Pillar article
Navratri: Nine Tithis, Nine Forms
Navratri is nine lunar days, Pratipada through Navami. Sharad Navratri is the set in Ashwin Shukla, and Chaitra Navratri is the set in Chaitra Shukla. Each night has a form of Durga, and those nine forms are not the nine grahas.
The tithi count
A tithi is one thirtieth of the Moon's separation from the Sun. Navratri uses the first nine tithis of the bright fortnight. The autumn observance begins on Ashwin Shukla Pratipada. The spring observance begins on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. Both are Devi's nine nights. They are not Saturn's transit and they are not a mahadasha. The weekday they fall on changes every year because the lunar start moves against the solar week. A printed weekday from an old year is already wrong.
The nine forms, in order
The Navadurga sequence is Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri. Katyayani, the sixth, is the form the gopi story connects with a wish for a husband. That wish still meets the 7th house of the chart. The Devi does not replace the 7th lord's dasha. Mapping each form onto a planet is a modern overlay, and the maps disagree, so this page will not print one. Nine nights and nine grahas are two lists that share a number.
What a chart reader does with the festival
The 9th house is worship. If the 9th lord's antardasha is running, a festival of dharma has a live period behind it. Jupiter, the dharma karaka, agrees when it is strong, exalted in Cancer or at least not debilitated in Capricorn. None of this chooses a color for a Sun sign. Attend the nine tithis as the panchang states them for your city. In India the civil clock is Asia/Kolkata everywhere. The Moon does not care which Gregorian week the English calendar preferred.
Frequently asked questions
When does Sharad Navratri start?
On Pratipada, the first tithi of Ashwin Shukla. It runs through Navami. Chaitra Navratri uses the same nine tithis in Chaitra.
What is the sixth form?
Katyayani. The gopi narrative connects her with the wish for a spouse. The chart's marriage timing remains the 7th lord.
Are the nine forms the nine planets?
No. They are nine forms of Durga across nine tithis. The grahas are a separate set, and a forced pairing is not used here.
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D1, D9, D10, dashas, yogas, and transits, the same calculations referenced in this article.