During Navratri the Goddess is worshipped for nine days, and on each day one of her forms is remembered. The nine together are the Navadurga, “the nine Durgas”. They are not nine different goddesses in the way that Lakshmi and Saraswati are different: they are nine faces of the one Devi, from the young daughter of the mountain on the first day to the giver of perfection on the ninth. Many families see the sequence as the story of a life, with a beginning, a time of effort, a time of strength, a time of dark and a time of light.
This section has one page for each form, and a day-by-day calendar for the festival. Everything on these pages is tradition, set out as tradition: the forms, the stories and the offerings are what devotees have said and done for generations, and they differ between regions and families. If your own family or temple does it differently, follow them.
The nine forms and their days
| Day | Form | The form in a few words | Tithi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shailaputri | Daughter of the mountain, on a bull, with a trident and lotus | Pratipada |
| 2 | Brahmacharini | Parvati in austerity, with a rosary and a water pot | Dwitiya |
| 3 | Chandraghanta | A bell-shaped crescent on her brow, ten arms, a tiger | Tritiya |
| 4 | Kushmanda | The creator of the cosmos with a smile, eight arms, a lion | Chaturthi |
| 5 | Skandamata | The mother of Skanda, seated on a lotus | Panchami |
| 6 | Katyayani | The warrior, with a sword and a lotus, on a lion | Shashthi |
| 7 | Kalaratri | The dark night, on a donkey, who removes fear | Saptami |
| 8 | Mahagauri | The radiant fair one, on a white bull | Ashtami |
| 9 | Siddhidatri | Giver of the siddhis, on a lotus | Navami |
The days follow the tithis, so the exact dates change every year, and in some years a tithi is repeated or skipped. For Sharad Navratri 2026 the first day, Shailaputri, is Sunday 11 October 2026 in New Delhi and Pune, and the ninth, Siddhidatri, is Tuesday 20 October 2026. In Chaitra Navratri 2027 the first day is Wednesday 7 April 2027 and the ninth is Thursday 15 April 2027. Every day, with its tithi, is on the Navratri day by day page, and dates for 49 cities are on the Sharad Navratri page and the Chaitra Navratri page.
Where the list comes from
The Devi Mahatmya, the great text of the Goddess in thirteen chapters (see the Durga Saptashati section), is the older text. It tells the Goddess’s acts, but it does not arrange her in nine named forms for nine days. The order of the Navadurga is found in the Devi Kavacha, a protective hymn traditionally printed with the Saptashati, which names the nine forms in a single verse, from Shailaputri to Siddhidatri. The Kavacha is a supplement to the thirteen chapters and not part of them, and it is the source that devotees point to for the order. So the nine forms and their sequence are early enough to be in the printed tradition of the Saptashati, while many of the stories and customs for each day are later and regional.
We give each form’s image and story as devotees tell them, and we say where a custom is regional. We do not quote the short dhyana verses that are printed for each form in modern booklets, because we have not been able to match them to an old printed source that we can check. If your family has a verse that it recites, keep to it.
Three layers on every page
Each page has the same plan, so that you can read one or all of them. First, the day: which tithi, and the date in the current year. Second, the form: the image that the temple and the poster show, with the vehicle, the weapons and the hands. Third, the story: what the tradition tells about her, with the book named only where we are sure, and the places where tellings differ. After these come the offering customs, which are regional and which every family may keep or leave, and the plain notes on fasting.
Two things appear on several pages and are worth saying once here. The chakras that modern devotional writing links to the nine forms are a later, yoga-influenced layer, and are not from the Devi Mahatmya or the Kavacha. The offerings (ghee, sugar, milk, malpua, banana, honey, jaggery, coconut and sesame) are one widely given list, and the Navratri daily puja guide shows it in a table. Other regions give others.
Reading and singing
The forms are worshipped with whatever the family knows: a lamp, flowers, the day’s offering and an aarti. Three texts on this site go well with the nine days: the Durga Chalisa, the Jai Ambe Gauri aarti and the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram. The Ghatasthapana guide covers the first day.
Fasting is optional and takes many forms. Anyone who is pregnant, nursing, diabetic or taking regular medicine should speak to a doctor before keeping a long fast, and a gentle observance is fully accepted in the tradition.
See also the ten Mahavidyas and the Ashta Lakshmi, the eight forms of Lakshmi.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What are the nine forms of Durga in Navratri?
They are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri, worshipped in that order on the nine days of Navratri.
↳ Are the Navadurga nine different goddesses?
In the tradition they are nine forms of the one Goddess, not nine separate deities. Devotees see them as stages of a single story, from birth to fulfilment.
↳ Where are the nine forms named in the old texts?
The Devi Kavacha, a hymn traditionally printed with the Durga Saptashati, names all nine in order in a single verse. The thirteen chapters of the Devi Mahatmya themselves do not give a nine-day scheme.
↳ Does every region worship the same form on the same day?
No. The order given here is the one widely followed in north and west India. Bengal keeps Durga Puja on the last days, many southern homes keep Golu, and Gujarat keeps the nights for garba, so follow the custom of your own family.
↳ When does Navratri begin in 2026?
Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday 11 October 2026 in New Delhi and Pune. Dates for other cities are on the Sharad Navratri page.