Chaitra Navratri 2027
7 April 2027

Chaitra (Vasant) Navratri runs for nine nights from Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the same tithi as Gudi Padwa and Ugadi and the first day of the new Vikram Samvat, through to Ram Navami. Each day is given to one of the nine forms of Durga, the same nine as Sharad Navratri in autumn: Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri, so the year’s new beginning and the Devi’s nine nights are kept together.

The Devi Mahatmya, part of the Markandeya Purana, is the text behind these nights, telling how the Devi defeated the buffalo-demon Mahishasura when the gods could not; its seven hundred verses, read as the Durga Saptashati, are recited in many homes through the nine days. Of the four Navratris in the year, this one and the autumn Sharad Navratri are kept in most homes; this spring one, closing on Ram Navami, carries the Hindu new year with it, which many homes mark with a sankalp for the months ahead.

• Kalash, mango leaves and a coconut
• Clean soil and jau (barley seed)
• Ghee diya and oil
• Red cloth
• Roli, akshat and flowers
• Durga Saptashati book
• Idol or picture of Durga

Source: Devi Mahatmya, Markandeya Purana

When the asura Mahishasura, who had won a boon that no man or god could kill him, drove the devas from heaven, they combined their own light into one form, the Devi, armed by each of them with their own weapon. The Devi Mahatmya tells how, after a long battle, she slew Mahishasura and restored the devas to their place, and the nine forms worshipped through Navratri are read as stages of that same power.

What to do

• Keep the akhand jyoti tended if you light one, since it is meant to burn without a break through all nine days.
• Treat kanya pujan with real respect, not haste, since it stands for the Devi’s own presence in the girls honoured.
• If you cannot fast strictly, a phalahar vrat is kept by many for the same reason, and health comes first.

What to avoid

• Onion, garlic, meat and alcohol are kept out of the house by many families through these nine days, as during Sharad Navratri.
• Many avoid cutting hair or nails through the nine days, following their family’s own custom.

Chaitra Navratri falls on the same days as Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Cheti Chand and Navreh, so in much of the country its first day is also kept as the new year. In Jammu and parts of the north it is kept with special fervour as Vasant Navratri; in Bengal, by contrast, the Devi’s own great festival stays with Sharad Navratri in autumn.