Durga Ashtami 2027
7 October 2027

Durga Ashtami, or Maha Ashtami, is Ashwin Shukla Ashtami, the eighth day of Sharad Navratri, given to Mahagauri, the eighth of the nine forms. For many North Indian families it is the high point of the nine days: those who close their Navratri on Ashtami do the havan and kanya pujan this morning, inviting young girls as forms of the Devi, washing their feet and feeding them halwa, puri and kala chana.

Where Durga Puja is kept, Maha Ashtami also holds the Sandhi puja, done at the meeting of Ashtami and Navami: the last 24 minutes of the one and the first 24 of the other. Lamps and lotuses are offered, often 108 of each. The day itself is chosen with care: Durga Ashtami is kept on the Ashtami not joined to Saptami, so an Ashtami that begins on a Saptami day is generally passed over for the next day.

• Roli, akshat and kalava
• Red chunari and shringar for the Devi
• Flowers and a garland
• Halwa, puri and kala chana for prasad
• A plate and water for washing the girls’ feet
• Small gifts or dakshina for the children
• Havan kund, mango wood, havan samagri and ghee
• Dry coconut for the purnahuti
• Diyas, and lotuses for the Sandhi puja if kept

Source: Devi Mahatmya (Markandeya Purana), the slaying of Chanda and Munda; popular tradition in Bengal links it to the Sandhi puja

Shumbha and Nishumbha, the asura kings who had taken heaven from the gods, had asked the Devi to marry Shumbha, and she had refused. After their general Dhumralochana fell to her, they sent Chanda and Munda with an army to seize the Devi. When Ambika saw them coming at her with weapons raised, her face darkened with anger, and from her brow sprang Kali, gaunt and fearsome, carrying a sword and a noose.

Kali fell upon the army, seizing elephants, chariots and warriors and destroying them. Chanda rushed at her with a shower of arrows and Munda hurled discs at her, but she struck both of them down with her sword.

She brought their heads to Ambika as an offering. Ambika told her that because she had brought Chanda and Munda, she would be known in the world as Chamunda. In Bengal, the moment of this victory is popularly remembered at the Sandhi puja, when Ashtami passes into Navami.

What to do

• Invite the girls a day ahead and speak to their families, so the children come rested and are not kept waiting hungry.
• Wash their feet and apply tilak before the meal, the way a guest who is the Devi herself is welcomed.
• If you keep Sandhi puja, check the time for your own city, since it is the moment Ashtami ends where you live.
• If your family closes on Ashtami, break the vrat after the havan and kanya pujan, so the fast ends with the offering.

What to avoid

• Onion, garlic and meat stay out of the kitchen, since the prasad is cooked for the Devi.
• Try not to hurry the girls through the meal or treat it as a formality; tradition sees the Devi in each of them.

In Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and much of Uttar Pradesh, families speak simply of Ashtami pujan, and many close their Navratri with it. In Bengal the day is Maha Ashtami, with the morning pushpanjali (offering of flowers with mantras), Kumari puja in many places, and the Sandhi puja. Since this is Shukla paksha, Amanta and Purnimanta calendars both call the month Ashwin.

Dates can differ by a day because of the rule against an Ashtami joined to Saptami, read at each place’s own sunrise, and because Bengal’s panjikas reckon the Durga Puja days by their own rules. So the north’s Ashtami pujan and Bengal’s Maha Ashtami do not always fall on the same date.