India GONavratri: nine nights of the goddess, and where to spend them
Nine nights India dances until dawn
Navratri, "nine nights", honours the goddess Durga in her nine forms. It comes twice a year, and the autumn one, Sharada Navratri, is the bigger. In 2026 it runs from 11 to 19 October, with Dussehra on 20 October. What you see depends entirely on where you are: Gujarat dances garba until late every night, Bengal builds Durga Puja pandals, the north stages the Ramlila, and Mysuru turns it into a royal state festival.
Nine nights of the Goddess, with Garba dancing and divine worship
From the first to the ninth lunar day of the bright half of Ashvin. The central government's restricted list, issued around July of the year before, gives the Durga Puja days.
The legend
In the Devi Mahatmya, the buffalo demon Mahishasura wins a boon: no man can kill him. He seizes heaven and earth.
The gods pool their power, and from that blaze Durga is born: a warrior on a lion, with a weapon in each of her many hands.
In battle Mahishasura keeps changing his shape, but the goddess calmly sees through every trick.
At last Durga strikes the demon with her trident, and she is called Mahishasuramardini, slayer of Mahishasura.
The nine nights of Navratri honour nine forms of the goddess, and the tenth day, Vijayadashami, marks her victory.
Meaning
Gujarat
All nine nights are for garba: huge circles move around a garbo, a clay pot with a flame inside, or an image of the goddess Amba.
Bengal
Here Navratri is Durga Puja, on UNESCO's list since 2021: the goddess and her children stand in pandals, and the city tours them late into the night.
Tamil Nadu
Homes set up a golu, a staircase of dolls: gods, animals, village life. Neighbours visit to see each other's and leave with sweets.
Telangana
Women build a bathukamma, a tower of flowers, dance around it singing, and in the evening set it afloat on the water.
Punjab
On day one barley is sown in clay pots, and on Ashtami young girls, the kanjaks, are fed puri, black chickpeas and halwa.
Customs
🏺 Ghatasthapana
On day one a water pot is set on a mound of soil sown with barley, and a lamp is lit that burns for all nine days.
👧 Kanya Puja
On the eighth or ninth day young girls are invited home as the nine forms of Durga, fed and given gifts.
🍃 Fasting
Many fast: some on water, some on fruit, some on one meal a day. Wheat and rice flour, onion and garlic are off the table.
🥢 Dandiya
After garba, dancers take a stick in each hand and dance in pairs: tap your own, tap your partner's, move on to the next.
🥁 Dhunuchi
In Bengal people dance to dhak drums holding dhunuchis, clay burners smoking with incense and dried coconut husk.
🛠️ Ayudha Puja
Near the end, tools are honoured: farmers, carpenters, smiths and shopkeepers decorate their instruments and machines.
What people eat
🥔 Sabudana vada
crisp sago patties: sago does not count as a grain
Khichuri
rice and moong dal in ghee: bhog, offered to the goddess first
🍮 Halwa, puri, chana
the Ashtami meal served to the kanjak girls
Words of the festival
नवरात्रि
Navratri
"nine nights" in Sanskrit
ગરબો
garbo
a clay pot pierced with holes, a flame inside; the garba dance is named after it
अखंड ज्योति
akhand jyoti
"the unbroken flame", a lamp kept burning all nine days
कन्या पूजन
kanya pujan
honouring young girls as the goddess on Ashtami or Navami
ঢাক
dhak
the big Bengali drum, the sound of Durga Puja
How to greet
जय माता दी
Jai Mata Di!
"Glory to the Mother": at Navratri it greets the goddess and one another.
True or myth
✅ True. In spring, in the month of Chaitra, and in autumn, in Ashvin. The autumn one, Sharada Navratri, is the biggest.
❌ Myth. At the centre is a garbo, a clay pot with a lamp inside, or an image of the goddess.
✅ True. Since 2021 it has been on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Where to celebrate
Delhi
Delhi keeps Navratri in two registers: queues from before dawn at the goddess temples of Jhandewalan, Kalkaji and Chhatarpur, and Ramlila stages by the Red Fort every evening, building to Dussehra.
Varanasi
In Varanasi each of the nine days has its own goddess and temple, and Navratri becomes a walk through the lanes from shrine to shrine, with pandals at the end and the Ramlila across the river.
Jaipur
Jaipur's Navratri runs from the goddess of the Amer rulers to roadside camps building bamboo effigies, and ends on Dussehra with a Ravana some hundred feet tall burning on the Adarsh Nagar ground.
Mumbai
Mumbai's Navratri is nine ticketed garba and dandiya nights on booked grounds, and the single fact that shapes every evening is the 10 pm loudspeaker deadline, which the state lifts to midnight on only about two of the…
What Navratri looks like
Navratri comes twice a year, in spring (Chaitra) and in autumn (Ashvin); the autumn one, Sharada Navratri, is the one to travel for. On the first day a water pot is set on soil sown with barley and a lamp, the akhand jyoti ("unbroken flame"), is lit to burn for all nine days. Many people fast, some on fruit, some on a single meal, and onion, garlic, wheat and rice disappear from home kitchens.
In public the festival splits by region. In Gujarat every evening ends in garba: huge circles of dancers in mirror-work skirts and kediyu jackets turning around a garbo, a clay pot with a flame inside, and later dandiya, the stick dance in pairs. In Bengal the same days are Durga Puja, with the goddess and her children standing in pandals (temporary pavilions) across Kolkata. In the north the evenings belong to the Ramlila, the Ramayana played on open-air stages, building to Ravana's burning on Dussehra. Ashtami and Navami, the eighth and ninth days, are the peak almost everywhere.
Where to spend Navratri
Each city keeps a different Navratri.
Ahmedabad
Nine nights of garba across a whole city. Gujarat Tourism's Vibrant Navratri at GMDC Ground (Gujarat University metro) fills with tens of thousands and, from 2026, needs an online pass on most nights; ticketed party plots on SG Highway and SP Ring Road start around 20:00–21:00; and the old-city pols (lane neighbourhoods) dance unticketed. On Ashtami night the Barot men of Sadu Mata ni Pol in Shahpur dance garba in saris, a vow the pol traces back about two hundred years.
Kolkata
Durga Puja, on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2021. For five days, Shashthi to Dashami, the whole city becomes a free, walkable exhibition of pandals and clay images, many of them commissioned art. People pandal-hop through the night, and Nabami night is the peak. On the tenth day the images go to the Ganga they were made from.
Delhi
Two registers: queues from before dawn at the goddess temples of Jhandewalan, Kalkaji and Chhatarpur (at Chhatarpur from as early as 04:00 on Navratri mornings), and Ramlila stages by the Red Fort every evening, with a free fair around them. The Bengali neighbourhood of CR Park sets up Durga Puja pandals. Details: [Navratri in Delhi](/en/festivals/navratri/delhi/).
Mumbai
Nine ticketed garba and dandiya nights on booked grounds, from Kora Kendra in Borivali to indoor halls at NESCO and BKC. One rule shapes every evening: loudspeakers stop at 22:00, extended to midnight on only a few of the nine nights (in recent years the last ones).
Varanasi
Each of the nine days has its own goddess and its own temple, the Nav Durga temples in the old-city lanes, so Navratri becomes a morning walk from shrine to shrine. The Durga Kund temple near Assi is crowded all week; the month-long Ramlila at Ramnagar plays across the river.
Mysuru and Jaipur
In [Mysuru](/en/mysore/) Navratri is Dasara, a state festival with a published programme, sold seats and the palace lit every evening, ending on Vijayadashami with the Jamboo Savari procession. In Jaipur the goddess of the old rulers, Shila Devi in Amer Fort, draws crowds all week, and bamboo Ravana effigies are built for sale by Mansarovar metro.
✅ Garba and temple etiquette
- Dress for garba — Many garba venues expect traditional clothes: a chaniya choli for women, a kediyu for men. Ahmedabad's Law Garden market sells them in the evenings; bargaining is expected.
- Learn the step — The basic garba step is simple: three steps to the right, three to the left, a clap. Watch a round from the edge before joining, and ask before stepping into a neighbourhood circle.
- Temples — Darshan is free and the queue is the price; go early in the morning. Shoes off, shoulders and knees covered.
- Food — Many people are fasting: Navratri food skips grain, onion and garlic, and sabudana vada (sago patties) is the classic snack, since sago does not count as a grain.
- Late nights — Garba ends when the music stops, and every ground empties at once. Stay close to the ground you have a pass for.
👣 Booking ahead
Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali are India's heaviest travel weeks of the year.
- Trains
Book when sales open, 60 days ahead.
- Ahmedabad
Room about six weeks ahead; buy the GMDC pass online before you arrive (online only in 2026).
- Mumbai
Ticket first, room second: which suburb to stay in follows from which ground you are going to.
- Delhi, Varanasi, Jaipur
About a month ahead is enough for rooms. Arrive the day before Ashtami for Delhi and Varanasi, the day before Dussehra for Jaipur.
❓ FAQ
When is Navratri in 2026?
Sharad Navratri 2026 runs from Ghatasthapana on Sunday 11 October to Navami on Monday 19 October; Ashtami and Navami fall on the same day. Dussehra is on 20 October.
When is Navratri in 2027?
From 30 September to 8 October 2027, with Mahashtami on 7 October and Dussehra on 9 October. In 2028 it starts on 19 September.
What is Navratri?
Nine nights in honour of the goddess Durga, who in the Devi Mahatmya defeats the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Each night is dedicated to one of her nine forms, and the tenth day, Vijayadashami, marks the victory.
What is the difference between Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra?
They overlap. Navratri is the nine nights; Durga Puja is how Bengal keeps the last days, from Shashthi to Dashami; Dussehra (Vijayadashami) is the tenth day, when the north burns Ravana and Bengal takes Durga to the river.
How much does a garba pass cost?
Neighbourhood and pol garbas are free. At GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad the 2026 rates were announced as about ₹100–500 a person by night and zone, with the first night free; party plots charged about ₹200–1,800 a night in 2025.