Journal · 4 October 2026

Navratri on Mahakatha Radio: a goddess every day

From 11 to 20 October 2026, Mahakatha Radio gives each day of Navratri to its goddess, with her mantra at the top of every hour. Here is what you'll hear.

Navratri is the time of year we look forward to most. For ten days this year, from Sunday 11 to Tuesday 20 October 2026, the radio belongs to the goddess. Each day is given to one of the nine forms of Durga, and her mantra plays at the top of every hour, from 5 am to 11 pm India time, between other Devi mantras. Here is what that sounds like, and how you can be part of it.

A goddess every day

Navratri follows the moon, so each day is counted by its tithi. On the first day, Ghatasthapana, we begin with Shailaputri, the daughter of the mountain. Then come Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata and Katyayani, one each day, through to Kalaratri on the seventh.

This year something unusual happens. The Saptami tithi lasts across two sunrises, 17 and 18 October, so the seventh day runs twice and Kalaratri's mantra stays with us for both. That shifts everything after it by a day: Durga Ashtami, for Mahagauri, falls on Monday 19 October, and Maha Navami, for Siddhidatri, falls on Tuesday 20 October, the same day as Vijayadashami (Dussehra). Many calendars that simply count nine days from the 11th get this wrong, so if you are planning a fast or a havan, our Navratri 2026 calendar has every date, tithi and goddess in one place. If you lose track mid-week, which day of Navratri is today will tell you.

Dates are for New Delhi; tithi timings shift slightly by city.

You don't need to know any of this to listen. Leave the radio on, and on the hour you'll hear the day's goddess. If you would like to chant along, each mantra is written out with its meaning on our Navratri mantra page.

The colour of the day

Many families wear the colour of each day, a custom that began in Maharashtra and is now loved across India. This year it runs orange, white, red, royal blue, yellow, green and grey, then purple on the 18th and peacock green on Ashtami.

There was a time when our team met in person, and on each day of Navratri we'd all wear that day's colour.
Prashant Mahakatha, curator

We work from different places now, but the habit hasn't quite gone. Someone always mentions the colour in the morning, and someone always forgets. If you dress in the day's colour, you're in good company.

Stories, a havan, and Dussehra

Every goddess has a story, and Navratri is a lovely time to tell them to children. We've retold the nine forms, how Durga defeated Mahishasura, and why Rama is honoured on Dussehra, in Navratri stories.

Many families close Navratri with a havan on Ashtami or Navami. If that's your custom, the Navratri havan mantra guide walks through the offerings and the mantras said with each one. If your family has its own way of doing it, follow that.

On Dussehra itself, 20 October, there's a festival greeting on air, alongside Siddhidatri's mantra on the hour.

A grandmother's fast

For many of us, Navratri is less about rules and more about the people who kept it.

Navratri for us was always about going to pray to the goddess. My grandmother fasted through it every year, even in her eighties. Seeing that has stayed with me.
Prashant Mahakatha, curator

If you are fasting this year, go gently. Fasts differ from family to family, and there's no single right way. If you are pregnant, elderly, unwell or on medication, please talk to your doctor before you fast, and choose a lighter fast if you need to. The goddess asks for devotion, not for you to make yourself ill.

Offer a prayer during Navratri

Navratri is a time when many people pray for someone else: a parent, a child, a friend going through something hard. On Mahakatha Radio you can do that out loud. Tell us who the prayer is for and why, write a few lines in your own words, and we'll shape them gently into a short prayer and read it aloud during Prayer Requests, at 7 am or 7 pm India time, followed by a mantra chosen for them. We email you when it's on air, so you can listen together. An offering starts at ₹251 or $7, and you can offer a prayer here. Our post on how to offer a prayer explains each step.

If you'd rather keep it quiet, you can add a prayer to the prayer wall for free, where other listeners can hold it too.

Listening in Hindi, and anywhere

Our Navratri calendar is also in Hindi: नवरात्रि 2026, with each day's goddess, tithi and colour, for parents and grandparents who'd rather read it that way.

The radio is free, with no ads and nothing to sign up for. It plays in any browser, and the stream also works in internet radio apps: search for Mahakatha Radio on apps that use Radio Browser, or add https://mahakatharadio.com/api/station/live.mp3 to any player that takes a stream link.

However you keep Navratri this year, with a full fast or a single lamp, we'd love you to spend some of it with us. Listen live on the first morning, and hear Shailaputri's mantra as the hour turns.