About Chaitra Navratri
Chaitra Navratri is the spring Navratri, nine days of goddess worship from the first to the ninth lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra, and in 2027 it begins on Wednesday, 7 April 2027. It opens on the same day as Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Navreh and closes with Ram Navami. Most of it happens at home, in north and central India especially: a kalash installed on day one, a household fast, and young girls fed as the goddess on Ashtami or Navami.
Hindu calendars hold four Navratris a year. Two are public: this one in spring, in the month of Chaitra, and Sharad Navratri in autumn. Drik Panchang also calls the spring set Vasanta Navratri, and Rama Navratri, because its ninth day is Ram Navami. The nine forms of the goddess, Shailaputri to Siddhidatri, and the home rituals are the same as in autumn. The season and the ending are not.
Why Chaitra Navratri starts the new year
The first day, Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, is the day the lunar year turns for a large part of India. Marathi and Konkani families raise the gudi for Gudi Padwa. Kannada and Telugu homes keep Ugadi. Kashmiri Pandits mark Navreh with a thaal of rice, walnuts, a pen and the new almanac, looked at first thing in the morning. In north and central India the Vikram Samvat year begins on this day too. Gujarat's Vikram Samvat year turns after Diwali instead.
Most north Indian calendars start each month after the full moon, so by their count Chaitra began two weeks earlier, the day after Holi. The year still turns at Pratipada, mid-month, which is why a Delhi family can say "Chaitra is already on" and "the new year starts tomorrow" in the same week.
The nine days also carry other festivals:
- Day 1 · PratipadaGhatasthapana, and new year in several communities
The kalash is installed at home while Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Navreh are kept on the same morning
- Day 2 · DwitiyaCheti Chand
The Sindhi new year and Jhulelal's birthday falls on the second day in most years
- Day 3 · TritiyaGangaur
The end of an 18-day worship of Gauri and Shiva by women in Rajasthan, with processions in Jaipur and Udaipur
- Day 8 · AshtamiDurga Ashtami and Kanya Pujan
Many families feed young girls today; others wait for Navami
- Day 9 · NavamiRam Navami
The birth of Rama, marked at midday; Kanya Pujan in many homes; the twelve-day temple festival at Bhadrachalam reaches its peak
How the dates are worked out
Navratri runs by tithi, the lunar day. Ghatasthapana, the installing of a water pot over sown barley, belongs in the first third of the day while Pratipada is running, never at night or during Amavasya. If that morning window is too short, priests use Abhijit Muhurta around midday. The window depends on local sunrise, so take the time from a panchang set to your own city.
The end is less tidy. Ram Navami is the day on which Navami is running at noon. In some years Navami begins before noon on the eighth calendar day, so Durga Ashtami and Ram Navami share a date. Drik Panchang's New Delhi listing for 2026 put both on 26 March, with the last fasting day on the 27th. Families who follow different panchangs may keep Ram Navami a day apart, and both are following a rule.
Fasting in the first heat of the year
The food rules are those of any Navratri vrat: no grains, pulses, onion, garlic, meat, eggs or alcohol; kuttu (buckwheat), singhara and rajgira flours instead, with sabudana, potato, makhana, fruit and rock salt. The difference in spring is the weather. By mid-April the north is hot, so fasting kitchens lean on curd, lassi, coconut water and fruit, and a water-only fast is harder to keep safely.
Kanya Pujan, also called Kanjak, closes the fast in many north Indian homes. Usually nine girls aged about two to ten are invited, with one small boy who stands for Bhairav. Their feet are washed, they are fed halwa, puri and kala chana, and they go home with a chunni, a small toy or some money. Families choose Ashtami, Navami or both. In Chaitra, Navami is also Ram Navami, so many fold the two into one morning.
Shrines, melas and regional forms
The goddess temples of the north draw their biggest crowds of the spring this week. At Vaishno Devi, near Katra in Jammu, about 2.69 lakh pilgrims came in the first seven days of Chaitra Navratri in 2026, peaking at over 45,000 on a single day, and yatra registration was suspended twice to control the crowd. Anyone making the climb that week should expect long queues. The Mata Mansa Devi shrine board in Panchkula runs a nine-day Navratra mela in Chaitra as well as in Ashvin.
In Kashmir, Navreh opens Navratri with prayers to the goddess Sharika at her temple on Hari Parbat in Srinagar, and the fast ends with Kanya Pujan and a meal of chana, halwa and puri on Navami.
In Bengal the spring form is Basanti Puja. Bengali tradition, drawing on the Markandeya Purana, holds that King Suratha first worshipped Durga in spring, and that the autumn Durga Puja is akal bodhan, an out-of-season invocation made by Rama before his battle with Ravana. Today Basanti Puja is mostly kept in old family homes and in some institutions, such as the Ramakrishna Math at Alambazar in Kolkata, rather than in community pandals.
In Telangana the Sita Ramachandraswamy temple at Bhadrachalam holds its twelve-day spring festival over this period, with the wedding of Rama and Sita as its main event.
How it differs from the autumn Navratri
| Aspect | Chaitra Navratri | Sharad Navratri |
|---|---|---|
| Season | Late March or April, start of the hot weather | September or October, after the monsoon |
| Opens with | The lunar new year in many communities | Mahalaya and the end of Pitru Paksha |
| Closes with | Ram Navami, Rama's birth | Vijayadashami, Rama's victory over Ravana |
| Public face | Temple queues, shrine melas, Ram Navami processions | Gujarat's garba grounds, Bengal's pandals, Ramlila stages |
| Bengal | Basanti Puja, mainly in family homes | Durga Puja, the region's biggest festival |
What to write
Happy Navratri. Nine days of vrat in this heat takes real resolve. Drink water, rest when you can, and let me know if I can bring over fruit.
Jai Mata Di, Maa and Papa. Hope the kalash is in place and the jau is sprouting. Please keep your medicines on time even if you are fasting.
Wishing you a peaceful Navratri. If you are fasting this week, tell me and I will keep the meetings away from lunch.
Happy Navami to all of you. Hope the kanjaks went home full and happy, and that you finally get to sit down and eat.
Jai Mata Di. Climb slowly, carry water, and send me a photo from Bhawan. I will be waiting for the prasad.
Navreh mubarak, and a peaceful Navratri to the whole family. Hope the thaal was the first thing you saw this morning.
Happy Navratri. I know a vrat abroad means hunting for kuttu in three shops. Sending you strength and a bit of home.
Thinking of you through these nine days. No festive wishes this year, only love, and a call whenever you want one.
Do
- Ask what a fasting friend can eat before you bring food. Fruit, coconut water, makhana and curd are safe almost everywhere.
- Keep "Happy Ram Navami" for the ninth day. Before that, "Happy Navratri" or "Jai Mata Di" fits.
- If you send sabudana, kuttu or rajgira as a gift, send sealed packs with dates on them.
Avoid
- Don't wish "Happy New Year" to everyone this week. Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Kashmiri and Sindhi friends may be marking one; many Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil and Punjabi friends are not.
- Don't comment on how much weight someone is losing while fasting, or press them to "just have a little" at work.
- Don't assume every Hindu colleague fasts. Many keep only the first and last days, and many keep none.
How to wish someone on Chaitra Navratri
A Chaitra Navratri wish is usually going to someone keeping a quiet fast at home, often through the first hot weeks of the year. Acknowledge the effort and wish them strength and good health rather than a party. Many families are also marking a new year that week, so a line about a fresh start fits. Say Jai Mata Di to devotees who use it, keep Ram Navami wishes for the ninth day, and send love rather than festive lines to a family in its first year of mourning.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + regional language.
When is Chaitra Navratri in each year?
Chaitra Navratri is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 19 days later than in 2026. Chaitra Navratri runs 9 days.
- 2026
- 2027
- 2028
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Chaitra Navratri and Sharad Navratri?
Chaitra Navratri falls in spring, in March or April, opens alongside the lunar new year and ends with Ram Navami. Sharad Navratri falls in September or October and ends the day before Vijayadashami. The spring festival is kept mostly at home and in temples, while the autumn one has the large public celebrations: garba in Gujarat and Durga Puja in Bengal.
Is Chaitra Navratri the Hindu new year?
Its first day, Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, is the new year for many Hindu communities: Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa, Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Navreh in Kashmir, and the Vikram Samvat year in north India. Most Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Malayali, Punjabi and Assamese families mark the new year on other days.
When do you break the Chaitra Navratri fast?
Drik Panchang, following the Nirnaya Sindhu, says the Chaitra Navratri fast is broken after Navami ends and Dashami begins. Many families instead break it on Navami itself, after Kanya Pujan or the Ram Navami puja, so follow your own household's practice.
Is Kanya Pujan done on Ashtami or Navami?
Both are correct and families differ. Some feed the girls on Ashtami, some on Navami, and some on both days. In Chaitra Navratri, Navami is also Ram Navami, so many households hold Kanya Pujan that morning.
Why does Ram Navami sometimes fall on the eighth day of Chaitra Navratri?
Ram Navami is fixed on the day Navami is running at midday, the hour given for Rama's birth. When Navami begins before noon on the eighth calendar day of Navratri, Ram Navami falls that day and shares the date with Durga Ashtami.
What should you say to someone fasting for Chaitra Navratri?
Wish them a peaceful Navratri and acknowledge the effort of fasting through the heat, without commenting on food or weight. Offer something practical, like keeping meetings away from lunch or bringing fruit, and save "Happy Ram Navami" for the ninth day.
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