Lunar month 7 of 12 · Sharad (autumn)
Ashwin Maas आश्विन
Ashwin, the seventh month, is the month of the Goddess. Its bright fortnight is Sharad Navratri - nine nights of Durga worship - culminating in Dussehra, the victory of good over evil.
- Presiding deity
- Durga (the Devi)
- Season (ritu)
- Sharad (autumn)
- Order
- Month 7 of 12
Significance
It opens (in its dark fortnight) with the close of Pitru Paksha and Mahalaya, then turns to the Devi's nine forms, Durga Ashtami, Vijayadashami and the luminous Sharad (Kojagiri) Purnima.
Festivals in Ashwin
Observances
The year's most intense Devi worship: Navratri fasting and Garba, Ayudha Puja and Saraswati worship, Dussehra's Shami-puja and new beginnings, and the moonlit Kojagiri vigil.