Sharad Navratri 2026: Dates, Ghatasthapana, 9-Day Calendar & Dussehra

When is Sharad Navratri 2026?

Sharad Navratri 2026 — also written Shardiya Navratri, Sharadiya Navratri, or simply Navratri 2026 date — is the autumn nine-night worship of Goddess Durga in Ashwin Shukla Paksha. In India it begins on Sunday, 11 October 2026 (Ashwin Shukla Pratipada) with Ghatasthapana, and it closes on Tuesday, 20 October 2026 with Vijayadashami (Dussehra). This is the Navratri most people mean when they search in September and October. Chaitra Navratri is the spring counterpart (19–27 March 2026). The two share the same nine Navadurga forms and the same Pratipada-to-Navami logic; they do not share English dates. Pitru Paksha 2026 ends on Saturday, 10 October (Mahalaya Amavasya). Do not install the Navratri kalash on that Amavasya. Pratipada begins the evening of 10 October and prevails at sunrise on 11 October, which is why Ghatasthapana is a Sunday-morning rite this year. Civil dates below follow the widely published New Delhi / IST Panchang consensus used across most of India. Because a Tithi is 12 degrees of Moon–Sun elongation, not a midnight clock day, confirm sunrise Tithi on the Indian Date Today Panchang for your city before locking travel, kanya puja, or office leave.

• Start: 11 October 2026 (Sunday) — Ghatasthapana, Ashwin Shukla Pratipada.
• Nine nights of Navadurga: 11–19 October; Vijayadashami: 20 October (Tuesday).
• Mahalaya Amavasya is 10 October — the last day of Pitru Paksha, not Day 1 of Navratri.

Sharad Navratri 2026 calendar (9 days + Dussehra)

Use this as a working household calendar for India. Colour-of-the-day columns follow the weekday system common in Gujarat and Maharashtra (the weekday, not a fixed 1-to-9 list, picks the colour — so 2026 does not copy 2025). Navadurga names follow the classical tithi order; see the Ashtami–Navami note for 19 October.

Ghatasthapana 2026: date, muhurat and the rules that actually matter

Ghatasthapana (Kalash Sthapana) is the rite that opens Sharad Navratri. The Mother is invoked in a water-filled kalash, barley or sapta dhanya is sown, and the nine-night vrata begins only after this installation. In 2026 the date is Sunday, 11 October. Indicative New Delhi (IST) windows, widely reprinted for India: - Preferred morning (pratahkal) muhurat: 6:19 AM to 10:12 AM, while Pratipada prevails and before Hindu midday. - Fallback: Abhijit Muhurat around local noon, about 11:44 AM to 12:31 PM in Delhi. - Pratipada begins the evening of 10 October and ends the evening of 11 October. The kalash is still a morning job. Scriptural cautions used by most panjikas: do not perform Ghatasthapana at night, and do not perform it on Amavasya (10 October). Chitra Nakshatra and Vaidhriti Yoga are treated as less suitable; they are not an absolute ban if Pratipada-before-midday is otherwise clean. Shift the clock to your city's sunrise — Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru will not share Delhi's 6:19 AM start. If you miss the morning window, Abhijit is the traditional second chance. If you miss the day entirely, consult your family priest; many households still keep the remaining nights without pretending the skipped Pratipada can be backdated.

• Ghatasthapana 2026 date: 11 October (Sunday).
• Do it after local sunrise, before midday, on Pratipada — not on 10 October Amavasya.
• Abhijit Muhurat is the fallback if the morning slot is missed.

Why 2026 puts Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami on the same English day

This is the detail thin Navratri 2026 blogs skip, and it is why two honest apps can disagree. A Tithi is assigned to a civil date by the lunar day that prevails at local sunrise (Surya Udaya). When the Moon is moving quickly, two Tithis can touch the same sunrise, or one Tithi can skip a sunrise (kshaya). In the New Delhi 2026 Panchang, Monday 19 October carries both Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami. Sandhi Puja — the 48 minutes at the Ashtami–Navami junction, 24 minutes on each side — falls that morning, about 10:27 AM to 11:15 AM IST in Delhi. Eastern Durga Puja panjikas, which time Bodhon and Anjali around pandal paddhati rather than only the North Indian sunrise card, often still print Maha Ashtami on 18 October, Maha Navami on 19 October, and Vijayadashami on 20 October. Both readings describe the same sky. They index it differently. Practical rule for 2026: - North Indian home vrata and Kanjak / Kanya Puja: treat 19 October as the combined Ashtami–Navami day unless your city Panchang says otherwise. - Kolkata and eastern pandals: follow the mandap announcement for Pushpanjali and Sandhi Puja; Maha Shashthi (Bodhon) is 16 October. - Dussehra / Vijayadashami is Tuesday, 20 October nationwide for the civil holiday and Ravana dahan. That combined Tithi is also why Navratri Parana (breaking the nine-day fast) is listed on 20 October with Dashami, after Navami has ended — not automatically at dawn on Navami.

• Delhi-style Panchang: Ashtami and Navami share Monday, 19 October 2026.
• Sandhi Puja (Delhi, indicative): 10:27 AM – 11:15 AM on 19 October.
• Vijayadashami remains Tuesday, 20 October.

Navadurga: which form is worshipped on which tithi

Each of the nine nights is dedicated to one form of Navadurga. The mapping follows Tithi, not the English weekday. When two Tithis land on one sunrise, both forms are honoured that day — which is the 2026 pattern for Mahagauri (Ashtami) and Siddhidatri (Navami) on 19 October in North Indian almanacs.

Sharad Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra are one season, three public faces

They share Ashwin Shukla Paksha. They are not interchangeable search terms. - Sharad Navratri is the pan-Indian nine-night vrata from Pratipada (11 October) through Navami (19 October in 2026). North Indian homes keep a kalash; Gujarat and Maharashtra fill the nights with Garba and Dandiya. - Durga Puja is the eastern Indian temple-and-pandal form. Public days concentrate on Maha Shashthi to Vijayadashami (16–20 October 2026). Mahalaya (10 October) is when many Bengali families offer tarpan and when chakkhu dan (painting the Devi's eyes) is remembered. See the Durga Puja festival page for Shashthi–Dashami and Sandhi Puja. - Dussehra / Vijayadashami (20 October) is the Dashami close: Ravana dahan and Ramlila in the Hindi belt, sindoor khela and visarjan in Bengal, Ayudha Puja and Mysuru Dasara in the south. It is a gazetted public holiday. The dedicated Dussehra page carries the Aparahna Vijay muhurat. Mysuru Dasara, Kullu Dussehra and Kerala Vidyarambham sit on the same Dashami even when the nine home nights are kept more quietly. If you are booking trains or pandal hotels, price the 16–20 October window, not only 11 October.

• Navratri 2026 date in the Hindi belt starts 11 October; Durga Puja crowds peak from 16 October.
• One lunar fortnight; different public calendars.

Fasting, Kanya Puja, and what can wait until after Dussehra

There is no single all-India fast. Common household patterns, always overruled by family custom and a doctor if you have a medical condition: - Many keep a satvik diet for nine days (no onion, garlic, non-vegetarian food, or alcohol). - Some take fruit and milk; some take one cooked meal after evening aarti; some fast only on Ashtami and Navami. - Kanjak / Kanya Puja (feeding nine girls as Navadurga) is widely done on Ashtami or Navami. In 2026 that points to 19 October for most North Indian homes. - Navratri Parana is the formal close of the fast, listed with Dashami on 20 October after Navami ends. Marriages, mundan, griha pravesh and other worldly muhurats that were paused for Pitru Paksha resume after Mahalaya, but many families still prefer to finish the nine nights before a wedding-scale event. Routine office work continues; Dussehra (20 October) is the national holiday, while West Bengal, Tripura and Assam notify extra Durga Puja holidays from Saptami through Dashami. Avoid starting the kalash during Rahu Kalam if a later minute in the same morning window is free. Ongoing puja need not stop when Rahu Kalam begins.

• Kanya Puja 2026: plan for 19 October unless your panjika assigns Ashtami to 18 October.
• Break a strict fast on the published Parana window (20 October), not at a random convenient hour.

How to confirm Navratri 2026 dates on a city Panchang

1. Open today's Panchang on Indian Date Today, select your city, and read Tithi at sunrise — not only the English date. 2. For 11 October, confirm Pratipada is the sunrise Tithi before you fix Ghatasthapana. Read sunrise, Abhijit, and Rahu Kalam for that Sunday. 3. For 19 October, check whether Ashtami, Navami, or both prevail at your sunrise. That single field decides Kanya Puja and Sandhi Puja timing. 4. Open the Hindu festivals directory for Durga Puja (Shashthi–Dashami) and Dussehra (Vijay muhurat). The Hindu months guide explains why some panjikas still label this fortnight Ashwin even when a southern Amanta calendar used Bhadrapada for the preceding Krishna Paksha. 5. If you need the spring pair, use the Chaitra Navratri festival page (19 March 2026). If you are still in ancestor fortnight, use the Pitru Paksha 2026 guide through 10 October. You do not need nine colour outfits or a temple booking to observe the festival correctly. You need the right Tithi at local sunrise, a morning kalash on Pratipada, and a clear close on Dashami.

• City first, then Tithi, then the English date.
• Pratipada through Dashami is the same sequence behind Navratri 2026 date, Ghatasthapana 2026, and Maha Navami 2026.