Chaitra Navratri 2025: Date, Time & Traditional Foods

With the cold breeze settling, allowing the flowers to bloom, Chaitra Navratri marks the onset of spring as per Hindu calendars. Navratri, which translates to nine nights, is a significant nine-day festival dedicated to worshipping Goddess Durga and all her avatars. 

Holding cultural importance, particularly in North India, devotees observe a fast abstaining from ingredients like wheat, rice, salt, onion and a non-vegetarian diet. Ahead of Chaitra Navratri 2025, starting from the 30th of March, here is all you need to know about the shubh muhrat as per the Hindu calendar, its significance, and the vrat-friendly food that’s popularly savoured across the country.

Chaitra Navratri 2025: Date And Shubh Muhrat

The first day, also known as Pratipada of Chaitra Navratri 2025, will commence on the 30th of March 2025 and conclude with Navami, the ninth day on the 7th of April 2025. Here are the dates and times for Shubh Muhrat as per the desi calendar.

  • Pratipada Tithi Begins: 04:27 PM on March 29, 2025 
  • Pratipada Tithi Ends: 12:49 PM on March 30, 2025
  • Ghatasthapana Muhurat: 06:13 AM to 10:21 AM on April 7, 2025
  • Ghatasthapana Abhijit Muhurat: 12:00 PM to 12:50 PM on April 7, 2025

The Significance Of Celebrating Chaitra Navratri

As per Hindu mythologies, Goddess Durga descended to Earth to kill the evil Mahishasur, who was causing havoc on humanity. To celebrate the victory each year, these nine days are celebrated with different cultural practices like observing a fast, performing pujas, enacting the victory through dance and music, and much more. Also, marking a fresh start, the New Year, as per the Hindu calendar and the spring season.

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Traditional Dishes Prepared For Navratri Thali

Sabudana Khichdi

Sabudana or tapioca pearls take centre stage during most fasts. The chewy ingredient is not just vrat-friendly, but it can impeccably absorb the flavours and add more taste to your Navratri thali. The best part is that sabudana khichdi can be quickly whipped up with basic kitchen ingredients like potatoes, cumin seeds, peanuts, soaked sabudana, and spices that you don’t avoid while fasting.

Dahi Aloo

Potatoes, be it boiled, mashed, half-fried, or deep-fried, are one of the go-to ingredients while fasting. But if you want to keep your meals light and healthy, you can indulge in dahi aloo. The simple yet filling dish will give you the benefits of both curd and potatoes without adding to the fat content.

Samak Chawal Dosa

For a South Indian add-on to your vrat vali thali, you can make samak chawal dosas. All you need to do to make dosa while fasting is to make the batter with soaked and ground barnyard millet. Just cook on both sides till crispy, and your samak chawal dosa will be ready to serve while fasting.

Sabudana Kheer

If you are looking for desserts that you can eat while fasting, sabudana kheer is just the right option for you. Just like you would make kheer with rice, you have to follow a similar process for sabudana kheer. But first, you need to soak sabudana till they swell up. Then, you can add them to a mixture of milk and sugar and let it simmer. After you get the desired consistency, you can add chopped dry fruits and nuts to give a little crunch and make the kheer even more indulgent.

Fruit Chaat

For snacking options, most people keep a bowl of seasonal fruits like apples, bananas, mangoes, grapes, etc., handy. Chopping the fruits and tossing them with some chaat masala with a little lemon squeeze, you can enjoy the fruits while keeping them full during the fast.