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Festival Calendar

Durga Ashtami 2021

Mahashtami — Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja of Navratri.

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Durga Ashtami 2021 date
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Tithi: Ashvin Shukla Ashtami
Tithi window: 09:42 PM, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 → 08:03 PM, Wednesday, 13 October 2021
See the full panchang for Wednesday, 13 October 2021

Muhurat & timings

Kashi/IST · astronomically computed
  • Sankalp (sunrise)05:55
  • Sunset17:33
  • Fasting window (tithi)2021-10-12 · 21:42 → 20:03
  • Parana (tithi ends)20:03

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 katha

Durga 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 2021