Sharad Navratri 2027: Nine Nights of Durga, Dates and Puja

The goddess’s autumn victory

Of the four Navratris in the Hindu year, the autumn one is the most widely kept, which is why it is often simply called Navratri. Its central text is the Devi Mahatmya, also known as the Durga Saptashati, a part of the Markandeya Purana. It tells how the gods, overrun by the buffalo demon Mahishasura, pooled their radiance into a single goddess, Durga, who fought him and slew him; tradition counts the battle as nine nights long, with victory on the tenth day.

The same text tells of her other battles. As Yoganidra she releases Vishnu from his sleep so that he can destroy the demons Madhu and Kaitabha, and in her final campaign she defeats Shumbha and Nishumbha with the help of Kali and the Matrikas. Reciting all seven hundred verses of the Saptashati during these nights is a central devotion in many homes and temples.

Bengal adds another memory. The Krittivasi Ramayana, the Bengali retelling of Rama’s story, says that Rama worshipped the goddess in autumn before his battle with Ravana, waking her outside her usual season, so the autumn worship is called Akal Bodhan, the untimely awakening. Across much of the North the same nights are Ramlila season, and the tenth day celebrates Rama’s victory as well as Durga’s.

When the nine nights begin, and why they can be eight or ten

Sharad Navratri begins on Pratipada, the first tithi of Shukla paksha in Ashvin, and its nine days run to Navami, with Vijayadashami following on Dashami. As a bright-fortnight festival it carries the same month name in purnimanta and amanta calendars. It usually begins in late September or in October, and that opening day is what people mean when they search “Navratri kab se hai”.

The key timing on the first day is ghatasthapana, the installation of the sacred pot. Classical guidance prefers the first third of the day after sunrise while Pratipada is current, avoiding stretches touched by Chitra nakshatra or Vaidhriti yoga; when that cannot be managed, Abhijit muhurta around midday is used instead. The full kalash procedure is the same in spring and autumn and is explained in detail on our Chaitra Navratri page.

Because tithis vary in length, one may be skipped altogether (kshaya) or may span two sunrises (vriddhi). Navratri can therefore last eight or ten days rather than nine, and Ashtami or Navami can shift by a day from one calendar to another. The dates and Pratipada timings on this page are worked out for New Delhi; a local panchang gives the exact ghatasthapana muhurat for your own city.

Ghatasthapana and the daily worship

On Pratipada morning a kalash of clay, copper or brass is filled with water and set on a bed of soil sown with barley, then crowned with mango leaves and a coconut wrapped in red cloth, and the goddess is invoked into it. Many families light an akhand jyoti, a lamp kept burning without a break for all nine days, and watch the barley sprouts, the jaware, grow beside the kalash.

Each day is dedicated to one of the nine forms of Durga, the Navadurga, with puja and aarti morning and evening and a reading from the Durga Saptashati. Many devotees fast for all nine days, or only on the first and last, eating fruit, milk and dishes of buckwheat, water-chestnut or amaranth flour cooked with rock salt. Tradition allows a lighter fast for the elderly, the unwell and expectant mothers.

On Ashtami or Navami, according to family custom, comes kanya pujan. Young girls, often nine of them and frequently joined by a small boy who represents Bhairava, are welcomed as forms of the goddess; their feet are washed, they are fed halwa, puri and black chana, and they leave with small gifts. On Dashami the kalash is ritually concluded and the sprouts are shared or immersed as the festival passes into Vijayadashami.

Observances kept through the nine nights

Traditionally the house is cleaned before Pratipada and the kitchen stays sattvic for the whole festival, without onion, garlic, meat or alcohol. Many people avoid cutting hair or nails during the nine days, and those keeping a strict vrat may sleep on the floor and observe celibacy.

Honouring women and girls is treated as part of the worship, since the goddess is seen in every kanya. Where an akhand jyoti burns, someone usually stays at home so that it is never left unattended. In Maharashtra a colour is assigned to each day, and many women dress in the day’s colour; elsewhere, families visit Devi temples on at least one of the nine evenings.

Durga Puja, Garba, Golu and Dasara

Bengal’s Durga Puja comes fully alive on Shashthi with bodhan, the ritual awakening of the goddess. At dawn on Saptami the Nabapatrika, nine plants bound around a banana stem and draped in a sari as the Kola Bou, is bathed and set beside the image. Ashtami brings pushpanjali, the morning offering of flowers, and Kumari Puja, while Sandhi Puja is performed in the 48 minutes spanning the junction of Ashtami and Navami, with 108 lamps and 108 lotuses. Navami follows, and on Dashami married women play Sindoor Khela, smearing vermilion on the goddess and on one another, before the immersion.

Gujarat dances. Each night people circle the garbo, a lamp set inside a perforated clay pot, in Garba, and later swing into Dandiya Raas with painted sticks. In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh families arrange Golu or Bommai Kolu, dolls displayed on an odd number of steps, and visit one another in the evenings to share sundal. Mysuru Dasara honours Chamundeshwari, the city’s guardian goddess, and ends with a grand procession on the tenth day.

Telangana celebrates Bathukamma, in which women build cone-shaped stacks of seasonal flowers and circle them singing, from Mahalaya Amavasya to Durgashtami. In Kerala books are placed before the goddess for pooja vaippu, Saraswati Puja and Ayudha Puja fall on Navami, and children are initiated into letters on Vijayadashami. North India keeps jagratas, all-night sessions of devotional song, and stages Ramlila across the nine evenings.

Sun in Virgo and a waxing Moon: astrological notes

Sharad Navratri unfolds in Sharad ritu, the autumn season, close to the equinox, while the Sun moves through Virgo (Kanya) towards Libra (Tula). The month of Ashvin takes its name from Ashvini nakshatra, near which its full moon falls.

Throughout the festival the Moon is waxing: its lead over the Sun grows from 0° at the start of Pratipada to 108° at the close of Navami. The steadily brightening Moon is often read as the goddess’s strength gathering towards victory.

In the Muhurta Chintamani list the deity of Pratipada is Agni, apt for a festival that opens by lighting a lamp; Ashtami belongs to Shiva and Navami to Durga herself, which gives the last two days their special weight. Navami is also a Rikta tithi. The first half of Shukla Ashtami carries Vishti karana (Bhadra), a point detailed panchangs note alongside the Ashtami timings.