Durga Puja / Navratri
Navratri ("nine nights") is dedicated to the nine forms of the goddess Durga (Navadurga), one honored each day, and begins with Ghatasthapana or Kalash Sthapana — the ritual installation of a sacred pot that anchors the nine days of worship. In eastern India this period culminates in the elaborate, community-scale Durga Puja around the goddess's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, marked at home with daily aarti, fasting, and recitation of the Durga Saptashati or Durga Chalisa.
Clean the puja area and sprinkle it with Gangajal to purify it before setting up the altar on the first morning of Navratri.
In a wide clay pot, layer soil and barley or wheat seeds, adding a little water so the seeds take. This pot sits beneath the Kalash and its sprouting is watched over the nine days.
Tie a sacred thread around the neck of the Kalash, fill it with water, and drop in betel nut, scent, durva grass, akshat, and coins. Place five mango or ashoka leaves at the rim, cover it with a lid, top it with an unpeeled coconut wrapped in red cloth, and set the completed Kalash on the grain pot in the center of the altar, beside the image of Durga.
With the Kalash representing her presence, formally invoke Durga and take a Sankalp dedicating the nine days of worship to her.
Each morning and evening, light a ghee lamp near the Kalash, offer flowers, kumkum, and fruit, and perform aarti. Many households also observe a fast for all or part of the period and recite the Durga Saptashati or Durga Chalisa daily, with each day traditionally associated with one of the nine forms of Durga (Navadurga).
The festival closes with rituals such as Kanya Puja (worshipping young girls as forms of the goddess) on Ashtami or Navami, followed by Vijayadashami/Dussehra, marking Durga's victory over the demon Mahishasura; in Bengal and parts of eastern India this final stretch is celebrated as the large-scale communal Durga Puja with idol immersion (visarjan).
A beeja (seed) mantra of Durga, invoking her protective and empowering aspect.
Navratri practice varies significantly by region: North Indian households emphasize Kalash Sthapana, fasting, and Navadurga worship at home; Gujarat adds nightly Garba/Dandiya; Bengal, Assam and Odisha center the final days on large public Durga Puja pandals and immersion processions. This entry describes the home-worship version common across North India.