Maha Navami 2026 Kab Hai: 19 or 20 October? Navami Tithi Time, Kanya Pujan, Havan and Parana

In Sharad Navratri 2026 the Navami tithi begins at 10:51 am on Monday, 19 October and ends at 12:50 pm on Tuesday, 20 October (IST).

• Maha Navami puja and fast: Monday, 19 October.
• Navami havan, Navami kanya pujan and parana (breaking the fast): Tuesday, 20 October, in the morning, before 12:50 pm.
• Dussehra (Vijayadashami): Tuesday, 20 October.

In many traditions the nine nights are kept in three parts — the first three for Durga, the middle three for Lakshmi, the last three for Saraswati. For families who want a puja performed in their name this Navratri, Maa Lakshmi Puja is a private puja: performed for your family alone, with the sankalp in your name and gotra, on the date you choose.

A tithi does not run from midnight to midnight. This year Navami starts in the middle of one morning and ends in the middle of the next day, so it belongs partly to the 19th and partly to the 20th. A calendar has to choose one date to print, and different calendars choose by different rules:

• Calendars that follow the Durga Puja rule print 19 October.
• Calendars that follow the tithi at sunrise (udaya tithi) print 20 October.

Neither is a mistake.

The rule, as the Nirnaya Sindhu is cited for it: when Ashtami and Navami meet before evening on Ashtami day, the Ashtami puja, the Sandhi puja and the Maha Navami puja are all performed on that same day. In 2026 Ashtami ends and Navami begins at 10:51 am on 19 October — well before evening — so the Maha Navami puja and its fast are kept on the 19th, together with Durga Ashtami.

The rites that go by the Navami present at sunrise are different. On 20 October Navami is the tithi at sunrise and lasts until 12:50 pm, so the Navami havan and the parana fall on that morning.

Timings are for New Delhi and differ by a few minutes in other cities.

Homes that keep Ashtami kanya pujan do it on the morning of 19 October. Homes that keep Navami kanya pujan by the sunrise tithi — the usual custom across North India — do it on the morning of 20 October, before 12:50 pm. A family that keeps Ashtami and Navami together may do it on the 19th after 10:51 am. Keep the day your family has always kept. The full vidhi is in kanya pujan vidhi.

Vijayadashami is fixed by the Dashami that prevails in the afternoon (aparahna), not by the tithi at sunrise. Navami ends at 12:50 pm on 20 October and Dashami begins at once, so Dashami holds that afternoon — and Dussehra is Tuesday, 20 October 2026. The whole Navratri calendar is in Navratri 2026 dates.

Maha Navami is the day of the havan that closes the Devi’s worship, and of Siddhidatri, the ninth form of Durga. It is the classical day on which the Durga Saptashati recitation is completed with a havan. Families who want that done in full — nine recitations with the Navchandi havan and kanya pujan, in their own name — can arrange it here: Navchandi Durga Puja.