Mahalaya Amavasya closes the ancestral fortnight on October 10 this year, and the very next morning the mood of the calendar flips completely. Devi Paksha opens. The kalash goes up, the barley is sown, the akhand jyot is lit, and for the next nine nights a large part of India runs on a different clock — early fasts, late garba, and a slow build towards Dussehra.
Here is the complete Navratri 2026 calendar: the dates, the Ghatasthapana window, the nine tithis with their Navdurga forms and colours, the Durga Puja schedule, and the one date discrepancy worth knowing about before you book anything.
When Is Navratri 2026?
Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday, October 11 and the nine days run through Monday, October 19. Vijayadashami — Dussehra — falls on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
This is the Ashwin, or autumn, Navratri, also called Shardiya Navratri or Maha Navratri. It is the biggest of the four Navratris in the Hindu year; the others are Chaitra Navratri in spring and the two Gupta Navratris in Magha and Ashadha, which are observed far more privately.
The start date is fixed by Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, the first tithi of the bright fortnight. In 2026 that tithi begins around 9:19 PM on Saturday, October 10 and ends around 9:30 PM on Sunday, October 11 (India time). Because it is prevailing at sunrise on the 11th, Sunday is unambiguously Day 1.
Ghatasthapana Muhurat 2026
Ghatasthapana — also called Kalash Sthapana — is the one ritual in Navratri with a genuinely narrow window. The rule in the scriptures is that the kalash must be installed in the first third of the day, while Pratipada is still running, and before Hindu midday. Afternoon, night and anything beyond sixteen ghatis after sunrise are ruled out.
| Window | Time (New Delhi) | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Ghatasthapana Muhurat | 6:19 AM – 10:12 AM, Sun Oct 11 | ≈ 3 hr 53 min |
| Abhijit Muhurat (fallback) | 11:44 AM – 12:31 PM, Sun Oct 11 | ≈ 47 min |
| Pratipada tithi | 9:19 PM Oct 10 – 9:30 PM Oct 11 | ≈ 24 hr |
These timings are calculated for New Delhi. The muhurat is derived from local sunrise, and sunrise varies by roughly forty minutes between the eastern and western edges of India, so the window shifts accordingly. Look it up for the city where the puja will actually happen.
One point worth flagging: in 2026 both Chitra nakshatra and Vaidhriti yoga overlap the morning window. Panchangs advise avoiding them for Ghatasthapana where possible, but they are not treated as prohibitive — the governing condition remains Pratipada before midday. Households that would rather sidestep them typically use the Abhijit muhurat instead.
Navratri 2026 Full 9-Day Calendar
Each day of Navratri is assigned to one of the nine forms of Durga, the Navdurga. The colour column is a popular modern custom — it rotates with the weekday on which Pratipada falls, which is why the sequence changes every year.
| Day | Date | Tithi | Goddess | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun, Oct 11 | Pratipada — Ghatasthapana | Shailputri | Orange |
| 2 | Mon, Oct 12 | Dwitiya | Brahmacharini | White |
| 3 | Tue, Oct 13 | Tritiya | Chandraghanta | Red |
| 4 | Wed, Oct 14 | Chaturthi | Kushmanda | Royal Blue |
| 5 | Thu, Oct 15 | Panchami — Lalita Panchami | Skandamata | Yellow |
| 6 | Fri, Oct 16 | Shashthi — Durga Puja begins | Katyayani | Green |
| 7 | Sat, Oct 17 | Saptami — Maha Saptami | Kalaratri | Grey |
| 8 | Sun, Oct 18 | Ashtami — Durga Ashtami | Mahagauri | Purple |
| 9 | Mon, Oct 19 | Navami — Maha Navami | Siddhidatri | Peacock Green |
| 10 | Tue, Oct 20 | Dashami — Vijayadashami | Visarjan / Ravan Dahan | — |
Why some calendars show Ashtami on October 19
If you search around, you will find a handful of sites listing Durga Ashtami on Monday, October 19 — the same day they list Maha Navami. That cannot be right on its face, since only one tithi can prevail at a given sunrise, and it usually traces back to a mis-resolved tithi table rather than a genuine regional variation.
The internally consistent reading — the one that also matches Mahalaya Amavasya on October 10, Durga Puja Shashthi on October 16 and Dussehra on October 20 — puts Ashtami on Sunday, October 18 and Navami on Monday, October 19. That is the calendar used above. If you are booking a purohit, a pandal slot or a Kanya Pujan, confirm against your own family panchang rather than the first calendar a search returns.
Durga Puja 2026 Dates
In Bengal, Odisha, Assam and the diaspora, the public festival is the last five days rather than all nine.
| Day | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Mahalaya | Sat, Oct 10 | Devi Paksha begins; Chandipath at dawn |
| Maha Shashthi | Fri, Oct 16 | Bodhon, Kalparambho, unveiling of the idol |
| Maha Saptami | Sat, Oct 17 | Navapatrika snan, pandal hopping begins in earnest |
| Maha Ashtami | Sun, Oct 18 | Pushpanjali, Kumari Puja, Sandhi Puja at the Ashtami–Navami junction |
| Maha Navami | Mon, Oct 19 | Navami homa, bhog, dhunuchi naach |
| Vijaya Dashami | Tue, Oct 20 | Sindur Khela, visarjan |
Sandhi Puja is the single most precisely timed ritual of the festival — the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 minutes of Navami, a 48-minute junction marking the moment Chamunda is said to have appeared to kill Chanda and Munda. Every puja committee publishes its own local timing; it is not a national clock time.
Ghatasthapana at Home: The Short Version
A full Navratri sthapana needs a purohit in many traditions, but the household version is straightforward:
- Clean the puja space and bathe before sunrise. Face east or north-east.
- Spread clean soil in a wide clay pot and sow sapta dhanya — the seven grains, barley most importantly. Water it lightly.
- Fill a copper or clay kalash with water, add a supari, a coin, akshat and durva; tie a moli around the neck.
- Place five or seven mango leaves at the mouth, then a whole coconut wrapped in red cloth on top.
- Set the kalash on the grain bed and invoke the Goddess with the Durga mantra you follow.
- Light the akhand jyot if your family keeps one — a lamp that stays lit for all nine days, which means someone has to be responsible for it.
The barley is expected to sprout over the nine days; a healthy green growth by Ashtami is read as an auspicious sign. Procedure and mantras differ by region and parampara — follow your family's version rather than a generic one.
Fasting Rules, Roughly
There is no single Navratri fast. Some keep nirjala or fruit-only fasts on Pratipada and Ashtami alone; others observe all nine days on a vrat diet. What the vrat diet usually excludes: grains and regular wheat flour, common salt, onion, garlic, alcohol and non-vegetarian food. What it usually allows: kuttu and singhara flour, samak rice, sabudana, potatoes, dairy, fruit and sendha namak in place of table salt.
This is a devotional practice, not a diet plan. Anyone pregnant, diabetic, on regular medication or recovering from illness should treat a nine-day fast as a medical question first — most traditions explicitly permit a modified observance, and a doctor's input matters more than a rule of thumb.
Kanya Pujan 2026
Kanya Pujan, or Kanjak, is usually performed on Ashtami, Sunday, October 18, and in many households on Navami, Monday, October 19 instead. Both are accepted. Nine young girls — and in most families one boy as Bhairav — are welcomed, their feet washed, tilak applied, and fed puri, kala chana and halwa before being given a small gift and sent off with blessings. For most fasting households this is also the meal that breaks the vrat.
How the Nine Nights Actually Look
Gujarat and Mumbai run on garba and dandiya, with ticketed grounds filling up from about 9 PM; local noise rules generally close them by midnight. Bengal empties into the streets for pandal hopping from Saptami. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh set up Golu or Bommai Kolu — tiered step displays of dolls — and neighbours visit each other through the week. In North India, Ramlila performances run nightly and end with the burning of Ravana's effigy on Dussehra. Mysuru's Dasara procession on Vijayadashami is the single largest public spectacle of the season.
What Comes Next
Vijayadashami on October 20 is considered one of the three-and-a-half abujh muhurats of the year — days on which any auspicious beginning needs no separate muhurat. New vehicles, new ventures, Vidyarambham, Ayudha Puja and Shami Puja all cluster there. After that the calendar runs on towards Sharad Purnima, Karwa Chauth and the Diwali fortnight in November.
Conclusion
Three dates cover most of what people actually need from this calendar: Ghatasthapana on Sunday, October 11, Ashtami on Sunday, October 18 and Dussehra on Tuesday, October 20. Everything else — the colours, the golu, the garba, the nine-day lamp — arranges itself around those. And given that the first and last fall on a Sunday and a Tuesday, with Ashtami on a weekend, 2026 is a kinder year than most for anyone trying to fit the whole thing around work.
For the rest of the season's calendar, see our guides to Pitru Paksha 2026, Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 and Hartalika Teej 2026. If the long weekend has you thinking about a temple trip, our list of the top 10 sacred places in India is a good starting point — several of the Shakti Peethas are at their busiest exactly now.
Panchang dates and muhurats are compiled from published almanac data and are indicative for India as a whole. Tithi, nakshatra and muhurat timings vary by city and by tradition; for local timings refer to an authoritative source such as Drik Panchang or your family priest.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Navratri start in 2026?
Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday, October 11 with Ghatasthapana on Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, and the ninth day falls on Monday, October 19. Vijayadashami, or Dussehra, follows on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
What is the Ghatasthapana muhurat for 2026?
For New Delhi, the Ghatasthapana muhurat on Sunday, October 11, 2026 runs from approximately 6:19 AM to 10:12 AM, with Abhijit muhurat as a fallback from about 11:44 AM to 12:31 PM. The window is calculated from local sunrise, so it shifts by city — check a panchang for your own location.
When is Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami in 2026?
Durga Ashtami falls on Sunday, October 18, 2026 and Maha Navami on Monday, October 19, 2026, with Vijayadashami on Tuesday, October 20. A few online calendars list Ashtami on October 19 because they resolve the tithi differently; confirm against your family panchang if you are booking a purohit.
What are the nine colours of Navratri 2026?
Because Navratri 2026 begins on a Sunday, the sequence is orange, white, red, royal blue, yellow, green, grey, purple and peacock green, running October 11 to 19. The colour custom is a popular modern practice tied to the weekday of Pratipada, not a scriptural rule.
When is Durga Puja 2026 in Kolkata?
The main Durga Puja days begin with Maha Shashthi on Friday, October 16, then Maha Saptami on October 17, Maha Ashtami on October 18, Maha Navami on October 19 and Vijaya Dashami with Sindur Khela on Tuesday, October 20. Mahalaya fell earlier, on Saturday, October 10.
On which day is Kanya Pujan performed in 2026?
Most families perform Kanya Pujan on Ashtami, Sunday, October 18, and some on Navami, Monday, October 19. Either is accepted — the choice is a family tradition rather than a rule, and the fast is usually broken after the girls have been fed.