Navratri 2026: the Tithi That Decides Whether It Runs Nine Days or Ten
Published 16 September 2026 · Last updated 16 September 2026
Shardiya Navratri 2026 opens with Ghatasthapana on Sunday 11 October and closes with Vijayadashami on Wednesday 21 October. Between them sits a boundary that will make regional calendars disagree. Saptami begins at 05:54 IST on 17 October, which falls inside the band of Indian sunrise times, so in the east the seventeenth is Shashthi at sunrise and in the north and west it is Saptami. Two findings on this page, both computed, are the ones most published lists will leave out.
The computed calendar
| Date | Tithi at sunrise | Nakshatra | Observance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 10 Oct | Amavasya | Hasta | Mahalaya amavasya, Pitru Paksha closes |
| Sun 11 Oct | Pratipada | Chitra | Ghatasthapana, day 1 |
| Mon 12 Oct | Dwitiya | Swati | Day 2 |
| Tue 13 Oct | Tritiya | Vishakha | Day 3 |
| Wed 14 Oct | Chaturthi | Anuradha | Day 4 |
| Thu 15 Oct | Panchami | Jyeshtha | Day 5 |
| Fri 16 Oct | Shashthi | Mula | Day 6 |
| Sat 17 Oct | Shashthi or Saptami | Mula | Saptami begins 05:54 IST, which straddles sunrise |
| Sun 18 Oct | Saptami | Purva Ashadha | Ashtami begins 08:28 IST |
| Mon 19 Oct | Ashtami | Uttara Ashadha | Durga Ashtami. Navami begins 10:52 IST |
| Tue 20 Oct | Navami | Shravana | Maha Navami. Dashami begins 12:50 IST |
| Wed 21 Oct | Dashami | Dhanishta | Vijayadashami, Dussehra |
Tithi boundaries computed on the Swiss Ephemeris under the True Pushya Paksha ayanamsa and stated in IST. The tithi current at sunrise governs the day, which is the convention across Indian panchangs.
Finding one: the day count is not the same across India
Saptami begins at 05:54 IST on Saturday 17 October. Sunrise in mid October runs from roughly 05:45 IST on the eastern seaboard to past 06:45 in Gujarat, so that single boundary lands on different sides of sunrise depending on where you are.
East of roughly the Kolkata meridian, sunrise precedes 05:54. The seventeenth is therefore Shashthi at sunrise, Saptami falls on the eighteenth and the festival occupies nine civil days.
Across most of the north, west and south, sunrise follows 05:54. The seventeenth is Saptami at sunrise, and so is the eighteenth, because Ashtami does not begin until 08:28 IST on the eighteenth. Saptami is therefore current at two consecutive sunrises, a repeated tithi, and the festival occupies ten civil days.
What does not change. Durga Ashtami falls on Monday 19 October, Maha Navami on Tuesday 20 October and Vijayadashami on Wednesday 21 October everywhere. The divergence sits entirely in the middle of the sequence. A family in Ahmedabad and a family in Kolkata will number the days differently and will still keep Ashtami, Navami and Dussehra on the same dates. Anyone comparing two regional calendars and finding a mismatch has found this boundary, not an error.
Finding two: Ghatasthapana day falls in Chitra
On Sunday 11 October the Moon occupies Chitra from before sunrise until 20:30 IST. The entire working day of Ghatasthapana sits inside it.
This matters because the classical rule for Ghatasthapana names Chitra nakshatra and Vaidhriti yoga as the two conditions to avoid, and the conventional remedy when Pratipada carries one of them is to perform the ceremony in Abhijit muhurat, the roughly forty eight minute window around local solar noon. Waiting for the Moon to leave Chitra is not available here, because it does so at 20:30, well after the first third of the day in which Ghatasthapana is conventionally done.
So the computed guidance for 2026 is the Abhijit window on 11 October, and the reason is stated rather than asserted. Local solar noon shifts with longitude, so the exact minutes come from a local panchang. The point here is why that window is the one being recommended this year.
Pitru Paksha closes the day before
Mahalaya amavasya falls on Saturday 10 October 2026, closing the fortnight of Pitru Paksha. Navratri opens the following morning. The two are adjacent by construction, since Navratri begins on the first tithi of the bright half that follows that new moon.
What this page does not do
It is a calendar, computed identically for everyone. It does not tell you which day suits a particular household, and it does not compute anyone's chart. Puja timings within a day, which are the part families usually want next, depend on local sunrise and local solar noon, so a regional panchang is the right source for the minutes. The per chart layer sits at Kaal Imprint.
Method
Tithi is the angular separation of Moon and Sun in twelve degree steps. Boundaries were located by binary search on the ephemeris to the minute and are stated in IST. Nakshatra is the Moon's position in the twenty seven segment division. Positions from the Swiss Ephemeris under the True Pushya Paksha ayanamsa by PVRN Rao. Sunrise times quoted are approximate and vary by locality, which is precisely the reason the seventeenth resolves differently in different places.
Questions
When is Navratri 2026?
Shardiya Navratri 2026 begins with Ghatasthapana on Sunday 11 October and ends with Vijayadashami on Wednesday 21 October. Durga Ashtami is Monday 19 October and Maha Navami is Tuesday 20 October.
Is Navratri 2026 nine days or ten?
It depends on longitude. Saptami begins at 05:54 IST on 17 October. Where sunrise precedes that, mainly the east, the festival occupies nine civil days. Where sunrise follows it, across most of the north, west and south, Saptami is current at two consecutive sunrises and the festival occupies ten. Ashtami, Navami and Dussehra fall on the same dates either way.
When is Dussehra 2026?
Vijayadashami falls on Wednesday 21 October 2026. Dashami begins at 12:50 IST on 20 October and is current at sunrise on the 21st.
Why do some calendars show a repeated day in Navratri 2026?
Because Saptami is current at sunrise on both 17 and 18 October in much of India. A tithi current at two consecutive sunrises is a repeated tithi, and calendars that number days by tithi will show it twice.
What is the Ghatasthapana muhurat for 2026?
The Moon occupies Chitra nakshatra through the whole daylight of 11 October, leaving only at 20:30 IST. The classical rule avoids Chitra for Ghatasthapana, and the conventional remedy is the Abhijit muhurat around local solar noon. Exact minutes depend on your longitude and come from a local panchang.
When is Mahalaya amavasya 2026?
Saturday 10 October 2026, the day before Navratri opens.
Read next
This page was first published on 16 September 2026. It documents computed tithi and nakshatra boundaries for the 2026 Shardiya Navratri period. A muhurat is personal and no birth chart is computed here. Not financial, medical or personal advice.