Durga Ashtami 1961
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:57
- Sunset17:28
- Fasting window (tithi)1961-10-16 · 22:55 → 21:13
- Parana (tithi ends)21:13
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 1961
- Makar Sankranti — 13 January 1961
- Vasant Panchami — 21 January 1961
- Maha Shivaratri — 13 February 1961
- Holika Dahan — 2 March 1961
- Holi — 3 March 1961
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 17 March 1961
- Ram Navami — 25 March 1961
- Akshaya Tritiya — 17 April 1961
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 14 July 1961
- Guru Purnima — 27 July 1961
- Nag Panchami — 16 August 1961
- Raksha Bandhan — 26 August 1961
- Krishna Janmashtami — 1 September 1961
- Hartalika Teej — 13 September 1961
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 14 September 1961
- Anant Chaturdashi — 23 September 1961
- Pitru Paksha begins — 25 September 1961
- Sharad Navratri begins — 10 October 1961
- Maha Navami — 18 October 1961
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 19 October 1961
- Karwa Chauth — 27 October 1961
- Dhanteras — 5 November 1961
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 7 November 1961
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 7 November 1961
- Govardhan Puja — 9 November 1961
- Bhai Dooj — 10 November 1961
- Chhath Puja — 14 November 1961
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 22 November 1961
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 22 November 1961
- Hindu Festivals 1961 →