Durga Ashtami 1956
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:55
- Sunset17:33
- Fasting window (tithi)1956-10-11 · 11:10 → 13:34
- Parana (tithi ends)13:34
Festival days follow the classical attribution rules — udaya (sunrise), pradosha (evening), nishita (midnight), madhyahna or aparahna vyapini as each festival prescribes — computed for Kashi/Varanasi (IST). Regional observance can differ by a day in some years.
Read the Durga Ashtami puja vidhi, vrat rules and kathaDurga Ashtami — Frequently Asked Questions
When is Durga Ashtami celebrated?
On the Ashtami of the Shukla Paksha of Ashvina — the eighth day of Sharad Navratri, in autumn, two days before Vijayadashami. For this year's date, see the date shown above.
What is Sandhi Puja?
The worship performed across the joining of Ashtami and Navami — the last ghati of the eighth tithi and the first of the ninth. It marks the moment Durga took the Chamunda form to slay Chanda and Munda, and is the high point of Durga Puja.
Is Kanya Puja done on Ashtami or Navami?
It is done on either, and many families keep it on Mahashtami. Young girls are worshipped as living forms of the goddess, their feet washed, fed bhog, and given a gift and dakshina.
How is Durga Ashtami different from Maha Navami?
Ashtami invokes the goddess's fiercest forms and carries the Sandhi Puja; Navami, the following day, completes the worship with the homa and Ayudha Puja before the victory of Dussehra.
Other major festivals in 1956
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 1956
- Vasant Panchami — 16 February 1956
- Maha Shivaratri — 10 March 1956
- Holika Dahan — 26 March 1956
- Holi — 27 March 1956
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 12 April 1956
- Ram Navami — 19 April 1956
- Akshaya Tritiya — 12 May 1956
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 9 July 1956
- Guru Purnima — 22 July 1956
- Nag Panchami — 10 August 1956
- Raksha Bandhan — 21 August 1956
- Krishna Janmashtami — 28 August 1956
- Hartalika Teej — 7 September 1956
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 8 September 1956
- Anant Chaturdashi — 19 September 1956
- Pitru Paksha begins — 21 September 1956
- Sharad Navratri begins — 5 October 1956
- Maha Navami — 13 October 1956
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 14 October 1956
- Karwa Chauth — 22 October 1956
- Dhanteras — 31 October 1956
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 1 November 1956
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 2 November 1956
- Govardhan Puja — 3 November 1956
- Bhai Dooj — 4 November 1956
- Chhath Puja — 8 November 1956
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 18 November 1956
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 18 November 1956
- Hindu Festivals 1956 →