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Festival Calendar

Maha Navami 2026

The ninth of Navratri — Ayudha Puja.

Maha Navami 2025Maha Navami 2027
Maha Navami 2026 date
Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Tithi: Ashvin Shukla Navami
Tithi window: 10:51 AM, Monday, 19 October 2026 → 12:49 PM, Tuesday, 20 October 2026
See the full panchang for Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Maha Navami 2026
Starts in
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Today's Panchang

Kashi reference · computed live
Tithi
Saptami
till 20:47
Nakshatra
Ashwini
till 21:21
Yoga
Shula
Karana
Vishti
Sunrise
05:26
Sunset
18:41
Moon sign
Aries
Sun sign
Cancer

Muhurat & timings

Kashi/IST · astronomically computed
  • Sankalp (sunrise)05:58
  • Sunset17:27
  • Fasting window (tithi)2026-10-19 · 10:51 → 12:49
  • Parana (tithi ends)12:49

The significance of Maha Navami

Maha Navami is the ninth and final day of Sharad Navratri — the Navami of Shukla Paksha in Ashvina — and completes the nine nights of Durga's worship. The goddess is honoured on this day as Siddhidatri, the giver of perfection, the last of the nine forms invoked across the festival.

Where Ashtami is the day of the fiercest confrontation, Navami is the day of completion and victory settled. The Navami homa — the fire oblation that offers back the energy raised over nine nights — is performed, and in many homes the Kanya Puja is kept today if not on Ashtami.

It is also Ayudha Puja: tools, instruments, vehicles and the implements of one's craft are cleaned and worshipped, the goddess honoured in the means by which people work. The following day, Vijayadashami, carries her victory out into the world.

Maha Navami puja vidhi

  1. 1Bathe, wear clean clothes, and worship the ghata and the goddess as Siddhidatri.
  2. 2Offer red flowers, akshat, sindoor, incense and the day's bhog; recite the Durga Saptashati.
  3. 3Prepare the havan kund and offer oblations with the Navarna mantra and the Saptashati verses, ending with the purnahuti.
  4. 4Perform Kanya Puja if kept today: wash the girls' feet, apply tilak, feed the bhog, and offer a gift and dakshina.
  5. 5For Ayudha Puja, clean tools, books, instruments and vehicles, and worship them with haldi, kumkum and flowers.
  6. 6Perform the aarti and distribute prasad.
  7. 7Complete the parana after the Navami tithi ends, for those closing the nine-day fast.

Mantra

सर्वमंगलमांगल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके। शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥

Sarvamangala-mangalye Shive sarvartha-sadhike, Sharanye Tryambake Gauri Narayani namo'stu te

Auspiciousness of all that is auspicious, benign one who accomplishes every aim, refuge, three-eyed Gauri — Narayani, salutations to you.

Vrat rules

  • Those who kept the full nine-day fast complete it today, breaking it after the Navami puja and homa.
  • Grains, onion and garlic are avoided until the fast is broken; fruit, milk and vrat flours are taken.
  • The Navami homa is offered, returning to the fire the energy raised over the nine nights.
  • Kanya Puja is kept today by those who did not perform it on Ashtami.
  • The parana (breaking of the fast) is done after the tithi ends, with the bhog offered to the goddess.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Thinking Ayudha Puja is only for weapons — it honours the tools of every trade, from a farmer's plough to a student's books and a driver's vehicle.
  • Skipping the Navratri havan on Navami, which completes and 'seals' the nine-day fast.
  • Confusing which day the kanya pujan falls on — some keep it on Ashtami, some on Navami; both are valid.
  • Missing that Maha Navami, not Dussehra, is the last day the Durga idols are worshipped before immersion.

The vrat katha of Maha Navami

The battle that began when Durga arose from the gods' combined light reached its close on the ninth day. Having destroyed Mahishasura's generals and armies, and having met the demon himself at the turn of Ashtami into Navami, the goddess stood victorious as the ninth day settled — the danger ended, the heavens returned to the devas.

The ninth form invoked in Navratri is Siddhidatri, who grants the siddhis — the perfections or attainments — and who is said to have given Shiva himself half his own being, so that he became Ardhanarishvara. To worship her on the last night is to ask that the power raised over nine nights be turned to completion rather than left as force: the festival ends not in conquest for its own sake, but in the settling of what the fight was for.

Maha Navami timeline

  1. Morning — Navami puja & havan

    The ninth form, Siddhidatri, is worshipped and the Navratri havan is offered, completing the nine days of the vrat.

  2. Ayudha Puja

    The implements of one's livelihood — tools, vehicles, books, instruments — are cleaned, decorated and worshipped.

  3. Kanya pujan / bhog

    Where kept on Navami, young girls are worshipped and fed halwa, puri and kale chane; in Bengal the Navami bhog is offered.

  4. Toward Vijayadashami

    The last darshan and aarti before Dussehra; in Bengal, preparation for the next day's visarjan.

Famous places & temples

Mysuru — Ayudha Puja

The royal city keeps Maha Navami as the grand Ayudha Puja, when tools, vehicles, instruments and arms are worshipped before Vijayadashami.

Kolkata & Bengal

The last full day of Durga darshan — the Navami bhog, the maha-aarti and the dhunuchi naach before the next day's immersion.

South India — Saraswati Puja

In the south Navami carries Saraswati Puja, when books and instruments are placed at the goddess's feet, kept aside from use.

Kanya-pujan homes across the north

Many families keep the kanya pujan and the Navratri havan on Navami, completing the nine-day vrat.

Interesting facts

  • ◆Maha Navami is the day of Ayudha Puja — the worship of the implements of one's work, kept most grandly at Mysore.
  • ◆The ninth night belongs to Siddhidatri, giver of all attainments, from whom even Shiva is said to have gained his powers.
  • ◆The demon Mahishasura is held to have been slain by Durga at the close of Navami, into the dawn of the tenth.
  • ◆In the south the day is also Saraswati Puja and Ayudha Puja, when learning and craft are set aside and honoured.

Common questions

When is Maha Navami celebrated?

On the Navami of the Shukla Paksha of Ashvina — the ninth and last day of Sharad Navratri, in autumn, the day before Vijayadashami. For this year's date, see the date shown above.

What is the Navami homa?

The fire oblation performed on the ninth day to complete Durga's worship. Offerings are made with the Navarna mantra and Durga Saptashati verses, ending in the purnahuti, returning to the fire the energy raised over the nine nights.

What is Ayudha Puja?

The worship of tools, instruments, books, vehicles and the implements of one's craft, kept on Maha Navami. It honours the goddess in the means by which people work, and is especially prominent in South India.

Which form of the goddess is worshipped on Maha Navami?

Siddhidatri, the giver of perfection and the ninth of the nine forms invoked through Navratri. She completes the sequence that began with Shailaputri on the first day.

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.

Other major festivals in 2026