Sharad Navratri 2025शरद नवरात्रि

Ghatasthapana opens the vrat. Clean a small place for the puja. Fill a kalash with water, set mango leaves at the mouth and a coconut on top, and sow barley in soil beside it. Invoke Ganesha, then Shailaputri. Light a lamp and, if the house can keep it, leave that lamp through the nine nights.

The vrat opens with Ghatasthapana. Many people eat one meal today, or only fruit, and begin the stricter grain fast tomorrow. Recite her mantra at the lamp. Eleven times or one hundred and eight — the count is the family's, not a rule.

Offering. Ghee is the offering most lists name for her. Fruit is enough if that is what the house keeps.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Shailaputri is told as the daughter of Himavan, the mountain king. An earlier telling says she had been Sati, who left after her father insulted Shiva, and was born again as the mountain's daughter. The nine nights open with that return.

Stories of all nine forms

Many households begin the grain fast today: no cereal, or one simple meal, in whatever way the family already keeps it. Recite her mantra at the morning lamp and again in the evening.

Most households leave rice, wheat, and pulses from today. Fruit, milk, and the flours the family already allows are the food. Recite her mantra in the morning and again at the evening lamp, and water the barley.

Offering. Sugar, or mishri, is the offering most lists name.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Brahmacharini is the same goddess after she left her father's house for a hard vow. She went without grain, then without leaves, then without anything, until Shiva accepted her. The day is for a vow that is actually kept.

Stories of all nine forms

The puja is usually at the evening lamp. Offer incense and a flower, and recite her mantra. The rest of the day stays ordinary.

Keep the same fast. Bathe before the evening lamp if that is the house's way. Recite the dhyan once, then the namah mantra. The rest of the day stays ordinary.

Offering. Milk is the offering most lists name, or kheer if the fast allows grain.

How the nine-day fast is kept

After the marriage, the telling goes, Shiva saw her armed form, and the crescent on her brow rang like a bell. That form is Chandraghanta. Households ask her for courage.

Stories of all nine forms

Set out a fruit, or the grain the household has chosen to keep. Recite her mantra when the lamp is lit.

Keep the same fast. Set the offering when the lamp is lit, and recite her mantra then. A sweet is fine only if the fast the family keeps allows it.

Offering. Malpua is the sweet most lists name. A piece of fruit stands in when the fast is strict.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Kushmanda is the form the Puranas credit with the first light: a smile, and the dark gave way. Her name is also the little pumpkin. The day sits in the middle of the nine, when the fast has become a habit.

Stories of all nine forms

The puja is quiet: her mantra, a flower, and the evening lamp. Look after the kalash as on the other mornings.

Keep the same fast. The recitation is unhurried. Fruit may be offered and eaten if the fast allows it.

Offering. Bananas are the offering most lists name.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Skandamata is the mother of Skanda. The gods asked her for a son so their general could be born. She holds the child on her lap. The day is kept for children, and for anyone looking after someone.

Stories of all nine forms

Keep the fast if that is the house's way. Where garba is kept, the night often gathers from here. Recite her mantra at the kalash before the evening begins.

Keep the same fast. Eat the fast meal before a garba night, not after a heavy spread. Recite her mantra at the kalash before the evening begins.

Offering. Honey is the offering most lists name.

How the nine-day fast is kept

The gods gathered their light into one form, and the sage Katyayana worshipped her first, so she is Katyayani. She is the goddess who meets Mahishasura. Unmarried women have long kept this day for a marriage that will be kind.

Stories of all nine forms

Keep the puja quiet. Recite her mantra once at the kalash. Many households avoid a celebration tonight and wait for the eighth morning.

Keep the fast quiet. Recite once at the kalash. Skip a feast and a loud gathering tonight.

Offering. Jaggery is the offering most lists name.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Kalaratri is the night form: dark, hair loose, a donkey beneath her. The telling is that she ends what the gentler days cannot. Households do not celebrate her. They light the lamp and let the night pass.

Stories of all nine forms

The puja lightens. Kanya Puja, feeding young girls as the goddess, is often kept today or on the ninth morning: a meal, a small gift, and a respectful sending-off.

The fast continues. If Kanya Puja is today, feed young girls, give a small gift, and see them off with respect. The meal you serve them is not your own fast meal.

Offering. Coconut is the offering most lists name.

How the nine-day fast is kept

After a long penance her body is said to have become bright, and Shiva called her Mahagauri. The hard night is over. Young girls are fed as the goddess, today or the next morning.

Stories of all nine forms

Recite her mantra at the kalash. Where a household keeps a havan, it is offered today. Young girls are fed if that was not done yesterday. The barley is taken up, and the kalash is immersed or set down with care. The nine-day fast ends.

Last day of the fast. Offer a havan if the house keeps one. Feed the girls if that was not done yesterday. Break the fast after the kalash is taken up, or on Vijayadashami morning, as the family already does.

Offering. The meal for the girls — halwa, puri, and black chana — is what most households set out. Some lists name sesame seeds instead.

How the nine-day fast is kept

Siddhidatri is the last of the nine, the one who completes a practice. Some Shakta tellings say even Shiva received his powers from her. The kalash comes down, the girls are fed if they were not fed yesterday, and the fast ends.

Stories of all nine forms