Navaratri runs through the bright half of the lunar month Ashwina. Each day is the tithi at sunrise: Prathamai starts it, Navami is Mahanavami, Dasami is Vijayadashami. When a tithi is lost between two sunrises or holds two, the days shift. A 1982 note in the Ahobila Mutt's almanac counted the start back from Navami so that Navami is the ninth day; its 2026-27 issue starts on Prathamai. For the date itself, the printed almanac of your tradition decides. A book's rule explains a date; it does not overrule the almanac.
☕ The days, one by one
The month is the regular (nija) Ashwina. There is no Navaratri in an extra (adhika) month (Sri Nrisimha Priya, the Ahobila Mutt's almanac, 1982, p. 18).
Mahanavami is the day Shukla Navami stands at sunrise. Ayudha Puja and Saraswati Puja are kept on that same day. Vijayadashami is the day Dasami stands at sunrise.
The start is where traditions part. Many take the day Prathamai stands at sunrise. A 1982 note in the Mutt's almanac counted back instead (Sri Nrisimha Priya, the Ahobila Mutt's almanac, 1982, p. 18): the start is eight sunrises before the Mahanavami, so Navami is the ninth day. If one of the nine tithis holds two sunrises, the count starts on Dvitiya; if one is lost, it starts on the Amavasai. The Mutt's printed 2026-27 almanac starts Navaratri on the Prathamai.
When Dasami stands at no sunrise, the Mutt's almanac keeps Vijayadashami on the day the Dasami ends, the day after the Mahanavami.
At a glance
- Navaratri Utsava Arambham: Prathamai at sunrise (the 1982 note: counted back eight sunrises from Mahanavami).
- Mahanavami: Shukla Navami at sunrise.
- Ayudha Puja: the Mahanavami day.
- Vijayadashami: Dasami at sunrise; if none, the day after Mahanavami.
- What Nava does: Navaratri Utsava Arambham is the day Prathamai of nija Ashwina holds sunrise: a lost Prathamai on the day it begins, a doubled one on the first of its two sunrises. It does not count back from Navami. Mahanavami is the first day Navami holds sunrise, or the day a lost Navami begins; Ayudha Puja is the same day. Vijayadashami is the first day Dasami holds sunrise, or else the day after Mahanavami.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Navaratri sometimes have ten days, or eight?
A tithi can hold two sunrises or none. Counted by sunrise, the bright half then has one day more or one less between Prathamai and Navami.
Is Ayudha Puja on Mahanavami or Vijayadashami?
In the Tamil calendar, on Mahanavami. Vijayadashami is the next day, the Dasami.
Why does my almanac start Navaratri a day earlier than Nava?
If your almanac counts back from Navami, as a 1982 note in the Ahobila Mutt's did, a lost tithi in the nine days moves the start to the Amavasai. Nava starts on Prathamai. Follow your almanac.
Deep dive: a lost tithi in the nine days
One tithi between Prathamai and Navami holds no sunrise.
📅 Two ways to count
Prathamai holds Tuesday's sunrise. Shashthi is lost between two sunrises, so Navami holds the following Tuesday's sunrise, seven days later.
- Counting from Prathamai: Navaratri starts Tuesday, and the Navami is the eighth day.
- Counting back eight sunrises from Navami: the start is Monday, the Amavasai, and the Navami is the ninth day.
🔗 Read first
This page builds on kshaya and vriddhi tithis, which explains how a tithi is lost or doubled.