New Delhi: Navratri 2025 starts today on September 22, 2025. And, the air has filled with festive vibes – lights, rangolis, bhajans, and the echo of ‘Ya Devi Sarvabhaouma’ has declared the homecoming of Durga Maa and the festive season. Across India, households are decorating their homes, organising puja schedules, and planning the upcoming nine days of Navratri. While we are ready to welcome Maa Durga to our homes, there is a beautiful tradition to do so. A sacred ritual of Kalash Sthapana or Ghatasthapana is followed.

On the first day of Navratri, Kalash Sthapana means installing a holy pot known as kalash to invoke the presence of Goddess Shakti (Durga). This ritual signifies the formal start of the nine-day celebration and an invitation to divine energy, positivity, and blessings into our homes. If you are performing a Durga Puja in their home this year, here’s everything you need to know.

Navratri Ghatasthhapana Timings

Also known as Mata ki Chowki (house of the Goddess), Kalashsahtapana is required to be performed during the Ghatashtapana muharat. For Navratri 2025, there are two auspicious timings:

• Ghatasthhapana Muhurat in Early Morning: 06:09 AM – 08:06 AM
• Ghatasthhapana Muhurat in Morning: 09:11 AM – 10:43 AM
• Abhijit Muhurat: 11:49 AM – 12:38 pm

Navratri 2025day 1: Step-by-Step Guide to Kalash sthapana and ghatasthapana

Inauspicious timings to install Kalash

Performing Ghatashtapana during an inauspicious time could alter the results of the puja and attract negativity and bad luck. Try to avoid the timings below to invoke Goddess Durga properly, and ensure success in the puja.

• Peace weight – 07:48 pm to 09:10 AM
• Gulika period – from 07:24 pm to 08:45 am
• Yamaganda – 10:24 am to 12:27 pm

Navratri 2025 Ghatasthapana Samagri Checklist

To ensure a smooth flow of Ghatasthapana, below is the list of items that you are required to have before the rituals begin.

1. A wide-mouth copper or brass Kalash
2. Fresh water (if possible, Ganga water)
3. Mango leaves
4. Coconut with husk
5. Rice grains
6. Red thread (mouli)
7. Betel leaves
8. Saptadhanya (7 types of grains)
9. Kumkum and haldi powder
10. Flowers and garlands
11. Diyas with ghee
12. Incense sticks/dhoop
13. Fruits, jaggery, sweets for prasad
14. Druva
15. Red cloth
16. Cloves
17. Betal nuts
18. Soil from a clean place

Ghatasthhapana Pujan Vidhi

1. Clean the place of Kalashsthapana and place a wide-mouthed vessel on it in the North or east direction. Take the soil and make it damp with Ganga water.
2. Keep the dampened soil in the wide-mouthed vessel, and sow barley and sapthadhanya in it.
3. Now place the Kalash in the middle of the soil. Tie a mouli on the upper part of the pot. In the Kalash, add Ganga water, coins, turmeric, betel nut, durva, and cloves.
4. After this, cover the mouth of the pot with mango leaves.
5. Take the coconut, wrap it in a red cloth, draw a swastika on it with Kumkum and haldi powder, and then place the coconut on the top of the pot.
6. After installing the Kalash in this manner, perform Panchopachar puja with flowers, camphor, incense sticks and diyas.
7. Chant mantras to Maa Durga for nine days and worship her as per the rituals.
8. Immerse the Kalash on the last day of Navratri.

Navaratri 2025 offers not just an extended celebration but also a deeper opportunity to reconnect with the divine. The Kalash stands as a reminder that sacredness exists in simple acts of devotion, and that strength and grace lie within us as much as they do in the goddess we worship. May this festive season fill every home with light, prosperity, and the timeless power of Shakti.