Navratri and Durga Puja (नवरात्रि दुर्गा पूजा)

Who is worshipped and when

The puja is for Durga in nine forms. It is done: The nine nights of Navratri (twice a year) and Durga Puja in Bengal.

Items you need (samagri)

Tick the items as you collect them. The first few are specific to this puja; the rest are the basic items for any puja. You can print this page as a checklist.

• Barley or wheat seeds (jau) in a clay pot to sprout over nine days
• A kalash with a coconut, mango leaves and a red cloth
• Red hibiscus and red cloth for the goddess
• Fruits and sweets, and sabudana, kuttu and singhara flour for fasting food
• An akhand jyoti (a lamp kept burning for nine days) in some homes
• Roli (kumkum) and akshat (whole rice)
• Turmeric (haldi) and sandal paste (chandan)
• Fresh flowers and a garland
• Incense sticks (agarbatti) and a dhoop
• A ghee or oil lamp (diya) with wicks and a match
• Camphor (kapoor) for aarti
• Fruits and a sweet for the offering (prasad)
• A clean cloth or asan for the seat
• Clean water in a small pot with a spoon (achamani)
• A bell and, if you have one, a conch

Steps

1. On the first day, install the kalash (ghatasthapana) and sow the barley in a clean pot at the auspicious time given by the panchang.
2. Every day, bathe and light the lamp, offer flowers and read or recite the Durga Saptashati or a simpler hymn.
3. Each day is linked with one form of the goddess (Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta and so on); read about them on our Durga page.
4. On the eighth or ninth day, many families do Kanya Pujan, worshipping young girls as forms of the goddess, with food and gifts.
5. On the tenth day, Vijayadashami, the kalash is closed and the barley sprouts are distributed.

Notes

Fasting is a personal choice, and the food of the fast (no grains, onion or garlic in many families) is a matter of family custom. Anyone with a health condition should adjust the fast.

For the full sixteen-step version see Shodashopachara puja, and for the lamp-waving see our guide to how to do aarti.

Questions people ask

This page describes common practice in plain words. Families, regions and priests differ in the details, and your own family tradition or your priest comes first. Dates and muhurat (auspicious times) change every year: ask a priest or use a trusted panchang. Nothing here promises any result.