Durga Ashtami 2017
Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankalp (sunrise)05:48
- Sunset17:48
- Fasting window (tithi)2017-09-27 · 19:10 → 21:35
- Parana (tithi ends)21:35
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 2017
- Makar Sankranti — 14 January 2017
- Vasant Panchami — 1 February 2017
- Maha Shivaratri — 24 February 2017
- Holika Dahan — 12 March 2017
- Holi — 13 March 2017
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 28 March 2017
- Ram Navami — 4 April 2017
- Akshaya Tritiya — 28 April 2017
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 25 June 2017
- Guru Purnima — 9 July 2017
- Nag Panchami — 28 July 2017
- Raksha Bandhan — 7 August 2017
- Krishna Janmashtami — 14 August 2017
- Hartalika Teej — 24 August 2017
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 25 August 2017
- Anant Chaturdashi — 5 September 2017
- Pitru Paksha begins — 7 September 2017
- Sharad Navratri begins — 21 September 2017
- Maha Navami — 29 September 2017
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 30 September 2017
- Karwa Chauth — 8 October 2017
- Dhanteras — 17 October 2017
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 18 October 2017
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 19 October 2017
- Govardhan Puja — 20 October 2017
- Bhai Dooj — 21 October 2017
- Chhath Puja — 26 October 2017
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 4 November 2017
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 4 November 2017
- Hindu Festivals 2017 →