piece of Chand court ritual that the town simply kept doing after the court was gone.
The rhythm of the days runs roughly like this. It opens with the selection and ceremonial bringing-in of the banana plants (kadali) from which the idols are made — a procession in its own right. Over the next day, artisans shape the trunks into the figures of Nanda and her sister Sunanda, dress and ornament them, and paint the faces. The idols are consecrated before dawn, worshipped through the middle days, carried out in the dola on the Ashtami, and immersed at the end. Nothing is kept. Next September, new plants, new idols.
Attendance runs to roughly twenty-five thousand people over the fair. The bazaar around the temple becomes impassable in the evenings, in the specific way a hill-town bazaar does — vertical, stepped, with the crowd moving in one direction because there is no room to move in two.
The chowki the goddesses are seated on, the fresh geru ground, the white rice-paste patterns around the shrine — this is Kumaon's ritual art at its largest public scale. The visual vocabulary is decoded in our guide to the Saraswati chowki and in the ritual significance of Aipan.
The Nainital Mahotsav
The Nanda Devi Mahotsav of Nainital is held at the Naina Devi temple at the northern end of Naini lake, in Mallital. It is the other great gathering, and for many visitors the more accessible one — Nainital is easier to reach and easier to stay in than Almora.
Nainital's version runs longer, around a week, and leans harder into the cultural-programme side: folk music and dance, school and college performances, local artists, stalls, an evening schedule that runs late. The same banana-stem idols of Nanda and Sunanda are made and worshipped, the dola goes around the lake town, and the fair closes with the immersion — a ceremony held here in continuous form since 1918.
There is a genealogy worth knowing if you are standing in that temple: Naina Devi is a Shakti Peeth, the site where Sati's eyes are said to have fallen, and the town, the lake and the temple all take their name from it. Nanda Devi — the peak, the goddess — is understood locally as her sister. The Nanda mela in a Naina temple is not a coincidence of scheduling. It is a family visit.
The Dola Procession
On the Ashtami the goddesses travel. The dola — the decorated palanquin carrying Nanda and Sunanda — is lifted and carried out, through the Almora bazaar and around the lake in Nainital, with the crowd singing the Nanda geet as it passes.
The emotional logic of the whole festival is in this procession, and it is worth understanding before you watch it. Nanda is a married daughter, and the mela is her mait — her visit to her parents' house. The dola is the daughter being shown her home. The immersion at the end is the send-off back to her husband's house, and the songs at that point are farewell songs. People cry at them. The ballads sung around the dola — Nanda's life, her marriage, her longing for the hills — are among the oldest continuously sung material in the Kumaoni language, carried by the same oral tradition that keeps the Holi geet alive.
The Smaller Melas
Almora and Nainital are the big two, but the Nanda melas are a regional network, not two events:
- Bhowali — a substantial fair in its own right, close enough to Nainital to combine.
- Ranikhet and Kot (Dangoli) — town and hill melas with their own dolas.
- Bageshwar — a Nanda observance in the town better known for its January Uttarayani mela.
- Kichha and the plains towns — the Kumaoni diaspora's own melas, held by families who came down from the hills.
- The Johar valley — Munsyari, and the high hamlets of Milam and Martoli, where the Nanda observance is at its most remote and least touristed.
Distinct from all of these is the Nanda Devi Raj Jat — the great pilgrimage of the Garhwal side, a roughly 280-kilometre trek held once every twelve years, sometimes called the Himalayan Mahakumbh. It is not an annual mela and it is not the September fair. The next Raj Jat is expected in 2027, having been postponed from 2026. If you are searching for the Raj Jat, that is a different event on a different mountain side; the annual Kumaoni melas described here happen every September regardless.
Going to the Mela
Some practical notes, given that mid-September in Kumaon is the tail of the monsoon.
Almora sits at 1,638 m and is roughly 3 hours by road from Kathgodam, the nearest railhead. Nainital is about 1,400 m and an hour and a half from Kathgodam. Pantnagar is the nearest airport for both. Book accommodation well before the fair — the mela is a peak week in both towns and rooms go early, particularly in Nainital where the fair overlaps the end of the tourist season.
Expect rain. Mid-September is the monsoon's closing stretch; the hills are green, the air is cool, and the stone bazaar streets get slippery. Carry rain protection and shoes with grip rather than an umbrella you will not be able to open in the crowd.
For the crowd itself: the dola day is the busiest by a wide margin. If you want to see the ritual rather than the back of someone's head, go to the temple early on one of the middle mornings, when the idols are being worshipped and the crowd is thin, and come back for the procession.
FAQ
When is the Nanda Devi Mela in 2026?
The Nanda Devi Mela is held around Nanda Ashtami, which falls on Saturday, 19 September 2026. The Almora mela runs approximately 16–20 September and the Nainital Mahotsav for about a week over the same stretch. Exact opening dates are set by the local mela committees and announced in late August or early September.
Where is the main Nanda Devi Mela held?
At the Nanda Devi temple in the old bazaar of Almora. It is the historic centre of the festival, going back to the Chand kings who took Nanda as their family goddess. The Nanda Devi Mahotsav in Nainital, at the Naina Devi temple by the lake, is the other major gathering.
How many days does the Nanda Devi Mela last?
The Almora mela typically runs five days, occasionally seven. The Nainital Mahotsav runs about a week. Smaller melas at Bhowali, Ranikhet, Kot and in the Johar valley last one to three days.
What is the difference between Nanda Ashtami and the Nanda Devi Mela?
Nanda Ashtami is the ritual day — Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami, 19 September in 2026. The Nanda Devi Mela is the multi-day fair held around it, with the banana-stem idols, the dola procession, cultural programmes and a fairground. One is the tithi, the other is the event built on it.
Why are the idols made of banana stems?
The idols of Nanda and Sunanda are shaped fresh each year from banana plant (kadali) trunks, dressed, ornamented and painted, then immersed at the end of the fair. Nothing permanent is kept — the goddess who is treated as a visiting daughter comes each year and leaves each year.
Is the Nanda Devi Raj Jat the same as the Nanda Devi Mela?
No. The Raj Jat is a 280-kilometre pilgrimage on the Garhwal side, held once every twelve years, next expected in 2027 after being postponed from 2026. The Nanda Devi Mela is the annual September fair of Kumaon at Almora, Nainital and other towns.
नंदा देवी मेला 2026 कब है? (When is Nanda Devi Mela 2026?)
नंदा देवी मेला 2026 में नंदा अष्टमी — शनिवार, 19 सितम्बर — के आसपास लगता है। अल्मोड़ा का मुख्य मेला लगभग 16 से 20 सितम्बर तक और नैनीताल का नंदा देवी महोत्सव लगभग एक सप्ताह चलता है। सही तारीखें स्थानीय मेला समिति सितम्बर की शुरुआत में घोषित करती है।
What should I see if I only have one day?
Go on the Ashtami itself, 19 September, when the dola procession carries Nanda and Sunanda through the town. If you want to see the ritual without the crush, add a quiet early morning at the temple on one of the days before.