Durga Ashtami 2013
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:54
- Sunset17:34
- Fasting window (tithi)2013-10-11 · 17:34 → 15:24
- Parana (tithi ends)15:24
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 2013
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 2013
- Vasant Panchami — 15 February 2013
- Maha Shivaratri — 10 March 2013
- Holika Dahan — 26 March 2013
- Holi — 28 March 2013
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 11 April 2013
- Ram Navami — 19 April 2013
- Akshaya Tritiya — 12 May 2013
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 10 July 2013
- Guru Purnima — 22 July 2013
- Nag Panchami — 12 August 2013
- Raksha Bandhan — 21 August 2013
- Krishna Janmashtami — 28 August 2013
- Hartalika Teej — 8 September 2013
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 9 September 2013
- Anant Chaturdashi — 18 September 2013
- Pitru Paksha begins — 20 September 2013
- Sharad Navratri begins — 5 October 2013
- Maha Navami — 13 October 2013
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 13 October 2013
- Karwa Chauth — 22 October 2013
- Dhanteras — 1 November 2013
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 2 November 2013
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 3 November 2013
- Govardhan Puja — 4 November 2013
- Bhai Dooj — 5 November 2013
- Chhath Puja — 8 November 2013
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 17 November 2013
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 17 November 2013
- Hindu Festivals 2013 →