Astro River InstituteThis year's colours of Navratri, day by day, for your country — and how the list is worked out, why it changes every year, and why websites sometimes disagree.
On the first morning of Navratri in Mumbai, an office floor turns white, or orange, or yellow. The next morning it turns another colour; the morning after, another. Friends coordinate on their phones the night before. By the end of the nine days every colour has had its turn, and the photographs have gone round the family.
Wearing one colour for each day of Navratri is the most searched Navratri custom of all — more than the dates, more than the puja. It is also a young custom, and an honest page about it should say so. Here is this year's list, how it is worked out, and where it came from.
Quick overview
- What it is: wearing one agreed colour on each day of Navratri.
- Where it is strongest: Maharashtra and Gujarat, and Indian offices, schools and communities worldwide.
- How old it is: about two decades. It began in the Marathi press in Mumbai, not in scripture.
- How the list is set: by the weekday of each date of Navratri — so the list changes every year.
- In scripture: no text assigns a colour to a day of Navratri or to a form of the Goddess. It is a lovely custom, and a harmless one; it is not a rule.
This year
Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April
9 days in New Delhi
| Date | Night | Form of the Goddess | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 7 April | 1 | Shailaputri | Royal blue |
| Thursday 8 April | 2 | Brahmacharini | Yellow |
| Friday 9 April | 3 | Chandraghanta | Green |
| Saturday 10 April | 4 | Kushmanda | Grey |
| Sunday 11 April | 5 | Skandamata | Orange |
| Monday 12 April | 6 | Katyayani | White |
| Tuesday 13 April | 7 | Kalratri | Red |
| Wednesday 14 April | 8 | Mahagauri | Sky blue |
| Thursday 15 April | 9 | Siddhidatri | Pink |
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.
How this year's colours are worked out
The list follows one simple rule: each date takes the colour of its weekday.
| Weekday | Colour the first time it falls in Navratri | Colour the second time |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | orange | purple |
| Monday | white | peacock green |
| Tuesday | red | pink |
| Wednesday | royal blue | sky blue |
| Thursday | yellow | pink |
| Friday | green | purple |
| Saturday | grey | peacock green |
The first seven days of Navratri fall on seven different weekdays, so each takes its weekday's colour from the first column. From the eighth day the weekdays come round again, and the second column is used. That is why the list begins with a different colour every year: it depends on the weekday on which Navratri begins. The box above applies this rule to the actual dates of Navratri in your country.
Why websites sometimes disagree. Navratri is not always nine days long: a lunar day that misses every sunrise is skipped, and one that covers two sunrises is counted twice, so some years have eight days and some ten. Some lists still print nine dates regardless, and some move the last colours onto the wrong days. Our list colours only the real dates of Navratri for your country. When Navratri runs to a tenth day, the colour of that day is the least settled in the custom; we show it and say so.
Where the custom came from
The custom is credited to Maharashtra Times, the Marathi daily of Mumbai, which still publishes its colour of the day each Navratri. A former editor of the paper has said that it began in 2003 as a way to bring women readers to the paper, and that the colours were paired with the forms of the Goddess to give the idea a religious feel. That account comes from him alone; the date and the motive have not been confirmed elsewhere. By the early 2010s the custom was everywhere in Mumbai, and it has since spread wherever Navratri is kept.
None of this makes the custom wrong. Many festival customs are young; this one is cheerful, it brings people together, and it costs nothing. But it is not scripture, and no form of the Goddess "prefers" a colour.
The colour and the Goddess of the day
Because the colour changes every year while the form of the Goddess does not, the two do not belong together. The sixth day's colour may be green one year and red the next; it is still Katyayani's day. Where the texts or the images do give a form a colour, it is her own, not the day's — Mahagauri is always shown in white, Kalaratri always black.
So wear the day's colour if you enjoy it. The worship of the day — the form of the Goddess, her mantra and her offering — is on each night's page.
Night 1 — Shailaputri · Night 6 — Katyayani · Night 8 — Mahagauri · The bhog for all nine days
Questions we are asked
What are the colours of Navratri this year? They are in the box at the top of this page, for each date of Navratri in your country. The list is worked out from the weekday of each date.
Who started the nine colours of Navratri? The custom is credited to the Marathi newspaper Maharashtra Times of Mumbai. A former editor has said it began in 2003; that account has not been independently confirmed.
Are the Navratri colours mentioned in scripture? No. No classical text assigns a colour to a day of Navratri or to a form of the Goddess. It is a modern, popular custom.
Why do the colours change every year? Because each date takes the colour of its weekday, and Navratri begins on a different weekday each year.
Which colour should I wear on the first day of Navratri? The colour of the weekday on which Navratri begins — Sunday orange, Monday white, Tuesday red, Wednesday royal blue, Thursday yellow, Friday green, Saturday grey. This year's is in the box above.
Which colour saree for Katyayani Devi? No colour belongs to her by scripture. On her day, the sixth, most people wear that year's sixth colour; in pictures she is often shown in red.
Are the colours the same for Chaitra Navratri? The same weekday rule is used for Chaitra Navratri lists, so the colours depend on the weekday on which it begins.
Why do different websites give different colours? Mostly because of eight-day and ten-day years, when some lists print nine dates anyway. Our list colours only the real dates of Navratri for your country.
This page teaches. The dates are computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon; the colours follow the weekday rule above. Where your family or community follows its own list, follow that.
Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page · The Navratri aarti · Kanya pujan
