Navratri 2027 dates, day-wise calendar and Dussehra date

Sharad Navratri 2027 begins on Thursday, 30 September and ends with Maha Navami on Friday, 8 October. Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, falls on Saturday, 9 October 2027, according to Hindu almanacs (panchangs) and the Union government's holiday list for 2027.

Here is the day-by-day calendar, the Durga Puja dates for Bengal, and how to plan the ten days.

Key points

• Navratri begins (Ghatasthapana): Thursday 30 September 2027.
• Durga Ashtami: Thursday 7 October. Maha Navami: Friday 8 October.
• Dussehra (Vijayadashami): Saturday 9 October 2027 (gazetted holiday).
• Durga Puja Saptami, Ashtami and Navami: 6, 7 and 8 October (government restricted holidays).
• Diwali follows 20 days later, on Friday 29 October.

Navratri 2027 day-wise calendar

In some years a lunar day is skipped or repeated, which changes the day-wise list slightly. In 2027, the panchangs we checked give nine nights from 30 September to 8 October. Check your local panchang for the Ghatasthapana time, which depends on your city and family tradition.

What Navratri celebrates

Navratri means "nine nights". It honours the goddess Durga in her nine forms, known as the Navadurga, one for each night. The festival celebrates Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, a battle said to have lasted nine days, and ends on the tenth day with Vijayadashami, "the tenth day of victory".

In north India, the tenth day also marks Lord Ram's victory over Ravana, which is why Ramlila performances run through the nine nights and end with the burning of Ravana's effigy on Dussehra.

There are two main Navratris celebrated each year across India. Chaitra Navratri, in spring, begins on Wednesday 7 April in 2027. Sharad Navratri, in autumn, is the bigger festival.

Ghatasthapana and the Navratri fast

• Ghatasthapana (Kalash Sthapana): On the first day, a pot (kalash) filled with water and topped with mango leaves and a coconut is installed and worshipped, and barley seeds are sown in a small earthen pot. The sprouts that grow over nine days are seen as a blessing.
• Fasting: Many people fast for all nine days or for the first and last days. Common fasting foods include fruit, milk, sabudana, kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara (water chestnut) flour, and sendha namak (rock salt) instead of regular salt.
• Kanya Puja: On Ashtami or Navami, many families invite young girls home, worship them as forms of the goddess and offer them puri, chana and halwa.

Durga Puja 2027 in Bengal

In West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Tripura and Bengali communities across India and abroad, the autumn festival is Durga Puja. The main days in 2027 are:

Mahalaya, the new-moon day that marks the start of the Devi Paksha, falls on the day before Navratri begins, on Wednesday 29 September 2027. Kolkata's pandals open for visitors in the days before Saptami, and the city's roads stay crowded late into the night through the festival. On Vijaya Dashami, married women play Sindoor Khela before the idols are taken for immersion.

Dussehra 2027 on 9 October

Dussehra falls on Saturday 9 October 2027. Across north India, giant effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and his son Meghnad are burned at sunset, after the last night of the Ramlila. In 2026, Delhi's Dwarka Ramlila burned a 221-foot Ravana, as we reported in our Delhi Dussehra story.

Some of India's best-known Dussehra celebrations:

• Mysuru Dasara (Karnataka): A ten-day state festival ending with the Jamboo Savari elephant procession on Vijayadashami, with the Mysuru Palace lit up every evening.
• Kullu Dussehra (Himachal Pradesh): Begins on Vijayadashami and continues for a week, with hundreds of local deities carried into the Dhalpur ground.
• Bastar Dussehra (Chhattisgarh): One of the longest festivals in India, centred on the goddess Danteshwari rather than on Ram.
• Kota Dussehra (Rajasthan): A large fair alongside the Ravana Dahan, held on the banks of the Chambal and running for several weeks around the festival.
• Delhi: Hundreds of Ramlila committees, with the biggest effigies at grounds such as Dwarka and IP Extension.

Ramlila, ten nights of the Ramayana

In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and much of north India, the nine nights of Navratri are also the season of Ramlila, the staged retelling of the Ramayana. Local committees build stages in parks and grounds, and the story moves night by night from Ram's childhood and exile to the war in Lanka, ending on Dussehra with the defeat of Ravana. The Ramlila of Ramnagar in Varanasi, performed over about a month with the audience moving from scene to scene, is one of the oldest and best known. UNESCO recognised the Ramlila tradition as part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

Garba and Dandiya

In Gujarat and in Gujarati communities everywhere, the nine nights are for garba and dandiya raas, circle dances in honour of the goddess. Large garba events in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai draw tens of thousands of dancers each night, and many sell passes in advance. UNESCO added Garba of Gujarat to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023.

Navratri colours 2027

Many people, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat, wear a specific colour on each day of Navratri. The colour for each day is decided by the weekday on which Navratri begins, and different publications sometimes give different lists, so we do not publish a single "official" list. Check the list followed by your community or office.

Navratri 2027 for Indians abroad

Garba nights are now some of the biggest Indian community events in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, with large venues in New Jersey, London, Toronto and Sydney booked months in advance. Bengali associations abroad organise Durga Puja, often on the nearest weekend to the main days. If you are abroad, check your local community calendar, as dates are often adjusted to weekends.

Planning for Navratri and Dussehra 2027

• Long weekend: Gandhi Jayanti (Saturday 2 October) falls during Navratri, and Dussehra falls on Saturday 9 October. Durga Puja and Navratri holidays in states such as West Bengal usually stretch over several days.
• Travel: Kolkata during Durga Puja, Mysuru during Dasara and Gujarat during Navratri are among the busiest destinations of the year. Book hotels and trains early.
• Diwali next: Diwali is on Friday 29 October 2027, three weeks after Dussehra. See our Diwali 2027 guide.

See every festival of the year in our full festival calendar for 2027.

From the first kalash on 30 September to the burning of Ravana on 9 October, Navratri 2027 is ten days of fasting, dance and celebration. Plan your travel early, and check your local panchang for the exact puja times in your city.