Maha Ashtami is the eighth day of the waxing Moon in Ashwin and the heart of Durga Puja, the festival that is Bengal's whole year in five days. The morning is for pushpanjali, when everyone, fasting and in new clothes, offers flowers to the goddess. Then come Kumari Puja, the worship of a young girl, and at the junction of Ashtami and Navami, Sandhi Puja. All night the city walks from pandal to pandal.
The story
Durga comes each autumn as a daughter visiting her father's house, with her four children: Lakshmi and Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik. The Bengali image shows the whole family on one frame, the goddess at the centre spearing Mahishasura.
Sandhi Puja marks the instant Durga became Chamunda and killed the demons Chanda and Munda. Rama's story is here too: this is the autumn worship for which he needed one hundred and eight blue lotuses. In 2021 UNESCO inscribed Durga Puja in Kolkata as intangible cultural heritage.
যা দেবী সর্বভূতেষু মাতৃরূপেণ সংস্থিতা । নমস্তস্যৈ নমস্তস্যৈ নমস্তস্যৈ নমো নমঃ ॥
To the goddess who abides in all beings as mother: salutations to her, salutations to her, salutations to her, again and again
From the Chandi, heard in every pandal
How the day goes
- PushpanjaliFlowers and bel leaves offered three times with the mantra, before eating.
- Kumari PujaA girl not yet at puberty is worshipped as the living goddess, most famously at Belur Math.
- Sandhi PujaThe last twenty-four minutes of Ashtami and the first twenty-four of Navami, with 108 lamps and 108 lotuses.
- BhogKhichuri, labra, beguni, chutney and payesh, served to all at the pandal.
- Dhak and dhunuchiThe drums of the dhakis, and the dance with smoking censers in the evening.
Why this date
Maha Ashtami is the Ashtami of the bright fortnight of Ashwin, on the day it is present at sunrise. Sandhi Puja is performed at the moment the tithi changes, whatever the hour.
Maha Ashtami in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tuesday | |
| 2026 | Monday | |
| 2027 | Thursday | |
| 2028 | Tuesday | |
| 2029 | Sunday | |
| 2030 | Friday |
More Bengali festivals
20 OctoberMaha Navamiমহানবমী
21 OctoberBijoya Dashamiবিজয়া দশমী
8 NovemberKali Pujaকালীপূজা
14 SeptemberGanesh Chaturthiগণেশ চতুর্থী
4 SeptemberJanmashtamiজন্মাষ্টমী
28 AugustRakhi Purnimaরাখী পূর্ণিমা
Where to see Maha Ashtami
In West Bengal
- Belur MathWest BengalKumari Puja as Vivekananda began it in 1901.
- Bagbazar Sarbojanin, KolkataWest BengalOne of the oldest community pujas, with the goddess in traditional daker saaj.
- Sovabazar Rajbari, KolkataWest BengalThe puja Raja Nabakrishna Deb began in 1757, in the pillared courtyard of the family house.
- Kumortuli, KolkataWest BengalThe potters' own pujas, among the lanes where the images were made.
Across India
- Chittaranjan Park, DelhiDelhiThe capital's Bengali neighbourhood, with a dozen pandals.
- GuwahatiAssamKamakhya, where the puja lasts a fortnight.
- CuttackOdishaDurga against backdrops of silver filigree.