Masik Durgashtami 2025 Dates (Archive)

What is Masik Durgashtami?

Masik Durgashtami honours the Goddess on the eighth tithi of the waxing fortnight each month. The Ashtami is the tithi of Shakti at her fullest before Purnima, and devotees keep it with fasting, Durga path and lamps, praying for protection and strength.

Monthly vrat and the annual Maha Ashtami

The monthly observance builds toward the great Durga Ashtami of Sharad Navratri, when Mahishasura-mardini is worshipped with sandhi puja at the junction of Ashtami and Navami. Keeping the monthly Ashtami is regarded as sustaining that devotion year-round.

How to observe the vrat

The day begins with a bath in the early morning and a sankalp to keep the fast. The altar is prepared with an image of Durga, and a red cloth is offered. Worship follows the ordinary sequence — lamp and incense, then flowers, kumkum and sindoor — with the recitation of the Durga Chalisa, the Durga Ashtottara, or simple mantras according to what the household keeps. Offerings commonly include kheer, halwa, fruit, coconut and panchamrit. In many homes girls are fed and given gifts as kanya puja, following the Navratri custom in miniature.

What is eaten and what is set aside

Those keeping the fast take fruit, milk, sabudana and kuttu flour, and set aside grains such as wheat, rice and lentils for the day. Onion, garlic, alcohol and non-vegetarian food are avoided. Tradition also asks for restraint of a different kind — avoiding anger and harsh speech — and treats that as part of the vrat rather than an afterthought. As with any fast, it is adapted to one's health and capacity.

Significance

Ashtami is held to be the tithi on which the Goddess's power is most accessible, and the monthly Durgashtami is kept for protection, courage and the wellbeing of the family. It is traditionally associated with the removal of obstacles and with steadiness under difficulty. The monthly observance builds toward Maha Ashtami of Sharad Navratri, the greatest Ashtami of the year, when the Sandhi Puja is performed at the junction of Ashtami and Navami.

Masik Durgashtami puja samagri

Gather these before the puja:

• An image or idol of Goddess Durga
• A red cloth or chunri
• Red flowers, especially hibiscus
• Kumkum, sindoor and haldi
• A ghee lamp and incense
• Panchamrit
• Kheer or halwa as naivedya
• Coconut, betel leaves and fruit
• Bangles or items for kanya puja