Sharad Navratri 2026: Dates, Ghatasthapana Muhurat & Vidhi

Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday, 11 October with Ghatasthapana, and Vijayadashami (Dussehra) follows on Tuesday, 20 October. It starts the morning after Sarva Pitru Amavasya, which closes Pitru Paksha.

Key timings for New Delhi:

• Pratipada tithi: 9:20 pm on 10 October to 9:31 pm on 11 October
• Preferred Ghatasthapana window: 6:19 am to 10:12 am on 11 October (the first third of the day, while Pratipada lasts)
• Abhijit muhurat: 11:44 am to 12:31 pm on 11 October. Chitra nakshatra and Vaidhriti yoga run through the morning this year, and families who avoid them for Ghatasthapana use Abhijit muhurat instead
• Dussehra: Tuesday, 20 October

Sunrise and muhurat times shift by a few minutes, sometimes more, from city to city. If you are outside Delhi, check a local panchang or our daily panchang. You can also follow the countdown on our Sharad Navratri 2026 page.

Sharad Navratri falls in the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of Ashwin. Over nine nights, devotees worship the nine forms of Durga, known together as Navadurga. Many read the Durga Saptashati, keep a lamp burning through the nine days, sow barley in the kalash soil, and fast in whatever way their health and family practice allow.

The day list for New Delhi (India, IST) in 2026:

• Day 1, Sunday 11 October: Maa Shailputri (Ghatasthapana)
• Day 2, Monday 12 October: Maa Brahmacharini
• Day 3, Tuesday 13 October: Maa Chandraghanta
• Day 4, Wednesday 14 October: Maa Kushmanda
• Day 5, Thursday 15 October: Maa Skandamata
• Day 6, Friday 16 October: Maa Katyayani
• Day 7, Saturday 17 October: Maa Kalaratri (Maha Saptami)
• Sunday 18 October: Saptami continues at sunrise
• Day 8, Monday 19 October: Maa Mahagauri (Durga Ashtami) and Sandhi Puja. Many North Indian calendars also keep Maha Navami, Maa Siddhidatri, on this day
• Tuesday 20 October: Vijayadashami (Dussehra). Some calendars, including Bengal's, keep Maha Navami on this day

A note on Ashtami and Navami this year. The Saptami tithi touches two sunrises in 2026 (17 and 18 October), so Durga Ashtami in India is on Monday, 19 October. Navami tithi begins at 10:53 am the same day, which is why many calendars mark Maha Navami on 19 October too, while others keep it on Tuesday, 20 October. In the USA, Canada and the UK, Durga Ashtami falls on Sunday, 18 October. The tithi windows for New Delhi (IST) are:

• Ashtami: 8:29 am on 18 October to 10:52 am on 19 October
• Navami: 10:53 am on 19 October to 12:50 pm on 20 October
• Sandhi Puja (the junction of Ashtami and Navami): 10:27 am to 11:15 am on 19 October

Both practices are followed in good faith. Follow your family tradition or your local temple's calendar, and plan your fasts and Kanya Pujan accordingly.

Collect these a day before Ghatasthapana so the morning is calm:

• A kalash of copper, brass or clay
• Clean soil (or sand) and a wide clay pot or tray for sowing
• Barley (jau) seeds for the jaware
• Gangajal or clean water
• Five or seven mango leaves (or ashoka leaves)
• A coconut with its husk, and a red cloth or chunri to wrap it
• Supari (betel nut), a coin, akshat (unbroken rice), roli or kumkum, and haldi
• Mauli (the red-yellow sacred thread)
• A picture or idol of Maa Durga, and a red cloth for the chowki
• Red flowers, a garland, incense and camphor
• A ghee or oil lamp, with a glass chimney if you plan an akhand jyoti
• Fruit and a simple sweet for bhog
• Shringar items for the Devi if your family offers them: chunri, bangles, sindoor, bindi

Families differ in small details; use what is available and clean. Nothing here needs to be expensive.

As tradition describes it, a simple Ghatasthapana at home goes like this:

1. Bathe early, clean the puja space and place a chowki covered with a red cloth, facing east or north if you can.
2. Place the Devi's picture or idol on the chowki. Light the lamp and incense.
3. Spread a layer of soil in the clay pot, sprinkle the barley seeds, add another thin layer of soil and sprinkle a little water.
4. Tie mauli around the neck of the kalash, draw a swastika with roli, and fill it with Gangajal or clean water. Add supari, the coin, akshat and a little haldi.
5. Arrange the mango leaves around the mouth of the kalash. Wrap the coconut in red cloth, tie mauli around it and place it on the leaves.
6. Set the kalash on the soil, or beside the sown pot, as your family does.
7. Take sankalp: hold water, akshat and a flower, say your name, gotra and your intention for the nine days, and offer them.
8. Worship Ganesh first, then invoke Maa Durga in the kalash and the image: offer roli, akshat, flowers, the chunri and bhog.
9. Light the akhand jyoti if your family keeps one, and make sure someone can look after it for nine days.
10. Close with a Durga aarti such as Jai Ambe Gauri, and distribute prasad.

Water the barley lightly each day. By Navami the jaware are usually a few inches tall.

Each day, light the lamp, offer fresh flowers and bhog, and worship the form of the Devi for that day. Many families read a portion of the Durga Saptashati daily, while others recite the Durga Chalisa or the mantra Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu. The Mahishasura Mardini Stotram is also widely sung during Navratri. Evening aarti with the family is the simplest practice of all.

Fasting takes many forms, and all of them are traditional:

• Phalahar for all nine days: fruit, milk, and dishes of kuttu, singhara or rajgira flour, sabudana and potatoes, cooked with sendha namak.
• One meal a day, after the evening puja.
• Fasting only on the first and last days, or only on Ashtami.

Onion, garlic, regular grains and alcohol are traditionally avoided in homes that fast.

A plain safety note. If you are pregnant, diabetic, elderly, on regular medication or unwell, speak to your doctor before a strict fast. Tradition itself allows a lighter fast of fruit and milk for people who need it. Drink enough water; a fast is a discipline, not a way of harming the body.

Keep the akhand jyoti away from curtains and out of reach of children and pets, and never leave it unattended in a closed room.

Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami are the days of Kanya Pujan in most North Indian homes, when young girls are welcomed and honoured as forms of the Devi. Our Kanya Pujan guide covers the 2026 date question, the steps and the bhog.

Many families perform a havan on Ashtami or Navami, and Sandhi Puja is done at the junction of the two tithis, 10:27 am to 11:15 am on 19 October in New Delhi (IST). The jaware are offered to the Devi, and the fast is traditionally broken after Kanya Pujan or on Dashami, depending on family practice.

Vijayadashami falls on Tuesday, 20 October. The Dashami tithi begins at 12:51 pm and covers the afternoon, which is the classical time for the day's observances. Families immerse or respectfully move the kalash water and jaware, worship the Shami tree, and many do Shastra Puja. In North India, Ravana effigies are burnt in the evening to mark Rama's victory. In Bengal and the East, Vijaya Dashami is the day of Durga visarjan. You can follow the countdown on our Dussehra 2026 page.

After the kalash is removed, the water is traditionally sprinkled around the home and the rest poured into plants, and the coconut is shared as prasad.

If you are travelling, unwell or away from family during Navratri, you can have a Durga Pooja performed at a temple in your name. Our Durga Pooja includes the Durga Saptashati path, a red flower garland offering and a havan, and takes about an hour. You can book it at Kalkaji Mandir, one of Delhi's well-known Devi temples, or at Sree Vinayak Mandir. The booking form asks for your name, gotra (optional), date of birth, your wish and a preferred date. After the pooja, photos and a video are emailed to you, typically within 24 hours.

If you want an offering at one of the famous Devi shrines, an archana is available at Vaishno Devi, Kamakhya Devi and Jwala Ji, among others. A pandit there speaks your sankalp before the Devi and offers flowers and prasad in your name. At the time of writing it costs Rs 1,999 all inclusive, with photo proof by email. The prasad is offered at the temple, not couriered.

If you want a specific day such as Ashtami, book a few days ahead. Whatever you choose, the lamp you light at home and the Devi's name taken with a quiet mind are the heart of the festival.