Durga Ashtami 2011
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:51
- Sunset17:42
- Fasting window (tithi)2011-10-03 · 21:00 → 20:35
- Parana (tithi ends)20:35
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 2011
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 2011
- Vasant Panchami — 8 February 2011
- Maha Shivaratri — 2 March 2011
- Holika Dahan — 19 March 2011
- Holi — 20 March 2011
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 4 April 2011
- Ram Navami — 12 April 2011
- Akshaya Tritiya — 6 May 2011
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 3 July 2011
- Guru Purnima — 15 July 2011
- Nag Panchami — 4 August 2011
- Raksha Bandhan — 13 August 2011
- Krishna Janmashtami — 21 August 2011
- Hartalika Teej — 31 August 2011
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 1 September 2011
- Anant Chaturdashi — 11 September 2011
- Pitru Paksha begins — 13 September 2011
- Sharad Navratri begins — 28 September 2011
- Maha Navami — 5 October 2011
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 6 October 2011
- Karwa Chauth — 15 October 2011
- Dhanteras — 24 October 2011
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 25 October 2011
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 26 October 2011
- Govardhan Puja — 27 October 2011
- Bhai Dooj — 28 October 2011
- Chhath Puja — 1 November 2011
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 10 November 2011
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 10 November 2011
- Hindu Festivals 2011 →