Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday, October 11 and runs through October 19, with Vijayadashami on October 20. For families in the US, the date matches India’s, but the exact Ghatasthapana window needs to be computed for your own city.

Why the India-published muhurat window does not transfer directly

Ghatasthapana is traditionally performed in the morning hours on Pratipada tithi with Chitra nakshatra. Published Indian panchangs give a muhurat window (roughly a few hours in the morning) computed for an Indian city’s sunrise; a US city’s sunrise on the same date happens at a different point relative to the tithi, so the equivalent local window needs its own calculation.

Here’s why this matters in practice. Say a Delhi panchang lists Ghatasthapana muhurat as 6:15 AM to 10:12 AM IST. If you’re in New York, that’s 8:45 PM to 12:42 AM ET the night before. That’s clearly not a “morning muhurat.” What you actually need is to find the window on that same Pratipada tithi when it’s morning in New York, with Chitra nakshatra still prevailing. That’s a completely different calculation.

What stays useful across time zones

The underlying rule (Pratipada tithi, morning hours, avoiding Rahu Kaal) applies the same way in the US as in India, only the specific clock hours differ by location. The nine nights of worship, the daily color traditions, and the garba/dandiya celebrations all proceed the same way.

Pratipada tithi can span two calendar dates

One thing that catches US families off guard: a tithi doesn’t start at midnight. It can begin at any hour and runs roughly 19 to 26 hours. So Pratipada might start on October 10 evening in India and still be running on October 11 morning in the US, or it might start during the US daytime on October 11 itself. Whether the morning hours on October 11 in your city fall within Pratipada depends on your longitude. This is exactly the kind of detail that a city-specific panchang handles for you.

Community celebrations and the practical date

Most Hindu temples in the US will announce a fixed Navratri start date and time, usually the nearest weekend evening. If your family follows a temple community, that date is what your garba nights and aarti schedule follow. But Ghatasthapana at home is traditionally done on the exact Pratipada morning, not the community garba date, so it’s worth checking both.

Check your city’s timing

Use the panchang page with your US city selected to confirm the tithi is Pratipada that morning, and the muhurat page to check Rahu Kaal so Ghatasthapana avoids it. Setting your location to your actual city (not “USA” generally) matters here, because sunrise in Seattle and sunrise in Miami differ by over an hour on the same day.

What Ghatasthapana involves

For families setting up at home: fill a clay or copper pot (kalash) with water, place mango leaves around the rim, and set a coconut on top. The pot sits on a bed of soil where barley seeds are sown. Over the nine days, the barley sprouts, and healthy green growth is considered an auspicious sign. Place the kalash in your puja area, light a diya that ideally stays lit through all nine days (an electric diya works if continuous flame isn’t practical), and invoke Goddess Durga with the Ghatasthapana mantra. The sprouted barley is distributed as prasad on Vijayadashami.