First Day of Navratri: Significance, Rituals, Colors & Celebrations 2025

Navratri begins on Pratipada, the first lunar day of the bright fortnight of Ashwin. The opening day is dedicated to Maa Shailputri, the first of the nine forms of Durga known as the Navadurga. In 2025, Sharad Navratri starts on 22 September, and households across the wider Indian tradition mark the day with Kalash Sthapana, a simple altar, and the first vows of the vrat.

Shailputri is remembered as the daughter of the Himalaya—Shaila meaning mountain, Putri meaning daughter. Tradition places her at the root of the nine-night sequence: just as a tree draws strength from its base, the devotee begins with her before moving through the remaining eight forms. The day is therefore less a spectacle than a foundation—quiet, grounded, and deliberate.

What follows is the classical significance of the first day, the iconography and story of the goddess, the rituals performed at home and at the ashram, and the colour associated with Pratipada in 2025. For festival dates in your own city, the free festival calendar is a practical companion.

Maa Shailputri: the goddess of Pratipada

Maa Shailputri is the first manifestation of Goddess Durga worshipped during Navratri. Her name is drawn from Sanskrit: shaila (mountain) and putri (daughter). She is therefore revered as the daughter of Himavan, the king of the mountains, and as an embodiment of steadiness, purity and strength.

In classical depiction she rides the bull Nandi. In one hand she holds the trishul; in the other, a lotus. The bull stands for patience and firmness; the trident for the power to cut through ignorance; the lotus for purity that remains untouched by the mud from which it rises. Many texts also link her to the Muladhara, the root centre, underscoring the idea that the nine nights begin with grounding rather than with display.

Because she opens the sequence, her worship is treated as the spiritual base of the entire vrat. Devotees who keep the nine-day observance traditionally seek her grace first, so that the remaining days rest on a steady foundation. Those who wish to deepen Devi worship beyond the home altar often turn to rites such as the Durga Sukta Homa or a dedicated Bhagavathi Seva, both of which the house performs and telecasts live.

Mythological background

Scriptural tradition identifies Shailputri with the reincarnation of Sati. In her earlier birth as Daksha’s daughter, Sati gave up her body after her father insulted Shiva. She was later born to Himavan and Mena as Parvati, and in that birth she is remembered as Shailputri—the mountain’s child whose destiny was union with Shiva.

As a young ascetic she undertook severe tapasya in the Himalaya to win Shiva’s regard. The form worshipped on Pratipada captures her at that early stage: pure, resolute, and still close to the earth and the mountains. After her marriage to Shiva she becomes the mother of the universe in her many Shakti forms; the Navadurga are those successive faces. Shailputri is the first—the pure potential from which the rest unfold.

The story is therefore not only biography. It frames why the festival opens with her. Navratri is a journey through nine aspects of the Divine Mother; the first step is the return to root strength, devotion and clarity before the more martial or expansive forms appear in the days that follow.

Rituals on the first day: Kalash Sthapana and the altar

The central rite of Pratipada is Kalash Sthapana, also called Ghatasthapana. An earthen or metal kalash is filled with water, a few coins, betel nut and mango leaves; a coconut is placed on top. The vessel is set on a clean altar, often over a small bed of soil in which barley or wheat grains are sown. Over the nine days the sprouts rise, a quiet sign of growth accompanying the vrat.

The kalash is treated as the seat of the Devi for the duration of Navratri. A diya is lit, incense offered, and the first prayers addressed to Shailputri. Families who keep a strict vrat begin their fast the same morning—some on fruit and milk alone, others on satvik grains such as kuttu and samak, avoiding onion, garlic and heavy spices. The point of the fast, in the classical view, is discipline and a clearer mind for japa and stotra, not mere abstinence.

Many households also begin the recitation of the Devi Mahatmyam (Durga Saptashati) on this day, reading or listening to a portion each evening through the nine nights. Morning and evening aarti, simple flowers, and a clean, uncluttered puja space complete the domestic observance.

Colour of the first day in 2025

A widely followed custom assigns a colour to each of the nine days. Devotees wear that shade, and some extend it to flowers, rangoli or the cloth on the altar. For Sharad Navratri 2025, the colour associated with the first day—22 September—is white.

White is linked with purity, calm and a fresh beginning. It suits Shailputri’s character as the root form: unadorned, clear, and steady. Wearing white is an act of remembrance rather than a rule of shastra; the deeper observance remains the kalash, the fast and the name of the goddess. Still, the shared colour gives communities a visible rhythm across the nine evenings of garba, temple visits and home worship.

Those who prefer a fuller ritual calendar for the season can browse the house’s spiritual-growth homas, where several Devi-centred rites are grouped for the Navratri period.

How the nine nights are framed from day one

Pratipada is deliberately quiet. The later days bring more elaborate forms—Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda and the rest—and with them denser stotras and, in many regions, public dance and music. Day one asks only for a clean start: the pot installed, the first lamp lit, the first name of the Mother spoken with attention.

In the ashram tradition the same logic holds. Priests establish the kalash, invoke Shailputri, and keep the fire and the chant continuous so that devotees who join by live telecast can align their home observance with the rite. No outcome is promised; the work is the worship itself, offered as the scriptures prescribe.

Whether the devotee is keeping a full nine-day fast or simply lighting a lamp each evening, beginning with Shailputri keeps the sequence coherent. The mountain’s daughter stands for the strength that does not hurry—and that is the tone the festival asks for at its opening.

Questions devotees ask