Sharad Navratri 2026 runs from Sunday, 11 October to Monday, 19 October, with Vijaya Dashami (Dussehra) on Tuesday, 20 October. Ghatasthapana is on the morning of 11 October. This is the autumn Navratri, distinct from the spring Chaitra Navratri, and the one publicly visible across India through the garba-dandiya nights of Gujarat, the pandals of Bengali Durga Puja, the Mysore Dasara procession in Karnataka, and the Ramlila stages of the Hindi belt. Below is the nine-day schedule, the parallel Durga Puja sequence at pandals, and how the regional traditions diverge.
The 2026 schedule
- Day 1 (Pratipada, 11 October): Ghatasthapana. Shailaputri.
- Day 2 (12 October): Brahmacharini.
- Day 3 (13 October): Chandraghanta.
- Day 4 (14 October): Kushmanda.
- Day 5 (15 October): Skandamata.
- Day 6 (16 October): Katyayani. Bilva Nimantran in Bengal.
- Day 7 (17 October): Kaalratri. Maha Saptami in Durga Puja.
- Day 8 (18 October): Mahagauri. Maha Ashtami; Kumari Puja in Bengal.
- Day 9 (19 October): Siddhidatri. Maha Navami; Sandhi Puja straddles Ashtami-Navami.
- Day 10 (20 October): Vijaya Dashami. Durga visarjan; Ravana effigies burned.
What the nine nights mark
Sharad Navratri is anchored to the Devi Mahatmya account of Durga’s nine-night battle with the buffalo demon Mahishasura. The text, embedded in the Markandeya Purana and recited daily through these nine days at Shakta shrines, narrates the demon’s tapas, his boon of invulnerability against male attackers, the gods’ creation of Durga from their combined energies, and her victory on the tenth morning. Vijaya Dashami is therefore the day of victory, and the public destruction of Ravana effigies in Ramlila tradition is a parallel reading: the Ramayana places Rama’s killing of Ravana on the same date.
Sharad Navratri sits at the equinox, the seasonal hinge between summer and winter. The early Shakta texts treat it as the most important annual concentration of Devi worship; the older Vasanta Navratri of Chaitra carries less public weight in most regions today, though it remains the canonical opening of the Hindu year.
Durga Puja in Bengal, day by day
The Bengali tradition observes Durga Puja over the last five days of Navratri, beginning on Shashthi and culminating in Dashami. The pandal-based public form, with the Durga-Mahishasura-killing tableau and her four children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, Kartikeya), is the dominant public expression of Sharad Navratri east of Bihar.
- Shashthi (Day 6, 16 October 2026): Bodhon and Adhibas; Durga is awakened with a Bilva tree invocation. The face of the idol is unveiled in the evening.
- Saptami (Day 7, 17 October): Navapatrika (nine-plant) bath at dawn; the kalabou (banana plant bride) is bathed in the Ganga and dressed as a bride.
- Ashtami (Day 8, 18 October): the principal anjali (flower offering by devotees); Kumari Puja, in which a young girl is worshipped as Durga; Sandhi Puja, the 48-minute window at Ashtami-Navami junction (typically late afternoon).
- Navami (Day 9, 19 October): Maha Aarti, balidaan (sacrifice) at certain traditional pujas with vegetable substitutes.
- Dashami (Day 10, 20 October): sindoor khela (married women smearing each other with sindoor), bisarjan (visarjan) of the idol in the river or pond.
Gujarati garba and Mysore Dasara
Gujarat’s expression of Sharad Navratri is garba and dandiya raas. Garba is danced around an earthen pot (garbo) with a lamp inside, treated as Devi’s womb-form. Dandiya raas, with paired sticks, is the partner-dance form danced after garba in many traditions. The largest organised events are in Vadodara and Ahmedabad, with the Gujarat government running official events at Surat, Vadodara and elsewhere. The dance is the principal nightly activity of the cycle; in many Gujarati households the dinner is light specifically so that garba can continue late.
Karnataka’s Mysore Dasara is a state-organised observance, with the Mysore Palace illuminated through the nine nights and a Jamboo Savari (elephant procession) on Vijaya Dashami carrying the Chamundeshwari idol from the palace to Banni Mantap. The Wodeyar lineage formalised this form in the 17th century; the state took it over after 1956 but the original ritual frame is preserved.
The Tamil Golu and the Maharashtrian Bhondla
Tamil and Telugu households arrange a Golu (also Bommai Kolu): a stepped display of dolls and figurines depicting devas, devis, saints and scenes of everyday life, displayed for the nine nights and dismantled on Vijaya Dashami. Saraswati Puja on Navami is the Tamil counterpart of Bengali Durga Navami; school children place their books and instruments before Saraswati on Navami evening and retrieve them after a Vijayadashami puja the next morning.
Maharashtra’s Bhondla / Hadga tradition is the older Marathi observance of Navratri: girls draw an elephant in rangoli, sing songs around it, and share food. Garba has arrived as an imported Gujarati form layered over this older base.
Common questions
Why are Durga Puja’s main days only the last five?
The Bengali Shakta tradition reads the Devi as invoked on Shashthi (the awakening) and departing on Dashami (the immersion). The first five days are Navratri proper but not Durga Puja in the Bengali sense; the pandal awakening is the boundary. Households outside Bengal usually treat all nine nights as actively ritual.
What is the Saraswati component on Navami?
In Tamil and Telugu households Navami is observed as Saraswati Puja: books, musical instruments and tools of one’s profession are placed before Saraswati and left untouched for the night. The next day (Vijaya Dashami) they are retrieved with a brief puja, often together with the start of new academic or musical learning. Vijayadashami is the most cited muhurat for vidyarambham (initiation into learning) for children.
Can the nine days be observed without garba or pandal visits?
Yes. The household form is a daily Devi puja at the home shrine, a Durga Saptashati path (Devi Mahatmya recitation, 700 verses), Kanya Puja on Ashtami or Navami, and a phalahara fast. The public garba and pandal forms are additions; the core household vidhi is sufficient.
One limitation worth noting
For what it’s worth, the most logistical-heavy aspect of Sharad Navratri is the visarjan day in big cities, when traffic restrictions for Durga Puja immersion processions in Kolkata and Ravana Dahan grounds in the Hindi belt close large parts of the road network. Plan around it. Specific neighbourhood pandal arrangements and immersion routes vary year to year; consult local civic notices closer to 20 October 2026.
For background, see Wikipedia on Navratri and the Drik Panchang 2026 Sharad Navratri calendar.
