Navratri Explained: Nine Nights, Nine Forms of Durga and How the Days Are Counted

Navratri means "nine nights". It is a festival of the goddess Durga in her many forms, observed from the first (Pratipada) to the ninth (Navami) tithi of the bright fortnight of a lunar month. Four Navratris are described in the tradition: Chaitra Navratri in spring, Sharad (Shardiya) Navratri in autumn, and two Gupta ("secret") Navratris in Ashadha and Magha. Chaitra and Sharad Navratri are the two celebrated widely, and Sharad Navratri, which leads into Dussehra, is the larger public festival.

Each night is dedicated to one form of the goddess, collectively called Navadurga:

• Day 1 — Shailaputri, daughter of the mountain (Himalaya)
• Day 2 — Brahmacharini, the goddess in her austere, devoted form
• Day 3 — Chandraghanta, with a crescent moon shaped like a bell on her forehead
• Day 4 — Kushmanda, associated with the creation of the cosmos
• Day 5 — Skandamata, mother of Skanda (Kartikeya)
• Day 6 — Katyayani, the warrior form
• Day 7 — Kalaratri, the fierce form who destroys fear and darkness
• Day 8 — Mahagauri, the radiant, fair form
• Day 9 — Siddhidatri, the giver of accomplishments

On the first day many households perform Ghatasthapana (or Kalash Sthapana): a pot (ghata) filled with water is installed at the puja space as the seat of the goddess, and barley or wheat seeds are sown in a shallow tray so that green shoots grow through the nine days. Many families also light an akhand jyoti, a lamp kept burning through the festival.

Almanacs give a preferred window for Ghatasthapana on the Pratipada tithi, usually in the morning, and many also note that a time when the Chitra nakshatra or Vaidhriti yoga is in effect is better avoided. If those windows overlap the tithi awkwardly, Abhijit Muhurat is commonly used.

Many people fast for all nine days, for the first and last day, or only on certain days. A common observance avoids grains, onion, garlic and non-vegetarian food, and uses foods such as fruit, milk, sabudana, kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara flour, and rock salt. Fasting is a personal choice: pregnant women, older people and anyone with a medical condition should adapt or skip a strict fast, and a simple one-meal or fruit-based observance is broadly accepted.

The eighth and ninth days are especially important in North India. Many families invite young girls, seen as embodiments of the goddess, to their home, wash their feet, offer a meal (often halwa, chana and puri) and give small gifts. This is called Kanya Puja or Kanjak. Some households do it on Ashtami and others on Navami, according to family custom.

The same nine nights are celebrated very differently across India. In Gujarat, nights are spent in Garba and Dandiya dances. In Bengal, the Durga Puja is centred on the last five days — Shashthi to Dashami — with large pandals and the goddess's immersion on Vijayadashami. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, families arrange steps of dolls (Golu or Bommala Koluvu) and Mysuru's Dasara is a royal-heritage celebration. In Himachal Pradesh, the Kullu Dussehra begins on Vijayadashami itself. In much of South India, the ninth day is also the time of Saraswati Puja and Ayudha Puja, when books and tools are worshipped.

Navratri is counted by tithi, not by civil days. A tithi can be short enough to be skipped between two sunrises (kshaya) or long enough to cover two sunrises (vriddhi), so the festival sometimes spans eight or ten calendar days even though it is still called Navratri. The date of Vijayadashami (Dussehra), the tenth day, is likewise worked out from the Dashami tithi rather than by adding a fixed number of days.