Ashtami Kab Hai? All Ashtami Dates & Timings

The next Ashtami vrat is Masik Durgashtami (Kartika) on Tuesday, 17 November 2026 (Shukla paksha); Ashtami runs 17 Nov 4:20 AM to 18 Nov 6:05 AM (New Delhi).

Vrat days and tithi times for New Delhi (IST), from our panchang engine (Lahiri ayanamsa), matched against DrikPanchang.

Past dates are shown faded. Each vrat name opens that month’s vrat page, with the puja timings.

Why Ashtami matters

Ashtami, the eighth tithi, is Shiva’s tithi in Muhurta Chintamani’s table, and in practice it is the day of the Goddess and of Bhairav. The Shukla Ashtami of every month is Masik Durgashtami, kept with a fast and Durga puja; the Ashtami of Ashwin Navratri is Maha Ashtami, the high point of Durga Puja, and Chaitra Navratri has its own Ashtami too. The Krishna Ashtami is Kalashtami, sacred to Kaal Bhairav, the form of Shiva who presides over time. Devotees worship him at night, light a mustard-oil lamp and feed dogs, his vahana, and the Margashirsha Kalashtami is Kalabhairav Jayanti, his appearance day. Krishna Janmashtami is also a Krishna-paksha Ashtami, in Bhadrapada. The reasons tradition gives for keeping these vrats — protection, steadiness of mind and courage — are offered here as context, not as promises.

The Shukla Ashtami is the half-moon of the waxing fortnight — the first quarter, when the Moon stands 90° from the Sun and sets around midnight. The Krishna Ashtami is the last quarter, when the half-moon rises around midnight. The two observances sit on opposite sides of the day accordingly: Durgashtami is a daytime puja, Kalashtami a night-time one.

How the date is fixed

Each row above is a vrat day, fixed by our panchang engine for New Delhi and matched against DrikPanchang. A tithi can begin at any hour, so the vrat day is not simply “the day the tithi starts”. The general rule is udaya tithi — the tithi present at sunrise names the day — but each vrat adds its own deciding hour: Masik Durgashtami’s puja is done in the day, while Kalashtami’s worship of Kaal Bhairav is done at night. That is why the date in the first column can be the day before the tithi touches a sunrise, and why regional panchangs sometimes differ by a day. The tithi window column gives the exact span in IST, so you can check any row yourself. Month names in the text (Kartik, Margashirsha, Magha and so on) follow the North Indian purnimanta calendar; in the amanta calendar a Krishna-paksha day belongs to the month before.

Shiva is the lord of Ashtami in the classical table. Ashtami belongs to the Jaya (“victorious”) group with Tritiya and Trayodashi — the tithis tradition links with effort that succeeds, fitting for a day given to Durga, the goddess who conquers.

Ashtami — common questions

Vrat calendars for this tithi

All 16 tithis

Tithi calendar — all 16 tithis → · Aaj kaun sa vaar hai →