Durga Ashtami 2014
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:50
- Sunset17:44
- Fasting window (tithi)2014-10-01 · 13:53 → 12:12
- Parana (tithi ends)12:12
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 2014
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 2014
- Vasant Panchami — 4 February 2014
- Maha Shivaratri — 27 February 2014
- Holika Dahan — 16 March 2014
- Holi — 17 March 2014
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 31 March 2014
- Ram Navami — 8 April 2014
- Akshaya Tritiya — 1 May 2014
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 29 June 2014
- Guru Purnima — 12 July 2014
- Nag Panchami — 1 August 2014
- Raksha Bandhan — 10 August 2014
- Krishna Janmashtami — 17 August 2014
- Hartalika Teej — 28 August 2014
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 29 August 2014
- Anant Chaturdashi — 8 September 2014
- Pitru Paksha begins — 9 September 2014
- Sharad Navratri begins — 25 September 2014
- Maha Navami — 3 October 2014
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 3 October 2014
- Karwa Chauth — 11 October 2014
- Dhanteras — 21 October 2014
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 22 October 2014
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 23 October 2014
- Govardhan Puja — 24 October 2014
- Bhai Dooj — 25 October 2014
- Chhath Puja — 29 October 2014
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 6 November 2014
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 6 November 2014
- Hindu Festivals 2014 →