When is Navratri begins?
The answer
Sunday, 11 October 2026
Nine nights, Ashwin Shukla Pratipada.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Ashwin Shukla 1
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Thursday, 30 September 2027
Ashwin Shukla 1
Tuesday, 19 September 2028
Ashwin Shukla 1
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Nine nights from Ashwin Shukla Pratipada — nine because the fight between Durga and Mahishasura ran nine nights and he fell on the tenth day. The nine days belong to nine forms: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, Siddhidatri. There are four Navratris in a year; two are gupta and two — Chaitra and Ashwin — are kept by everyone. This is the Ashwin one, called Sharadiya Navratri.
The story behind it
The boon
Mahishasura's boon from Brahma was that no man could kill him. He did not think to name a woman — what threat could a woman be.
Heaven taken
On the strength of it he drove the devas out of heaven. They went to Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.
Born of their anger
The fire of the three anger came together and Durga stepped out of it. Every deva gave a weapon — Shiva's trident, Vishnu's chakra, Indra's vajra, the Himalaya's lion.
Nine nights
The fight ran nine nights. Mahishasura kept changing shape — buffalo, lion, elephant, man.
The tenth day
On the tenth, caught halfway out of the buffalo, he was killed by the trident. That day is Vijayadashami.
What to keep ready
- A clay pot, barley seed and clean sand, for the ghat sthapana
- A copper or clay kalash, Ganga water, mango leaves and a coconut
- Red chunri, red bangles, sindoor
- A brass lamp and pure ghee for the akhand deep — it burns nine days
- A copy of the Durga Saptashati
- Red flowers; hibiscus is the one wanted
- Shringar: bindi, kajal, mehndi, bangles
- The nine bhogs, one a day — ghee, sugar, milk, malpua, banana, honey, jaggery, coconut, sesame
- Halwa, puri and kala chana for the kanya bhoj on Ashtami or Navami
How the puja is done
1
Ghat sthapana
On the first day, inside Pratipada, in Abhijit muhurta or a good choghadiya. Sand in a clay pot and barley sown in it — it sprouts over the nine days and the sprouts themselves are read.
2
The kalash
The kalash stands on the barley pot: water, a coin, a supari inside; mango leaves at the mouth and a coconut wrapped in red cloth on top.
3
The unbroken lamp
Whoever takes the nine-day sankalp lights the lamp and does not let it go out. Top up the ghee before it runs low.
4
Each day
Each morning, the day's form named and worshipped, that day's bhog, a reading from the Saptashati or the Kavach, and the aarti.
5
Ashtami into Navami
Sandhi puja falls in the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 of Navami — the exact join at which Chanda and Munda were killed.
6
Kanya pujan
Nine girls between two and ten, and one boy as the Langur. Wash their feet, tilak, feed them halwa, puri and chana, then dakshina.
7
Visarjan
The kalash comes down on Dashami. The barley sprouts are kept in the house or given to running water — not thrown away.
What to do
- Use clean earth or sand for the barley and water it a little each day — by the ninth the sprouts should be green and thick.
- Take the akhand deep sankalp only if someone will be home for nine days. There is no fault if it goes out, but take the vow knowing that.
- Watch the girls' ages at kanya pujan — two to ten. One boy is counted in as Bhairav.
- Anyone keeping the fast lights the lamp morning and evening and stays on fruit.
- Kanya bhoj is on Ashtami or on Navami — one of the two, not both.
What not to do
- Do not leave the house empty through the nine days, least of all with the akhand deep burning.
- No onion, garlic, meat or drink in the house for nine days.
- No cutting of hair, beard or nails — the rule runs the whole nine days.
- Do not put the girls to any work at kanya pujan, and do not give some more than others.
- Keep black cloth and leather away from the puja place.
- The barley sprouts do not go in a bin — they go into water.
The aarti
Jai Ambe Gauri
जय अम्बे गौरी, मैया जय श्यामा गौरी।
तुमको निशिदिन ध्यावत, हरि ब्रह्मा शिवरी॥
माँग सिंदूर विराजत, टीको मृगमद को।
उज्ज्वल से दोउ नैना, चंद्रवदन नीको॥
कनक समान कलेवर, रक्ताम्बर राजै।
रक्तपुष्प गल माला, कंठन पर साजै॥
केहरि वाहन राजत, खड्ग खप्पर धारी।
सुर-नर-मुनिजन सेवत, तिनके दुखहारी॥
कानन कुंडल शोभित, नासाग्रे मोती।
कोटिक चंद्र दिवाकर, सम राजत ज्योति॥
शुम्भ-निशुम्भ बिदारे, महिषासुर घाती।
धूम्र विलोचन नैना, निशिदिन मदमाती॥
चौंसठ योगिनि गावत, नृत्य करत भैरों।
बाजत ताल मृदंगा, अरु बाजत डमरू॥
तुम ही जग की माता, तुम ही हो भरता।
भक्तन की दुख हरता, सुख सम्पत्ति करता॥
भुजा चार अति शोभित, वर मुद्रा धारी।
मनवांछित फल पावत, सेवत नर नारी॥
कंचन थाल विराजत, अगर कपूर बाती।
श्रीमालकेतु में राजत, कोटि रतन ज्योति॥
श्री अम्बेजी की आरती, जो कोई नर गावै।
कहत शिवानंद स्वामी, सुख सम्पत्ति पावै॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.