🌸 Chaitra Navratri (Gudi Padwa / New Samvat) Puja Vidhi — step by step
The nine-day household vidhi — Ghatasthapana (with the new year), daily puja, Kanya Pujan, havan and Rama's birth on Ashtami/Navami; the Gudi/Ugadi customs below.
How to do Chaitra Navratri (Gudi Padwa / New Samvat) — the steps
- On Pratipada after sunrise (or in Abhijit — time above) Ghatasthapana: sow barley in an earthen tray, a water kalash (betel nut, coin, akshat, durva), mango leaves, a chunari-wrapped coconut; the Durga picture, red cloth; akhand jyoti (or a lamp morning and evening); sankalp.
- The new year custom (the same morning): a toran of mango and ashoka leaves at the door, rangoli, a flag/gudi (Maharashtra); prasad of neem shoots, jaggery, mishri and black pepper (bitter, sweet, pungent — the new year with every taste); listening to the panchang/year forecast (the family together); bowing to the elders.
- Every morning and evening: lamp and incense, the bhog of that day's Goddess, Durga Saptashati/Chalisa, aarti; water to the jawara; the fast — fruit/sattvik (nine days, or the first and last, or Ashtami).
- Tritiya: Gangaur (Rajasthan-Malwa — a separate page); Chaturthi-Panchami: Vinayaka Chaturthi, Lakshmi Panchami (some traditions); Shashthi: Skanda Shashthi — Katyayani.
- Ashtami (Durgashtami/Ashokashtami): Kanya Pujan — 9 girls + 1 boy, feet washed, halwa-poori-chana, dakshina and gifts; 8 ashoka leaves with water (Ashokashtami — the end of sorrow); many homes break the fast on Ashtami.
- Navami (Ram Navami): havan — 'Om Dum Durgayai Namah Swaha' + the name of Rama; Rama's birth at noon — a cradle for the Ram Darbar, panjiri-panchamrit, 'Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram'; Kanya Pujan (for those whose custom is Navami); cut the jawara and share in the family, sprinkle the kalash water; paran.
- On Dashami immerse the kalash, jawara and idol (water/plant) — the end of Navratri.
- Homes keeping Ugadi/Gudi Padwa: oil bath (abhyanga), new clothes, the gudi (a silk cloth, neem, flowers, jaggery and a copper lota on a bamboo) at the door, shrikhand-puran poli/Ugadi pachadi-bobbatlu, the panchang reading.
Puja samagri checklist
The Sharad Navratri samagri + the new year's neem-jaggery and toran/gudi.
- Kalash, earthen tray + soil + barley, mango leaves, coconut, chunari, mauli, betel nut, coin, durva
- Maa Durga picture/idol, red cloth, wooden seat, lamp and ghee for the akhand jyoti
- Roli, akshat, turmeric, kumkum, sandalwood, flowers (red hibiscus-marigold), garland
- New year: neem shoots, jaggery, mishri, black pepper, carom seeds (prasad); mango-ashoka leaves (toran); rangoli; items for the flag/gudi (bamboo, silk cloth, copper lota, garland)
- The new panchang/year forecast
- Bhog: the nine days' bhog (ghee, sugar, milk, malpua, banana, honey, jaggery, coconut, chana-halwa), the panjiri-panchamrit of Ram Navami
- Kanya Pujan: halwa-poori-chana, dakshina, gifts; 8 ashoka leaves
- Havan: kund, mango wood, havan samagri, ghee, coconut; a cradle for the Ram Darbar
- Durga Saptashati/Chalisa, Ramcharitmanas (Bal Kand — Rama's birth)
Nine days of fasting food, the neem-jaggery prasad, the panjiri of Ram Navami
The fasting food is like Sharad Navratri (kuttu-singhara-sabudana-fruit-rock salt); the neem-jaggery-mishri prasad on the first day; the coriander panjiri and panchamrit of Rama's birth on Navami; the Gudi Padwa-Ugadi kitchen in Maharashtra and the south.
- New year prasad: neem shoots + jaggery + mishri + black pepper + carom (north); Ugadi pachadi — neem flowers, jaggery, tamarind, raw mango, salt, chilli (six tastes); Gudi Padwa — neem-jaggery balls, shrikhand-poori, puran poli
- The nine days' bhog: 1 ghee · 2 sugar · 3 milk/kheer · 4 malpua · 5 banana · 6 honey · 7 jaggery · 8 coconut · 9 halwa-poori-chana
- Fasting food: sabudana khichdi, kuttu/singhara poori, potato, curd, fruit, makhana kheer, sama rice
- Ram Navami: coriander panjiri (dry coriander powder, ghee, sugar, makhana-dry fruits), panchamrit, saffron rice, boondi; in Tamil Nadu neer-mor (buttermilk) and panakam (jaggery water) — a cooling bhog for Rama in the summer
- Kanya prasad: semolina halwa, black chana, poori
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Ghatasthapana on Pratipada after sunrise/in Abhijit — table and time above
- Neem-jaggery, toran, the panchang reading and bowing to elders on the new year's morning
- Sattvik living for nine days; Kanya Pujan on Ashtami/Navami without fail
- The birth aarti at noon on Ram Navami, panjiri-panchamrit
- Respectful immersion on Dashami; share the jawara
❌ Don't
- Never leave the akhand jyoti unattended; do not move the kalash
- No grain, salt, onion or garlic in the fast; no cutting hair and nails
- Navratri is incomplete without Kanya Pujan — even 2 girls suffice
- Do not force the neem prasad on children — a tiny symbolic bit
- The pregnant/unwell should avoid waterless fasts and havan smoke
Vrat katha
Brahma Purana: on this Chaitra Shukla Pratipada Brahma began the creation and with the sunrise the reckoning of time (the samvatsara) began — hence this day is the Hindu new year; later King Vikramaditya of Ujjain starte… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When does Chaitra Navratri {Y} start and end?
The day-by-day table is above — from Pratipada (Ghatasthapana, new year) to Ram Navami; the middle days are counted from the Pratipada and may shift by a day on tithi kshaya/vriddhi; the Navami is firm from the panchang.
Which Hindu new year (Vikram Samvat) begins?
The new Vikram Samvat begins on this Pratipada (the samvat number in the date strip above) — the Common Era year + 57; along with it a new samvatsara name (a cycle of 60 names); the Shaka Samvat from Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (or 22 March), CE − 78.
Why are Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Chaitra Navratri on the same day?
All fall on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (the first day of the lunar year) — the gudi in Maharashtra, Ugadi in the south, Navratri Ghatasthapana in the north; occasionally the span of the Amavasya creates a one-day difference.
What is the difference between Sharad and Chaitra Navratri?
The Goddess worship is the same; Chaitra (Vasanti) is joined by the new year and Ram Navami, Sharad by Dussehra and Durga Puja; Sharad is celebrated with more pomp, Chaitra is more a home fast. Two more Gupt Navratris (Magha, Ashadha) belong to sadhaks.
Why eat neem and jaggery?
Preparing the body for the new season (neem purifies the blood, jaggery gives strength) and a symbol of accepting the bitter and the sweet of life with equanimity — the six tastes of Ugadi pachadi are an extension of this.
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