Day 1Orange
MeansWarmth, energy, the first light of the festival
Wear it asA kurta, a dupatta, marigold at the door
Shailaputri · 11 October
Navratri runs from 11 October to 19 October this year, and Dussehra falls on 20 October. Because it opens on a Sunday, the colour sequence opens in orange. Below: every day with its goddess and colour, what each colour is for, and the one date in 2026 that is not what the nine-day count suggests.
Dates are for India. The colour belongs to the day of the week, which is why this list is different every year.
| Day | Date | Goddess | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 11 OctoberSunday | Shailaputri | Orange |
| 02 | 12 OctoberMonday | Brahmacharini | White |
| 03 | 13 OctoberTuesday | Chandraghanta | Red |
| 04 | 14 OctoberWednesday | Kushmanda | Royal blue |
| 05 | 15 OctoberThursday | Skandamata | Yellow |
| 06 | 16 OctoberFriday | Katyayani | Green |
| 07 | 17 OctoberSaturday | Kalaratri | Grey |
| 08 | 18 OctoberSunday | Mahagauri | Purple |
| 09 | 19 OctoberMonday | Siddhidatri | Peacock green |
| ✦ | 20 OctoberTuesday | Dussehra · Vijayadashami | |
None of this is a rule. The colours are a modern custom, a few decades old, and they caught on because they are an easy way for a street, an office or a family to look like it is keeping the festival together.
MeansWarmth, energy, the first light of the festival
Wear it asA kurta, a dupatta, marigold at the door
Shailaputri · 11 October
MeansPeace and a clean start
Wear it asSimple cotton; white flowers on the kalash
Brahmacharini · 12 October
MeansStrength, and the colour Devi is dressed in
Wear it asA red chunri offered at the temple; red bangles
Chandraghanta · 13 October
MeansCalm and depth, the night sky of the fourth night
Wear it asA blue saree or shirt; blue rangoli border
Kushmanda · 14 October
MeansLearning, brightness, turmeric
Wear it asYellow kurta; haldi and marigold in the thali
Skandamata · 15 October
MeansGrowth, harvest, the barley sown on day one
Wear it asGreen bangles; the jowara pot at the altar
Katyayani · 16 October
MeansSteadiness, the colour of Kalaratri’s night
Wear it asGrey over a brighter layer; quiet dress for the seventh night
Kalaratri · 17 October
MeansDignity, and the ninth night approaching
Wear it asA purple dupatta; purple flowers for Mahagauri
Mahagauri · 18 October
MeansCompletion, and Devi’s own blue-green
Wear it asPeacock green for the last day and the kanya pujan
Siddhidatri · 19 October
Each weekday carries a colour. The first day of Navratri takes the colour of whatever weekday it falls on, and the rest follow in that order, with purple and peacock green closing the nine. Navratri 2026 begins on a Sunday, so it begins in orange; in a year that opens on a Thursday, the same list would begin in yellow.
Which is also why two lists published by two websites can disagree: one of them is reusing last year’s order.
Ghatasthapana opens the nine days. It is done in the first third of the day, while Pratipada is running, and the window below is for New Delhi — sunrise moves it by up to an hour across the country, so check a panchang for your own city.
The nine days are counted by date, but fasts and pujas follow the tithi, and in 2026 the two come apart. Ashtami runs from the morning of 18 October to mid-morning on 19 October, and Navami takes over the moment it ends. So Drik Panchang’s calendar carries both Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami on 19 October, and that is the day Kanya Pujan and the Navami havan fall for most of the country.
Bengal counts it differently. There Durga Puja keeps Maha Ashtami on 19 October, Maha Navami on 20 October and Bijoya Dashami on 21 October, which is why a Kolkata pandal and a Delhi fast can be a day apart this year. Neither is wrong; they are two reckonings of the same sky.
Shiva’s shrines are not Devi’s, but at three of the twelve she stands within sight of him, and all twelve fill up through these nine nights.
Chaitra Navratri 2027 runs from 7 April to 15 April 2027, and Ram Navami falls on the last day, 15 April. It is the spring Navratri: same nine nights, same nine forms, a quieter festival in most of the country.