🔱 Sharad Navratri Puja Vidhi — step by step
Ghatasthapana on day one, puja every morning and evening, Kanya Pujan and havan on Ashtami/Navami — this is the household vidhi.
How to do Sharad Navratri — the steps
- Ghatasthapana (Pratipada): bathe in the morning and clean the puja place. Fill an earthen tray with soil and sow barley (jawara); place a water-filled kalash on or beside it — put betel nut, a coin, akshat and durva in the kalash; on its mouth place 5 mango leaves and a coconut wrapped in red cloth/chunari and tied with mauli.
- Install Maa Durga's idol/picture beside the kalash on a red cloth; offer a chunari. The best time for Ghatasthapana is in the morning of Pratipada after sunrise, or in Abhijit Muhurat — see above. Installation is avoided in Chitra nakshatra and Vaidhriti yoga; if that is the case, do it in Abhijit.
- Akhand jyoti: light a ghee or oil lamp that stays lit for nine days — a home that cannot keep an akhand jyoti may light a lamp morning and evening; that is fully valid.
- Take the sankalp — 'I will keep Maa Durga's vrat with faith for nine days (or as many days).' Then worship Ganesha, the kalash and the Goddess with roli, akshat, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya.
- Every morning and evening: lamp and incense, flowers, bhog (of that day's Goddess), a reading of Durga Saptashati (or at least Kavach-Argala-Kilak and Siddha Kunjika Stotra) or Durga Chalisa, and the aarti 'Jai Ambe Gauri'. Sprinkle a little water on the jawara daily.
- Kanya Pujan on Ashtami or Navami: invite 9 girls aged 2-10 and 1 boy (langur/Bhairav); wash their feet, seat them, apply tilak and kalava, serve poori-chana-halwa, give dakshina and gifts (chunari, bangles, handkerchief), touch their feet and see them off.
- Havan on Navami: in a havan kund with mango wood/cow-dung cakes offer ghee and havan samagri with 'Om Dum Durgayai Namah Swaha' or Saptashati mantras; end with purnahuti (coconut).
- Paran: break the fast after the Navami puja/havan or on Dashami morning after puja — according to your family tradition. Eat only after the girls have been fed.
- Dashami (Vijayadashami): sprinkle the kalash water in the house, cut the jawara and place it in the caps/behind the ears of the men of the family and give it to sisters and daughters, break a coconut/distribute prasad, and immerse the kalash, jawara and idol in a river/pond or in a plant at home.
Puja samagri checklist
Check this list a day before Ghatasthapana — items for Ashtami-Navami are listed separately at the end.
- Earthen kalash (or copper/brass) with lid
- Wide earthen tray + clean soil + barley (to sow the jawara)
- Mango leaves (5), coconut (with husk), red cloth/chunari
- Mauli (kalava), roli, kumkum, turmeric, akshat, betel nut, coin, durva
- Maa Durga idol/picture, red cloth for the seat, chunari, shringar items
- Large lamp for akhand jyoti, ghee/mustard oil, cotton wick
- Incense, agarbatti, camphor, aarti thali
- Flowers and garland (red hibiscus special), paan, cloves, cardamom
- Bhog — fruit, sweets, makhana, a different bhog for each of the nine days
- Durga Saptashati / Durga Chalisa book, aasan
- Kanya Pujan: poori-chana-halwa, dakshina, chunari/handkerchief/bangle gifts, tilak-kalava
- Havan: havan kund, mango wood/dung cakes, havan samagri, ghee, coconut for purnahuti
Nine days of fasting food and bhog
In the Navratri fast, grains, onion-garlic and ordinary salt are not taken — rock salt, buckwheat (kuttu), water-chestnut flour (singhara), sabudana, amaranth (rajgira), potato, fruit and milk-curd are allowed. One fruit meal during the day and a proper meal after the evening puja is the most common pattern.
- Morning: fruit, milk, makhana, dry fruits; afternoon: sabudana khichdi or kuttu poori + potato sabzi (rock salt) + curd
- After the evening puja: singhara-flour halwa, sama (vrat) rice kheer, potato-makhana sabzi, fruit chaat
- Bhog for the nine days: 1 cow's ghee · 2 sugar · 3 milk/kheer · 4 malpua · 5 banana · 6 honey · 7 jaggery · 8 coconut · 9 sesame/black chana-halwa-poori
- Kanya Pujan prasad: semolina halwa, black chana (dry, lightly spiced), poori — these three are the accepted set across North India
- Pregnant, diabetic or weak women should keep the fast with fruit, milk and curd, never a waterless one
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Do Ghatasthapana on Pratipada after sunrise, in the first third of the day or in Abhijit Muhurat
- Keep the home sattvik for nine days — no onion-garlic, no meat or alcohol, no quarrels
- Lamp, bhog and a reading every morning and evening — small, but regular
- Seat the girls with respect, feed them and touch their feet before they leave
- On Dashami sprinkle the kalash water in the house and share the jawara — it is the Goddess's blessing
❌ Don't
- Do not keep moving the kalash once installed; never leave the akhand jyoti unattended (safety)
- Cutting hair and nails, shaving, leather items — traditionally avoided during the fast
- Do not wear black for the puja
- A Navratri fast is considered incomplete without Kanya Pujan — if girls are hard to find, even 2 girls suffice
- Pregnant or unwell women should avoid waterless fasts and havan smoke — keep the fast with fruit
Vrat katha
The demon Mahishasura won a boon from Brahma that no man or god could kill him. Drunk with power he conquered heaven and drove out the gods. Then from the combined radiance of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh a divine feminine … Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When does Sharad Navratri {Y} start and end?
The day-by-day table above lists all of this year's dates from Ghatasthapana (Pratipada) to Vijayadashami — from panchang calculations using the udaya-tithi rule at Delhi sunrise.
What is the Ghatasthapana muhurat?
The first third of the day after sunrise in the Pratipada tithi (roughly 6:30-10 am) is best; otherwise Abhijit Muhurat (time given above). Avoid Chitra nakshatra and Vaidhriti yoga — if they are present, do it only in Abhijit.
Kanya Pujan on Ashtami or Navami?
Both are valid — Ashtami (Kanjak) is more common in Punjab-Delhi and Navami in eastern UP-Bihar. Follow your family custom; the girls should be aged 2-10 with one boy.
How to break the Navratri fast (paran)?
After the havan and Kanya Pujan on Navami, or on Dashami morning after puja — as per your tradition. First bhog to the Goddess, then the girls, then yourself.
What if I cannot fast all nine days?
Fasting on the first and last day (jode ka vrat), or only on Ashtami, is also sanctioned by the shastras. Faith and regularity matter, not the count of days.
Why is Navratri 8 days this year (or 10)?
When a tithi begins and ends between two sunrises (tithi kshaya) a day is lost, and when one tithi touches two sunrises (tithi vriddhi) a day is added. The Ashtami-Navami-Dashami dates above come straight from the panchang, so they are correct.
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