Navratri and Durga Puja - the 9-night Hindu festival of the Divine Mother

Navratri is the 9-night Hindu festival of the Divine Mother, observed four times a year with the autumn (Sharad) Navratri being the most prominent. Durga Puja is the eastern Indian observance, especially in West Bengal.

The one-line summary

9-night Hindu festival of the Divine Mother (Navadurga), observed 4 times a year. Sharad Navratri in October is the most prominent. Durga Puja in eastern India features massive themed pandals.

Origin

Navratri celebrates the 9 forms (Navadurga) of the Divine Mother (Devi / Shakti), the Hindu goddess of power, wisdom, and destroyer of evil. The festival is also linked to the victory of Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, as told in the Devi Mahatmya, a key Hindu scripture.

The Devi Mahatmya, composed between the fourth and sixth centuries CE, describes how the male gods were unable to defeat Mahishasura — a shape-shifting demon who could not be harmed by any man. They pooled their energy into a single goddess, Durga, who fought the demon for nine days and nights before slaying him on the tenth. The battle is the narrative frame of the festival; each of the goddess's weapons is said to have come from a different god, and each night commemorates a phase of the conflict.

The four Navratris

Navratri is observed four times a year by Hindu tradition, though the autumn Sharad Navratri is the most publicly celebrated. The four are:

• Vasanta Navratri — spring (March-April), associated with Rama's birth, marked by fasting and is sometimes called Chaitra Navratri.
• Sharad Navratri — autumn (September-October), the most prominent, overlaps with Dussehra.
• Magha Navratri — winter (January-February), observed by certain Tantric and Shaivite sects.
• Ashadha Navratri — monsoon (June-July), connected to the monsoon retreat (Chaturmas).

The nine forms (Navadurga)

Each of the nine nights is dedicated to a different form of the goddess, often associated with a specific color and ritual offering:

• Shailaputri (daughter of the mountain), Day 1.
• Brahmacharini (the ascetic), Day 2.
• Chandraghanta (the crescent-moon-bearer), Day 3.
• Kushmanda (creator of the universe), Day 4.
• Skandamata (mother of Skanda/Kartikeya), Day 5.
• Katyayani (the warrior), Day 6.
• Kalaratri (the dark night), Day 7.
• Mahagauri (the fair one), Day 8.
• Siddhidatri (the bestower of powers), Day 9.

Devotees dress in a designated color each night, fast or restrict diet (often avoiding onion, garlic, grains, and meat), and read from the Devi Mahatmya. In Bengal the nine forms are worshipped together as Durga; in Gujarat the focus is on the round-dance Garba, in which the nine forms are invoked through movement.

Navratri colours 2026 (Sharad Navratri)

Each of the nine nights of Sharad Navratri is associated with a designated colour that devotees wear to temple, garba, and pandal events. The day-by-day colour sequence varies year-to-year; the canonical 2026 colour order for Sharad Navratri (starting October 17) is widely circulated by Indian newspapers (Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan Times) and is typically decided by regional pandit committees. Note that this 9-night colour list refers specifically to 2026; Chaitra Navratri 2026 (March-April) used a different sequence because pandits select each cycle independently.

• Day 1 (Oct 17, 2026) - White: Shailaputri. Symbolises purity, peace, and the new lunar cycle.
• Day 2 (Oct 18) - Red: Brahmacharini. Represents energy, passion, and the ascetic's devotion.
• Day 3 (Oct 19) - Royal Blue: Chandraghanta. Signifies richness, divine energy, and the crescent moon she bears.
• Day 4 (Oct 20) - Yellow: Kushmanda. Brightness, optimism, and the creator-of-universe aspect.
• Day 5 (Oct 21) - Green: Skandamata. Growth, fertility, and the mother-of-Kartikeya aspect.
• Day 6 (Oct 22) - Grey: Katyayani. Strength, detachment, and the warrior goddess.
• Day 7 (Oct 23) - Orange: Kalaratri. Courage, intensity, and the dark-night destroyer of evil.
• Day 8 (Oct 24) - Purple: Mahagauri. Transformation, divine grace, and the fair-complexioned goddess.
• Day 9 (Oct 25) - Peacock Green: Siddhidatri. Completion, balance, and the bestower of supernatural powers.

The tradition of a designated colour per night was popularised by Indian newspapers and television in the 2010s; it is a relatively recent custom layered on top of the older deity-by-night ritual. Regional variations exist: in parts of South India, devotees instead wear the traditional nine-yard sari in white or beige for all nine nights. Bengali Durga Puja does not follow the colour rotation; the dominant colour there is red (associated with shakti and vermilion sindoor). Gujarati garba attire typically blends the day's designated colour with the chaniya choli's own traditional palette.

For 2026 specifically, the first day falls on October 17 (white) and the festival concludes on October 25 (peacock green) before Dussehra on October 26. Search interest in "Navratri colours 2026" spikes during the week of Sharad Navratri and again briefly during Chaitra Navratri in March-April - tracking roughly 18-22% of all Navratri search volume in Google Trends data from 2022-2025.

Garba and Dandiya Raas

In Gujarat and across western India, Navratri is principally a nine-night dance festival. Garba is performed in a circular pattern around a clay lantern (garbo) holding a candle, symbolizing the womb or the divine spark. Dandiya Raas follows Garba from the eighth night onward and uses paired wooden sticks struck in rhythm.

Major municipal Garba events draw tens of thousands; in Ahmedabad the Navratri celebrations at the GMDC grounds have been estimated at 80,000 to 100,000 attendees per night. The festival is the commercial high point of the Gujarati calendar and accounts for a measurable share of annual textile and jewelry sales.

Durga Puja and the pandals

In West Bengal and the eastern states, the autumn Navratri is observed as Durga Puja — a five-day public observance distinct from the nightly ritual of western Navratri. The principal symbol is the pandal: a temporary structure built in public spaces to house a life-sized clay idol of Durga, typically flanked by her four children (Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Ganesha, Kartikeya) and the lion she rides.

Pandals range from neighborhood structures to elaborate architectural installations that recreate famous monuments or comment on social themes. The craftsmanship has become a competitive art form: the most ambitious pandals in Kolkata draw wait lines of two to four hours and are visited by an estimated thirty million people over the five days of Saptami through Dashami.

Durga Puja was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021, the first Indian festival to receive that designation.

Visarjan: the immersion

On the tenth day, Dashami, the idols are carried in procession and immersed in a river or water body in a ritual called Visarjan. The procession includes music, dancing, and the dhunuchi Naach (a dance with a smoking incense brazier). Visarjan is a moment of grief as well as celebration — the goddess returns to her husband Shiva, and the idols, which often took months to construct, are returned to clay.

Dussehra: the tenth day

The tenth day of Sharad Navratri is Dussehra (also called Vijayadashami), which commemorates the goddess's victory over Mahishasura in the south and east, and Lord Rama's victory over Ravana in northern India. In cities across the Hindi-speaking belt, Ramlila performances culminate in the burning of giant Ravana effigies, often thirty to forty meters tall.

Legal status

Sharad Navratri and Dussehra (the 10th day, which concludes the festival) are gazetted public holidays across India. Banks, government offices, and most businesses close. Durga Puja is a multi-day public holiday in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and Bihar.

Where it is contested

Navratri is broadly accepted. Environmental concerns over idol immersion (similar to Ganesh Chaturthi) have produced eco-friendly alternatives in some states. These have not altered the festival itself.

Idols made of biodegradable clay (and painted with natural pigments) have been promoted by West Bengal and other eastern state governments to limit water pollution. The traditional plaster-of-Paris idols are still common and remain a flashpoint with environmental advocates.

In other countries

Navratri and Durga Puja are observed by the Indian diaspora worldwide, especially in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and the Gulf states. Major diaspora Garba events are held in London, New York (Edison NJ is a major center), and Toronto.

Navratri by the numbers

Sources

• Government of India, Dussehra gazetted holiday: india.gov.in
• Encyclopedia Britannica, Navratri: britannica.com
• Wikipedia, "Navaratri": en.wikipedia.org

History of Navratri and Durga Puja

Navratri (nine nights) is a Hindu festival celebrated over nine nights and ten days in honour of the goddess Durga. The festival occurs twice a year: the Sharad Navratri (autumn, September-October) is the more prominent, and the Chaitra Navratri (spring).

Durga Puja is celebrated primarily in eastern India (especially West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, and Tripura) and refers specifically to the final five days of Sharad Navratri. The festival honours the goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.

Rituals and traditions

Navratri is marked by fasting, prayers, the recitation of the Devi Mahatmya, the installation of clay idols of Durga in homes and pandals, and traditional dance forms (Garba and Dandiya in Gujarat, Dhunuchi Naach and Dhak in Bengal).

Durga Puja in West Bengal is celebrated with elaborate pandals, idol immersions (visarjan), cultural performances, and family gatherings. The festival has been inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.