Durga Ashtami 2015
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:59
- Sunset17:26
- Fasting window (tithi)2015-10-20 · 14:29 → 13:36
- Parana (tithi ends)13:36
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 2015
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 2015
- Vasant Panchami — 24 January 2015
- Maha Shivaratri — 17 February 2015
- Holika Dahan — 5 March 2015
- Holi — 6 March 2015
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 21 March 2015
- Ram Navami — 28 March 2015
- Akshaya Tritiya — 21 April 2015
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 18 July 2015
- Guru Purnima — 31 July 2015
- Nag Panchami — 20 August 2015
- Raksha Bandhan — 29 August 2015
- Krishna Janmashtami — 5 September 2015
- Hartalika Teej — 16 September 2015
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 17 September 2015
- Anant Chaturdashi — 27 September 2015
- Pitru Paksha begins — 28 September 2015
- Sharad Navratri begins — 13 October 2015
- Maha Navami — 22 October 2015
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 22 October 2015
- Karwa Chauth — 30 October 2015
- Dhanteras — 9 November 2015
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 10 November 2015
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 11 November 2015
- Govardhan Puja — 12 November 2015
- Bhai Dooj — 13 November 2015
- Chhath Puja — 17 November 2015
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 25 November 2015
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 25 November 2015
- Hindu Festivals 2015 →