Ashtami Tithi: The Eighth Day, Durga Ashtami and Janmashtami

Ashtami is the eighth tithi, the stage at which the Moon is between eighty-four and ninety-six degrees from the Sun. In the bright half it is the half-Moon, the first quarter, standing high at sunset. In the dark half it is the last quarter, rising near midnight.

It is a tithi of strength in popular practice. The goddess Durga is worshipped on Ashtami in the Navaratri festival, Krishna was born on an Ashtami at midnight, and Kala Bhairava, a fierce form of Shiva, is remembered on every dark-half Ashtami. The mood is of courage and vigilance, and the observance is often a fast.

The tithi at a glance

Group and deity

Ashtami is the middle member of the Jaya group, along with Tritiya and Trayodashi. Jaya means victory, and the group is traditionally linked with contests, with tasks that need effort and resolve, and with undertakings that face opposition.

A common list names Shiva, in his form as Rudra, as the deity of Ashtami. The practical worship of the day, however, goes to the goddess: Maha Ashtami during Navaratri is the heart of Durga worship in many regions. Different texts give different names, and the lists are best read as pointing to a fierce, protective aspect of the divine that the day is supposed to carry.

Festivals on Shukla Ashtami

Durga Ashtami, or Maha Ashtami, falls on Ashvin Shukla Ashtami, the eighth day of Sharad Navratri. It is the central day of Durga Puja in Bengal, with the Sandhi Puja at the junction of Ashtami and Navami, and in much of north India families worship young girls on this day in the Kanya Puja, then break their nine-day fast. The festival leads to Dussehra two days later. The same Ashtami in Chaitra is also observed during Chaitra Navratri.

Radha Ashtami falls on Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami, the birthday of Radha in popular devotion, observed especially in Vrindavan and Barsana, about two weeks after Janmashtami. Bhishma Ashtami falls on Magha Shukla Ashtami, in memory of the patriarch Bhishma of the Mahabharata, with water offered to ancestors.

Many devotees of Shiva also treat Shukla Ashtami as a day for his worship, though the main festival of Shiva falls on Chaturdashi.

Festivals on Krishna Ashtami

Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna, falls on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami in the amanta reckoning and on Shravana Krishna Ashtami in the purnimanta, always at midnight. The fast, the vigil and the opening of the cradle at midnight are in Janmashtami Puja.

Kalashtami falls on every Krishna Ashtami and is dedicated to Kala Bhairava, with a fast and an evening lamp; the monthly observance is kept by many Shaiva families, with Kalabhairava Jayanti on the Margashirsha one. Ahoi Ashtami falls on Kartika Krishna Ashtami in the purnimanta calendar, a few days before Diwali, when mothers fast for the well-being of their children and break the fast on seeing the stars or the Moon.

Because of the amanta and purnimanta difference, the month name of the same Krishna Ashtami is not the same everywhere, which is the reason Janmashtami can be said to fall in two months. The page on amanta and purnimanta explains it.

What muhurat practice says

Ashtami is more often avoided than recommended for family ceremonies. Many almanacs leave it out of their lists of days for marriage, a housewarming and the early ceremonies of a child, and it is traditionally considered one of the tithis to be careful with for new, peaceful undertakings. Some lists permit Shukla Ashtami on particular weekdays or in particular months, so the guidance varies.

For worship, however, it is among the most favoured. Rites of Durga, Bhairava and Krishna centre on Ashtami, and the Jaya quality suits the vows people take on these days. The line that is often drawn is between ceremonies of celebration and growth, which look for gentler tithis, and observances of devotion and discipline, which look for Ashtami.

The weekday, nakshatra and the individual charts always count too. A family astrologer should confirm any date, and the muhurat section shows how the factors combine.

A simple way to observe the day

A simple Ashtami worship is a lamp at the home shrine, a red flower for Durga or a black sesame lamp for Bhairava where the family follows that custom, a little fruit, and a short prayer. Many families fast on Ashtami and eat once after the evening prayer.

Fasting is a personal choice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, nursing, elderly or on regular medicine, speak to a doctor and keep to a lighter observance if you need to. Nothing here is a promise of results.

Reading the tithi in the calendar

Ashtami is the tithi on which the choice of time of day matters most. For Janmashtami the tithi must be present at midnight, which is why the festival can fall on a different civil day from the one where Ashtami is at sunrise. For Durga Ashtami the Sandhi Puja is timed to the last twenty-four minutes of Ashtami and the first twenty-four of Navami.

Ashtami can also be a kshaya or vriddhi tithi, as any tithi can. When Ashtami is long, the festival may fall on the second day, and when it is short, the nearest day on which it touches the right time of day is chosen.

To see whether Ashtami is the tithi running today in your own city, open the daily panchang. Ashtami follows Saptami in the cycle and is followed by Navami; the whole set is described in the guide to the thirty tithis.

Related pages

• Sharad Navratri and Dussehra: the nine nights and the tenth day.
• Navratri Daily Puja: the daily worship through Durga Ashtami.
• Janmashtami and Janmashtami Puja: the Krishna Ashtami festival.
• Durga Chalisa: a devotional text for the goddess.
• Muhurat: how Jaya tithis are used.
• Amanta and purnimanta: why the month name of a Krishna Ashtami differs.

Frequently asked questions