ಮಾಘ ಗುಪ್ತ ನವರಾತ್ರಿ ಆರಂಭ | Magha Gupta Navaratri begins

Magha Gupta Navaratri is a nine-night worship of the Devi that begins on the pratipada of Magha shukla paksha, the day after the new moon that opens the month of Magha, in January or February. It is one of the four Navaratris of the year. Two of them, the Sharad Navaratri of Ashwayuja and the Vasanta Navaratri of Chaitra, are public festivals. The other two, in Magha and in Ashadha, are called gupta, hidden, because their worship is kept private by those who take up a particular practice, rather than celebrated in the open.

What is worshipped

In the North, where the name Gupta Navaratri is most used, the nine days are given chiefly to the ten Mahavidyas: Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. These are tantric forms of the Devi. The guidance usually given is that their mantras are taken from a qualified teacher, that the practice is not spoken about, and that the worship is done at night or before dawn, at the same hour each day, with discipline in food and conduct. Those who have no such practice are advised to keep to the ordinary worship of the Devi in these days.

In the South the Magha Navaratri is better known as Shyamala Navaratri, the nine days of Raja Shyamala, also called Matangi, whom the Sri Vidya tradition knows as the minister of Lalita Tripura Sundari and the goddess of music, speech and the arts. Nine forms of Shyamala are worshipped through the nine days, at Devipuram near Visakhapatnam among other places. The season fits her: Vasant Panchami, the day of Saraswati and of a child’s first letters, falls on the fifth of these nine days, and Ratha Saptami on the seventh.

The Ashadha Gupta Navaratri

The other hidden Navaratri begins on the pratipada of Ashadha shukla paksha, in June or July, and has its own page, Ashadha Gupta Navaratri. In the South that one is known as Varahi Navaratri, for the goddess Varahi. With these two the four Navaratris fall roughly three months apart through the year: Chaitra, Ashadha, Ashwayuja and Magha.

Which day Anudina gives

Anudina marks only the first day, as it does for the autumn Navaratri: the day on which Magha shukla pratipada is the tithi at sunrise. The nine nights run on from there to the navami. The bright fortnight of Magha carries the same month name in the amanta reckoning of Karnataka and the purnimanta reckoning of the North, so there is no North and South difference in the date. In 2026 it began on 19 January, and the next date Anudina gives is 7 February 2027. It is shown in every regional setting, and Anudina also lists it among the vratas.