Navratri

The nine nights of the Devi, kept in their principal form twice a year — Chaitra Navratri in spring and the Shardiya Navratri of Ashwin, which is the great public one. It begins with ghatasthapana on Pratipada, moves through the nine forms of Durga one day at a time, and closes with kanya pujan on Ashtami or Navami; Vijayadashami follows the ninth night. Many keep the full nine-day vrat on phalahar, others fast only the first and last days — both are accepted practice. It is a parv of the whole household as much as a personal vrat.

Next date: 2026-10-11

vidhi

On Pratipada morning, bathe, clean the puja space in the north-east corner, and take the sankalp for the nine days — the full vrat, or the first and last day, whichever you are keeping.,Do ghatasthapana: spread clean soil in a wide earthen tray, sow barley in it (the khetri), and seat a water-filled kalash on it with moli tied at its neck, mango leaves at its mouth, and a chunari-wrapped coconut resting on them.,Place the murti or picture of Durga beside the kalash, offer a red chunari, and light the lamp — an akhand jyoti only if the house can tend it for all nine days; a fresh lamp morning and evening is equally complete.,Worship the day's form on each of the nine days — Shailputri to Siddhidatri in order — with red flowers, akshat, sindoor, dhoop and the bhog associated with that day.,Chant the Navarna mantra one hundred and eight times daily, and read the Durga Saptashati — or the Durga Chalisa where the Saptashati is not possible.,Do aarti morning and evening; sprinkle a little water on the khetri daily and let the barley grow through the nine days.,On Ashtami or Navami, by your family's tradition, do kanya pujan: wash the feet of nine young girls, apply tilak, feed them puri, chana and halwa, and give dakshina; a small boy is fed with them as the batuk.,On Navami do hawan with the Saptashati or the Navarna mantra, and at the close immerse the khetri in water or lay it at the root of a tree before breaking the vrat.

katha

Mahishasura, the buffalo demon, had won a boon from Brahma that no man or god could kill him, and on its strength he drove the devas out of Swarg. Their anger and helplessness poured out as a single mass of light, and from that tejas a woman took form — Durga. Each god placed his own weapon in one of her hands: Shiv his trishul, Vishnu his chakra, Vayu his bow, Indra his vajra; Himalaya gave her a lion to ride. For nine nights she and Mahishasura fought, he changing shape again and again — buffalo, lion, elephant, man — until on the last night she pinned the buffalo beneath her foot and severed his head. The nine nights of that battle are Navratri; the victory that followed is Vijayadashami.\n\nThe Shardiya Navratri carries a second thread. Ram is held to have worshipped Durga in the month of Ashwin, before the crossing to Lanka — out of season, which is why it is called akaal bodhan, the untimely awakening — and to have received her blessing for the war. That is why Dussehra, the day of Ravan's defeat, falls immediately after the ninth night. And the nine forms worshipped day by day, Shailputri to Siddhidatri, are held to be nine stages of the same one Shakti.

mantra

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samagri

A Durga murti or picture, and a red chunari to offer,An earthen kalash, clean soil and barley (jau) for the khetri,Coconut, mango leaves, moli and a red cloth for the kalash,Red flowers — hibiscus where possible — sindoor, akshat, chandan and dhoop,Ghee lamp with cotton wicks; extra ghee and a long wick if an akhand jyoti is being kept,Durga Saptashati or Durga Chalisa for the daily path,Fruit, mishri and the day's bhog; puri, chana and halwa for kanya pujan,Hawan samagri, mango wood and camphor for the Navami hawan

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