Chaitra Navratri
Goddess Durga
When it falls
The date shifts because it tracks the moon, not the Gregorian calendar.
Calculated for India (IST) using precise Panchang astronomy. Dates can shift by a day at locations far to the east or west.
The spring Navratri and the start of the new year
Chaitra Navratri falls in the bright fortnight of Chaitra, the first month of the Hindu lunar calendar, in early spring. Navratri means "nine nights" (nava ratri), and over these nights the Goddess Durga is worshipped in nine forms known together as the Navadurga — from Shailaputri on the first night to Siddhidatri on the ninth. Because it opens the lunar year, its first day is also kept as the new year in several regions, marked as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The nine forms of the Goddess and the broad meaning of the festival are the same as the better-known autumn Navratri — the remembrance of Durga's victory over the buffalo-demon Mahishasura, fought over nine nights. What sets the spring festival apart is its close: the ninth day is Ram Navami, kept as the birthday of Rama. So while the autumn nine nights end in the Goddess's victory on Vijaya Dashami, the spring nine nights end in the birth of Rama, and the two threads — Devi worship and the Rama tradition — sit together in this one festival.
Of the year's four Navratris, the spring and autumn ones are the two widely observed by households. Chaitra Navratri is kept most strongly across North and West India and is generally a quieter, more home-and-temple-centred occasion than the large public dances and pandals of autumn. The autumn counterpart is Sharad Navratri.
Rituals & observance
Observance centres on daily worship of the Goddess and fasting, kept mostly at home and in temples rather than in large public gatherings. Common practices include:
- Ghatasthapana (kalash sthapana) on the first morning — installing a consecrated pot of water, often with barley sown in soil around it, to invoke the Goddess for the nine days. This is the formal start of the festival and is done within a fixed auspicious window; the recommended time this year is {{muhurat.pujaTime}}.
- Daily puja to the nine forms of Durga, one form per night, with lamp, flowers and the recitation of texts such as the Durga Saptashati (Devi Mahatmya) or the Durga Chalisa.
- Fasting (vrat) for some or all nine days — many keep a single meal a day or eat only fruit, milk and non-grain "vrat" foods, avoiding grains, onion and garlic.
- On the eighth and ninth days — Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami — special offerings and, in many homes, Kanya Pujan, where young girls are honoured and fed as embodiments of the Goddess.
- Closing on the ninth day with Ram Navami, kept as the birth of Rama with readings from the Ramayana and visits to Rama temples.
- In Maharashtra and the southern states, beginning the day with new-year observances — raising the gudi or preparing Ugadi pachadi — since the first day of Chaitra Navratri is also the lunar new year.
Regional variations
How this date is determined
Observed on the Pratipada tithi of Chaitra (Shukla paksha), reckoned by sunrise (udaya tithi). Should the tithi fall across two days, tradition keeps the earlier day (purva-viddha).
Dates are computed to astronomical precision (NASA/JPL ephemeris), in line with traditional panchang.
