Durga Ashtami 2027

About Durga Ashtami

Durga Ashtami, also called Maha Ashtami, is the eighth day of Sharad Navratri, in the bright half of Ashwin. The form of the Goddess for this day is Mahagauri, the radiant, fair form of Parvati, shown dressed in white, riding a bull and holding a trident and a damaru. She is seen as calm and full of grace, the purity that comes after long devotion.

In many homes across North India, Ashtami is the day of kanya puja, also called kanjak. Young girls, usually nine of them, and often a small boy as Langur or Bhairav, are invited home. Their feet are washed, a red thread is tied on their wrists and a tilak placed on their foreheads. They are served halwa, puri and black chana and given small gifts before they leave. The girls are honoured as forms of the Goddess. Some families hold kanya puja on Navami instead, and many break the Navratri fast after it.

In Bengal and among Bengalis everywhere, Ashtami is the high point of Durga Puja. People gather at the pandal in the morning for pushpanjali, offering flowers to the Goddess with chanted verses, and share the bhog of khichuri, labra and sweets. In some puja traditions, Kumari puja is performed, with a young girl worshipped as the Goddess.

The most solemn moment is the Sandhi puja, held at the meeting point of Ashtami and Navami, across the last part of Ashtami and the first part of Navami. It remembers the moment when the Goddess took the form of Chamunda to overcome the demons Chanda and Munda. A hundred and eight lamps are lit and a hundred and eight lotuses are offered, often to the sound of drums.

Because Ashtami and the Sandhi puja follow the tithi, they can fall at any hour of the day or night. The page above shows when they begin and end.