Chaitra Navratri

About

Chaitra Navratri is the spring Navratri, the nine nights of worship of the Divine Mother, Durga. It begins on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half of Chaitra, and ends on Chaitra Shukla Navami. The day after Navami (Dashami) is when many break their fast.

It begins on the same day as the Hindu new year (Ugadi and Gudi Padwa), so many families start the year with prayer to the Devi. The final day, Navami, is also Ram Navami, the birth of Lord Rama. Because the festival follows tithis, a nine-night count may become eight or ten days when a tithi is skipped or repeated. The site's dates show the exact days for your city.

There are two major Navratris: this spring one and Sharad Navratri in autumn. Chaitra Navratri is particularly widely observed in North India.

Significance and stories

Navratri honours Shakti, the divine feminine power that creates, protects and transforms. The nine nights are dedicated to nine forms of Durga, called Navadurga: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri.

The Devi Mahatmya (Durga Saptashati) recounts the goddess's victory over the demon Mahishasura and others, a story of the triumph of divine order over arrogance and ignorance.

For Vaishnava families, the nine days may also be a time of reading the Ramayana, ending with Ram Navami. The nine nights are also seen as a time of inner cleansing at the turn of the season.

How to observe (puja vidhi)

1. On Pratipada, bathe early and clean the puja space. Make a sankalpa to observe the nine days.
2. Perform Ghatasthapana (installing the sacred pot) in the auspicious window of the morning, outside the inauspicious periods. Place a clean earthen pot or kalash, filled with water and topped with mango leaves and a coconut, on a bed of soil sown with barley or other grain.
3. Light an akhand jyoti (a lamp kept burning for nine days) if your family does so, or at least light a lamp morning and evening.
4. Worship the Devi each day with flowers, incense, fruit and sweets, and offer the colours or foods of that day's form of Durga if you follow that practice.
5. Recite the Durga Saptashati, Durga Chalisa, Devi stotras, or the Ramayana. Ask a priest or elder to guide pronunciation.
6. On Ashtami or Navami, perform Kanya Puja: invite young girls, wash their feet, offer them a meal of puri, halwa and chana, and give small gifts.
7. On Navami, conclude with havan and Ram Navami prayers. Break the fast on the morning after, following your family custom, and immerse or respectfully return the pot's grain shoots.

Puja items (samagri)

• Kalash (clean earthen or metal pot), mango leaves, coconut, red cloth
• Soil and barley or wheat seeds for the sprouts
• Image or idol of Durga, red flowers, red chunari
• Kumkum, akshata, turmeric, sandal paste
• Ghee, wicks and diya for the akhand jyoti
• Fruit, sweets, coconut, incense, camphor
• Puri, halwa and chana for Kanya Puja
• Havan material, if you do a havan

Fasting and food

Many devotees fast for all nine days or for the first and last days. A common vrat diet is fruit, milk, curd, sabudana, kuttu (buckwheat) flour, singhara flour, samak rice, potatoes and sendha namak (rock salt). Grains, onion, garlic and regular salt are avoided in many homes.

Some people eat one meal a day, and others stay on fruit and milk. Fasting is a personal choice. People with health conditions, pregnant or nursing women, children and the elderly should follow their doctor's advice and may keep a lighter fast.

Regional customs

• North India: Nine-day fasts, Kanya Puja and Ram Navami on the final day. Vaishno Devi and the Shakti Peeths are visited.
• Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh: The first day is Gudi Padwa or Ugadi, and Devi and Rama worship follow. In Andhra and Telangana, Vasanthotsavam continues.
• Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir: Special visits to Devi temples.
• Rama-focused traditions: Rama Navaratri, with Ramayana reading and kirtan for nine days.
• Nepal: Observed at Devi temples.

Traditions vary; follow your family's custom or your priest's guidance.

Celebrating in the USA

Many families keep the fast while working. A simple routine is a short morning puja before work and an evening aarti. Vrat foods such as sabudana, kuttu atta, singhara atta, samak rice and sendha namak are sold at Indian grocery stores. Use a safe lamp holder or an electric diya if you keep an akhand jyoti in an apartment, and keep it away from curtains and smoke detectors.

Many temples hold daily evening aarti, bhajans, and a Kanya Puja on Ashtami or Navami, often on a weekend. If you cannot find nine girls, invite as many as you can, or offer the food to a few children in your community. Sprout the barley indoors under a light near a window, as spring may still be cold.