The larger of the year's two widely-observed Navratris — nine nights honoring the Devi through her nine forms, from Shailaputri on the first night to Siddhidatri on the ninth. Garba and dandiya raas fill courtyards across Gujarat each evening; elsewhere the fast is kept quietly at home.
आश्विन शुक्ल १–९
This is the Navratri most closely tied to the Ramayana's Rama, whom tradition credits with an akal bodhan — an untimely invocation of Durga — before his battle with Ravana, seeking her blessing outside the goddess's usual worship season.
The concluding day overlaps with Dussehra below; along the way, many regions also observe Kanya Puja on the eighth or ninth night, honoring young girls as living forms of the Devi.