Navarātri & Vijayadaśamī (Dasarā) — nine nights of the Goddess
Āśvina Śukla Pratipadā to Daśamī · September–October
Śāradīya Navarātri, the autumn nine nights, honours the Goddess in her many forms — often Durgā, Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī for three nights each, or the nine Durgās from Śailaputrī to Siddhidātrī. It celebrates the victory of the Goddess over the buffalo demon Mahiṣāsura and, on the tenth day, Vijayadaśamī or Dasarā, Rāma's victory over Rāvaṇa: in every telling, good overcoming arrogance and wrong.
At home, many begin with ghaṭasthāpanā on the first morning: a water-filled kalaśa topped with mango leaves and a coconut, beside a tray of soil sown with barley that sprouts over the nine days. Light a lamp (some keep an akhaṇḍa jyoti burning all nine days), offer red flowers and a simple bhoga each day, and read from the Devī Māhātmya (Durgā Saptaśatī) or chant the Devī's names. Fasting styles vary — one meal a day, fruit only, or simply giving up grains, onion and garlic. On Aṣṭamī or Navamī, invite young girls for kanyā pūjana: wash their feet, feed them pūrī, chana and halwa, and give small gifts. On Dasarā, worship the śamī tree, exchange āpṭā or śamī leaves as “gold”, and start something new.
Bengal, Assam, Odisha and Tripura celebrate Durgā Pūjā in grand paṇḍāls — recognised by UNESCO in 2021. Gujarat dances Garbā and Dāṇḍiyā Rās all night. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra set up Golu (Bommai Kolu), steps of dolls. Telangana women build Bathukammā flower stacks; Mysuru holds its royal Dasarā procession; Kullu's Dasarā gathers the valley's deities; North India stages Rāmlīlā and burns effigies of Rāvaṇa. In the South, Āyudha Pūjā honours tools and vehicles, and Kerala children begin learning to write on Vidyārambham.
Tradition, as told in the Devī Māhātmya, says that the buffalo demon Mahiṣāsura, made nearly invincible by a boon, drove the gods from heaven. The gods' combined fury and light took form as the Goddess Durgā, each god giving her a weapon — Śiva's trident, Viṣṇu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt — and the Himālaya a lion to ride. She fought Mahiṣa and his armies and, as he changed shape from buffalo to lion to elephant and back, she finally slew him on the tenth day.
The Rāmāyaṇa tradition adds that Rāma worshipped the Goddess before his final battle and defeated Rāvaṇa on Vijayadaśamī; in Bengal's Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇa, this out-of-season autumn worship (akāla bodhana) is why Durgā Pūjā is held in autumn. The Mahābhārata tradition remembers that the Pāṇḍavas hid their weapons in a śamī tree during their year in disguise and took them back on this day.
Durgā · Lakṣmī · Sarasvatī · Śrī Rāma · Ghaṭasthāpanā, kanyā pūjana, Durgā Saptaśatī · Durgā Pūjā, Garbā, Golu, Bathukammā, Mysuru Dasarā · Devī Māhātmya (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa)