Śāradā Navarātri is the year's principal Navarātri: nine nights of Devī worship from Āśvina Śukla Pratipadā through Navamī, closing into Vijayadaśamī. Its textual core is the Devī Māhātmya, the Durgā Saptaśatī, which recounts the Goddess's three great battles against Madhu and Kaiṭabha, against Mahiṣāsura and against Śumbha and Niśumbha. South Indian tradition maps that threefold structure onto the nine nights, giving the first three to Durgā, who removes vice, the middle three to Lakṣmī, who grants prosperity, and the last three to Sarasvatī, who grants wisdom. How the day is fixed: Navarātri begins on the day when Āśvina Śukla Pratipadā prevails at local sunrise, the day after Mahālaya Amāvāsyā. The nine nights run through Navamī, and Vijayadaśamī follows on the tenth day. Keep in mind: The days within the nine nights, such as Sarasvatī Pūjā, Durgāṣṭamī and Mahānavamī, follow their own tithi and nakṣatra rules, and some regions begin Sarasvatī Pūjā on Mūla nakṣatra. Because everything is tested at local sunrise, follow the dates your local pañcāṅga gives for each day. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Worship at home: Households light a lamp for the Goddess each evening and recite the Lalitā Sahasranāma, the Durgā Aṣṭottara Śatanāmāvali or, where possible, the whole Devī Māhātmya. Many set up a kalaśa or ghaṭa on the first day and worship it through the nine nights. Golu, garbā and the regional customs: Tamil Nadu's golu sets dolls of gods, mythological scenes and everyday life on tiered steps, and evening visits to neighbours' displays with golu songs and sundal are part of the observance itself. Elsewhere the same nights bring Bathukamma in Telangana, the paṭṭada gombe in Karnataka, garbā and dāṇḍiyā in Gujarat, the ghaṭ and bhoṇḍlā in Maharashtra, and Durgā Pūjā in Bengal and Odisha. The last days: The nine nights culminate in Sarasvatī Pūjā and Āyudha Pūjā, when books, instruments and tools are placed before the Goddess, and close into Vijayadaśamī. In Kerala the books rest untouched through Mahānavamī and children are initiated into letters on Vijayadaśamī morning. Worth remembering: Mahāṣaṣṭhī, Durgā Saptamī, Durgāṣṭamī and Mahā Navamī fall within these nine nights but carry their own rites and are kept as separate days. Vasanta Navarātri in Caitra is a different Navarātri, and Vijayadaśamī is its own festival on the day after Navamī. The same nine nights take very different shapes across the country: doll steps in the South, the Goddess's alaṅkāras at Vijayawada and the palace at Mysuru, pūjavaippu and Vidyārambham in Kerala, community garbā in Gujarat, the ghaṭ and the Devī temples of Tuljapur and Kolhapur in Maharashtra, and pandal Durgā Pūjā in Bengal and Odisha. Which texts are read, which days are fasted and how the nights are closed differ from family to family. Keep the nine nights as the elders of your own house have kept them.
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