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Sharad Navratri, the great autumn festival of the Goddess, begins on the Pratipada tithi of the Shukla Paksha of Ashwin and runs for nine nights, culminating in Vijayadashami (Dussehra) on the tenth day. This year the nine nights fall in October 2026 — consult the panchang for your city for the exact Ghatasthapana day and muhurat, since the tithi at sunrise decides the calendar locally.
The Devi Mahatmya tells of the Goddess battling Mahishasura for nine nights and conquering him on the tenth. Inwardly, the nine nights map a devotee’s own journey: the first three nights honour Durga/Kali, who destroys our tamas — inertia, fear, old patterns; the middle three honour Lakshmi, who fills the cleared space with abundance and harmony; the final three honour Saraswati, who crowns the journey with wisdom. Destruction of the lower, cultivation of the higher, dawning of the light — in that order, every year.
Each night worships one form of Nava Durga: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri. Devotees dress the altar in each day’s traditional colour and offer the form’s particular bhog — your panchang lists the sequence for the year.
1. Ghatasthapana with sankalp. On the first morning, establish the kalash and sow the barley — and state one inner intention for the nine nights: one pattern you ask the Goddess to take from you.
2. A steady daily sadhana. Light the lamp morning and evening; recite the Durga Saptashati (or just its Devi Kavacham), or chant Om Dum Durgayai Namah 108 times daily. Nine consecutive days of one practice does what scattered years cannot.
3. Fast to refine, not to suffer. The Navratri fast — fruits, milk, vrat foods — is for lightness and alertness in sadhana. Keep it to your capacity, and keep the stricter fast of speech: nine days without harsh words is a worthy offering to the Mother.
4. Kanya pujan. On Ashtami or Navami, young girls are worshipped as living forms of the Devi and fed with honour — the tradition’s reminder that reverence for the Goddess must translate into reverence for her daughters.
5. Vijayadashami: act. The tenth day is for beginnings — new learning, new ventures, the first step you have been postponing. Victory in the outer world is the festival’s closing blessing.
Many devotees also choose Navratri — the most Shakti-charged window of the year — for a dedicated Durga puja against negative energies, performed in their name when heaviness, fear, or repeated disturbances have clouded the home. You can see the full vidhi and book it on our Durga Puja for Negative Energy page, or browse all online pujas. May the Mother walk you through all nine nights.
