Navratri 2026 in Cyprus: Dates, Colours and Where to Celebrate

Dates and timings can change, so always confirm with the organisers before you go.

Back home, you can't miss Navratri. Loudspeakers play Garba songs late into the night, the markets fill with chaniya cholis and dandiya sticks, and every evening someone in the family is heading off to an aarti. Here in Cyprus, the festival is quieter. Nobody hands you a holiday, and the dhol doesn't come to you. You have to bring Navratri into your own home and your own week.

The good news: with a little planning, it can feel every bit as special. This guide covers the 2026 dates, the colour for each day, where to join the community, and how to keep the fast with ingredients from your local supermarket.

Navratri 2026: the dates

Sharad Navratri, the autumn Navratri and the biggest of the year, runs for nine nights from Sunday 11 October to Monday 19 October 2026. Vijayadashami, better known as Dussehra, follows on Tuesday 20 October.

For nine days, devotees honour the nine forms of Goddess Durga, one each day, with prayers, fasting, music and dance. In Gujarat and Rajasthan the nights belong to Garba and Dandiya. In Bengal the festival peaks as Durga Puja. In much of North India, Ramlila stages build up to the burning of Ravana's effigy on Dussehra. However your family marks it, the message is the same: light over darkness, and good over evil.

Ghatasthapana, the setting-up of the sacred kalash on day one, is traditionally done in the morning. Published muhurat times are for Indian time, so check timings for Cyprus with your family priest or a panchang set to your location. Ashtami and Navami dates can also shift by a day depending on the calendar your family follows.

The nine days at a glance

Many families, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat, wear a set colour each day. Here is the 2026 list, so you can plan outfits (and raid your wardrobe) in advance:

• Day 1, Sunday 11 October: Maa Shailaputri · Orange
• Day 2, Monday 12 October: Maa Brahmacharini · White
• Day 3, Tuesday 13 October: Maa Chandraghanta · Red
• Day 4, Wednesday 14 October: Maa Kushmanda · Royal blue
• Day 5, Thursday 15 October: Maa Skandamata · Yellow
• Day 6, Friday 16 October: Maa Katyayani · Green
• Day 7, Saturday 17 October: Maa Kalaratri · Grey
• Day 8, Sunday 18 October: Maa Mahagauri · Purple
• Day 9, Monday 19 October: Maa Siddhidatri · Peacock green

Colour traditions differ between regions and families, so treat this as a guide, not a rule. If your mother or grandmother follows a different list, hers wins.

Where to celebrate in Cyprus

Durga Puja & Navratri Garba, Shiv Mandir, Athienou (Larnaca district). The community is gathering on Monday 19 October, 5:30 PM to 11:30 PM, for Durga Puja followed by traditional Garba, celebrating the blessings of Maa Ambaji. Families are warmly welcome. See the event details on our What's On page.

Shiv Mandir in Athienou is one of the island's best-known Hindu temples and the natural home for Navratri prayers, so it's worth keeping an eye on its announcements through the nine days.

Organising a Garba night, an aarti or a kanya puja in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca or Paphos? Send us the details and we'll add it to our What's On page so more families can join you.

Celebrating at home

You don't need a big mandir to welcome the Goddess. A clean corner, a small table or even a shelf will do.

• Set up a kalash: a copper, brass or steel pot with water, a coconut wrapped in red cloth on top, and fresh leaves around its mouth. Mango leaves are hard to find here, so many families simply use any clean green leaves.
• Sow barley (jau) seeds: plant them in a shallow tray of soil on day one and watch them sprout over the nine days, a lovely job for children.
• Light a diya: morning and evening, with a short aarti. If you live in a flat, a small oil lamp on a tray is safer than a long-burning akhand jyoti.
• Shop early: puja items, kumkum, red chunris, sabudana, kuttu atta and samak rice sell out fast before festivals. Indian grocers such as Vama in Nicosia and Limassol, and Little Asia in both cities, are good places to start.

Fasting-friendly food with local ingredients

Cypriot supermarkets stock more vrat-friendly basics than you might expect: potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, yoghurt, fresh fruit and pink Himalayan salt, which many families use as sendha namak. Three simple ideas:

• Sabudana khichdi: soak sabudana overnight, then toss with cumin, green chilli, boiled potato cubes, crushed roasted peanuts and rock salt. Finish with lemon and coriander.
• Buckwheat cheela: buckwheat flour is the same grain as kuttu atta, and it often sits in the health-food aisle. Mix it with grated potato, green chilli and rock salt into a thick batter and cook small pancakes in ghee.
• Sweet potato chaat: roast or boil sweet potatoes, cube them, and toss with yoghurt, roasted cumin, rock salt and pomegranate seeds, which are in season in Cyprus right now.

Rules for what's allowed on a fast vary from family to family, so adjust as needed, and if you're pregnant, diabetic or on medication, check with your doctor before fasting.

What this means for you

• Plan your week now: Navratri falls on ordinary working days here, so book any time off early, especially for Monday 19 October if you want to go to Athienou.
• Plan outfits early: pick your colours from the list above and check the wardrobe this weekend.
• Stock up before Saturday: fasting flours and puja items run short in the days before the festival.
• Make it social: invite another family for a small aarti and snacks. For many of us, the people are what we miss most about Navratri back home.
• Tell us your plans: if your temple or group is holding an event, send it to us.

For your Cypriot friends

Share this with neighbours and colleagues: Navratri means "nine nights". It is one of India's biggest festivals, celebrating the Goddess Durga and the victory of good over evil. For nine evenings, families pray, many fast, and communities dance Garba and Dandiya in colourful traditional clothes. On the tenth day, Dussehra, the celebration ends with joy and sweets. If an Indian colleague turns down lunch this week, they may be fasting, and a simple "Happy Navratri!" will make their day.

Wherever you celebrate, at the temple in Athienou or in a small corner of your own home, we wish you a joyful and blessed Navratri. Jai Mata Di!

Read also: One Home, Three Languages: Keeping Your Mother Tongue Alive in Cyprus

Sources: HinduLab (2026 calendar), Rudralife (dates), Devaastha (colours), Indians in Cyprus – Durga Puja & Navratri Garba