Astro River InstituteThe bhog for each of the nine days of Navratri, the form of the Goddess it is offered to, and how to offer it at home. This year's dates for each day are in the box below.
On each of the nine days of Navratri, many families cook one particular thing for the Goddess — ghee on the first day, sugar on the second, milk on the third — and set it before her before anyone in the house eats. Afterwards it is shared as prasad, the Goddess's gift back.
This is the bhog, and the nine-day list is one of the most loved customs of the festival. It is worth saying plainly what it is: a popular custom, not a rule of the scriptures, and the lists differ from family to family and region to region. The list below is the one most widely followed in the north. If your family has its own, keep it.
Quick overview
- What bhog is: food offered to the Goddess (naivedya) and then shared as prasad.
- The nine-day list: one offering for each form of Durga — below.
- Its standing: a popular custom; the classical texts ask for an offering, not for these particular foods.
- The one rule that matters: the offering is clean, made with attention, and given before anyone eats.
This year
Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April
9 days in New Delhi
- Ghatasthapana
- Wednesday 7 April: 06:05–10:17, the first part of the morning
- Abhijit (fallback)
- 11:58–12:49
- Good choghadiyas
- Labh 06:05–07:40 · Amrit 07:40–09:14 · Shubh 10:49–12:24
- Note
- Vaidhriti yoga from 07:26 through the abhijit muhurat. Disfavoured, not forbidden: where there is a choice, choose a time outside them.
Times are New Delhi clock time. Computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon (Lahiri). Where your family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.
The bhog for each of the nine days
Tap a name for that night's page — her story, her mantra and how her day is kept.
| Night | Form of Durga | Bhog commonly offered |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shailaputri | pure ghee, or sweets made in ghee |
| 2 | Brahmacharini | sugar or mishri |
| 3 | Chandraghanta | milk, or kheer and sweets made from milk |
| 4 | Kushmanda | malpua |
| 5 | Skandamata | bananas |
| 6 | Katyayani | honey |
| 7 | Kalratri | jaggery (gud), or sweets made with it |
| 8 | Mahagauri | coconut |
| 9 | Siddhidatri | sesame (til), or the halwa, puri and chana of kanya pujan |
When a tithi is lost or doubled and two forms share a day, both offerings are made that day; when one form is kept over two days, her offering is made on both.
How to offer the bhog at home
The way of offering is older and more settled than the list itself. It is the ordinary way food is offered in any Hindu worship:
- Cook after your bath, in a clean kitchen, and do not taste the food while cooking it. It is for the Goddess first.
- Keep it sattvic — no onion, no garlic, no meat or eggs — and, in a fasting household, made with fasting ingredients where needed.
- Set it before the Goddess at the kalash or the shrine, in a clean plate, with a little water beside it.
- Offer it with the day's mantra, or simply with the words naivedyam samarpayāmi, "I offer this food", and a moment of quiet.
- Wait a little, then take it back as prasad and share it — with the family first, and with anyone who visits.
Nothing needs to be elaborate. A spoonful of honey given with attention is a better bhog than a feast cooked in a hurry.
The bhog of kanya pujan
On Ashtami or Navami, in the many families who keep kanya pujan, the bhog is the meal served to the girls: halwa, puri and black chana. It is offered first to the Goddess at the kalash, then served to the girls as the Goddess herself.
Kanya pujan: the ages, the names and the vidhi
Bhog across India
Bengal feeds the city. During Durga Puja the pandals serve bhog to everyone who comes — khichuri (rice and lentils cooked together), labra (mixed vegetables), fried vegetables, chutney and payesh (rice pudding) — offered first to the Goddess.
In Tamil Nadu and the south, where the golu steps of dolls are set up, each evening's visitors are given sundal, a dish of boiled chickpeas or lentils tempered with coconut, offered first at the golu.
In the north, the nine-day list above is the common one, and the Ashtami or Navami meal of halwa, puri and chana closes it.
Questions we are asked
Navratri ke 9 din ka bhog — what bhog is offered on each of the nine days? By the list most widely followed: ghee (Shailaputri), sugar or mishri (Brahmacharini), milk or kheer (Chandraghanta), malpua (Kushmanda), bananas (Skandamata), honey (Katyayani), jaggery (Kalratri), coconut (Mahagauri), and sesame or halwa-puri-chana (Siddhidatri).
Is the nine-day bhog list in the scriptures? No. The texts ask for an offering of food in the worship; the particular food for each day is a popular custom, and lists vary. Keep your family's list if it has one.
Can I offer the same bhog every day? Yes. A family that offers the same sweet, or fruit, every day of Navratri has done nothing wrong. What matters is that it is clean, given with attention, and offered before anyone eats.
Can onion and garlic be used in bhog? No. Bhog is cooked sattvic — without onion, garlic, meat or eggs.
What is done with the bhog after it is offered? It is taken back as prasad and shared — with the family, guests and neighbours. It is never thrown away.
This page teaches. The dates are computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon. Where a family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.
Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page · The colours of Navratri, day by day · Durga Ashtami
