Durga Ashtami 1997
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:53
- Sunset17:36
- Fasting window (tithi)06:23 → 1997-10-10 · 05:23
- Parana (tithi ends)05:231997-10-10
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 1997
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 1997
- Vasant Panchami — 11 February 1997
- Maha Shivaratri — 7 March 1997
- Holika Dahan — 23 March 1997
- Holi — 25 March 1997
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 8 April 1997
- Ram Navami — 16 April 1997
- Akshaya Tritiya — 9 May 1997
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 6 July 1997
- Guru Purnima — 20 July 1997
- Nag Panchami — 8 August 1997
- Raksha Bandhan — 18 August 1997
- Krishna Janmashtami — 24 August 1997
- Hartalika Teej — 5 September 1997
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 6 September 1997
- Anant Chaturdashi — 15 September 1997
- Pitru Paksha begins — 17 September 1997
- Sharad Navratri begins — 2 October 1997
- Maha Navami — 10 October 1997
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 11 October 1997
- Karwa Chauth — 19 October 1997
- Dhanteras — 28 October 1997
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 30 October 1997
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 30 October 1997
- Govardhan Puja — 1 November 1997
- Bhai Dooj — 2 November 1997
- Chhath Puja — 6 November 1997
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 14 November 1997
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 14 November 1997
- Hindu Festivals 1997 →