Durga — nine forms
Chaitra Navratri
Nine spring nights of the Mother, closing on Rama's birth.
Tithi: Chaitra Shukla Pratipada – Navami
In the simplest words
Nine spring nights for the Mother Goddess — one form of Durga each night, with fasting, lamps and prayers, ending with Ram Navami.
The story & purpose
Twice a year, at the hinges of the seasons, nine nights are given to the Devi. The spring cycle mirrors the autumn one — the same nine forms, the same kalash — and its ninth day is Rama's birthday.
Spring's cycle has its own flavour: it opens the Hindu new year (Gudi Padwa and Ugadi share its first day), runs through the neem-bitter, jaggery-sweet turn of the season, and closes not in visarjan but in a birth — Rama arriving on its ninth noon. Where autumn's Navratri is the Devi's victory, spring's is her housekeeping: the year swept, seeded, and blessed at the door.
What is done
Ghatasthapana
The kalash established on day one with barley sown beneath.
Nav Durga puja
One form each day, with the Navarna mantra.
Vrat
Nine days of fasting or satvik food, by capacity.
Best timings
Ghatasthapana in the morning of Pratipada, avoiding Vaidhriti and Amavasya overlap.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Bengal's Basanti Puja falls in these nine days — by tradition the older Durga puja; the autumn one is Rama's 'untimely' invocation, akal bodhan.
Many families read the Devi Mahatmya (Durga Saptashati) across the nine days.
The barley sown under the kalash on day one is cut on Navami and kept as the year's first green blessing (jawara).