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Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra in Mumbai 2026: dates, where to go and what to expect

Festivals & Events · Discover Mumbai Team · 25 September 2026 · 9 min read

Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra in Mumbai 2026: dates, where to go and what to expect

Ganpati has just left the city. Within three weeks Mumbai starts again, and for ten days two quite different festivals run side by side: Gujarati Navratri, which is nine nights of garba, and Bengali Durga Puja, which is five days of pandals, drumming and food. Both end on Dussehra. If you are visiting in October, this is the best fortnight of the year to be here.

The dates

What When
Ghatasthapana, first night of Navratri Sunday 11 October
Garba nights 11 to 19 October
Maha Shashthi, Durga Puja pandals open Friday 16 October
Maha Saptami Saturday 17 October
Maha Ashtami and Sandhi Puja Monday 19 October
Maha Navami Tuesday 20 October
Vijayadashami, Dussehra Tuesday 20 October

Panchangs differ by a day on Ashtami and Navami this year, because of how the tithi falls, and a few pandals observe Dashami on the 21st. Check the schedule of the pandal or mandal you plan to visit rather than assuming.

Garba and dandiya: what actually happens

Garba is danced in concentric circles around a lamp or an image of the goddess, to a live singer, a dhol and a keyboard. Dandiya adds two sticks and a partner. The circles are graded without anyone saying so: the innermost ring is for people who have done this since childhood and are moving fast, the outer rings are slower and full of beginners. Join an outer ring, copy the person in front, and you will have the three-step turn within ten minutes. Nobody minds. Being taught is part of the evening.

There are three kinds of venue:

Housing society garba. Every large complex puts up a pandal in its compound. Free, small, friendly and mostly families. If you know anyone living in a society, ask to come along. This is the version most Mumbaikars actually attend.

Ground events. School and municipal grounds in Borivali, Andheri, Ghatkopar, Thane and across Navi Mumbai host the big open-air nights, some free, some with a modest gate. These are the ones with thousands of dancers and a proper stage.

Ticketed arena nights. Sponsored events with well-known singers, sold through BookMyShow and District, often with a dress code and food stalls. The popular nights sell out. Prices range from a few hundred rupees for a single night to several thousand for season passes.

Ticketed nights in 2026

These are on sale now. Prices are the lowest single-entry price listed when we last checked, on 7 October 2026; passes and premium zones cost more, and prices rise as nights sell.

Event Where When From
Navratri Utsav with Falguni Pathak Jio World Convention Centre, BKC 11 to 19 October ₹2,200 at launch
Showglitz Navratri Utsav with Falguni Pathak Korakendra Ground No. 4, Borivali West Tuesday 20 October ₹1,400
Showglitz Navratri with Geeta Rabari Korakendra Ground No. 4, Borivali West 11 to 19 October ₹600
Rang Raas with Bhoomi Trivedi Chikoowadi Playground, Borivali West 11 to 19 October ₹499
Raas Rang Ghatkopar Police Hockey Ground, Ghatkopar 11 to 19 October ₹1,180
Dome Dandiya Nites Dome, SVP Stadium, Worli 15 to 20 October ₹499
Navrang Navratri with Nilesh Thakkar Sapphire Dome, Brahma Mahesh Ground, Goregaon West 11 to 20 October ₹500
Divya Raas with Preety and Pinky Inorbit Mall, Malad 11 to 20 October ₹399
Garba Dhoom Infiniti Mall, Malad 11 to 21 October ₹299
Shubharambh, disco dandiya Jio World Drive, BKC 17 and 18 October ₹800

Falguni Pathak, the best-known name in Navratri music, is singing all nine nights at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC, sold through BookMyShow, with single nights from ₹2,200 and a season pass at ₹20,000 when sales opened in August; she also plays the closing night at Borivali on the 20th. Our BKC guide has tips on getting in and out of BKC on a busy night.

We list these and more on our What’s On page, which is updated as new nights are announced.

When to arrive. Nothing starts on time. Doors open around 7 PM, the floor fills by 9, and the best hour is the last one. At open-air grounds that is a problem, because of the rule below.

The 10 PM rule

Loudspeakers in Maharashtra must stop at 10 PM. The state grants a limited number of exempted nights each year, capped at 15, and in recent years Mumbai has been given midnight extensions for the final three nights of Navratri, typically Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. The 2026 order is usually announced a few days before the festival; as of 7 October it had not been.

In practice: on most nights the music stops at 10 PM sharp and the crowd disperses, and on the last three nights the ground stays open to midnight and is far more crowded. If you are going to one night only, make it one of the last three.

Indoor venues are different. The noise rules exempt closed premises such as auditoria and halls, which is why the air-conditioned domes and mall atriums can run later: Garba Dhoom, in the main atrium of Infiniti Mall, Malad, lists closing at midnight on weekdays and 1 AM at weekends. If you want a long night, an indoor venue is the safer bet.

New this year: the High Court’s noise order

On 22 September 2026 the Bombay High Court ordered strict limits on festival noise across Maharashtra: a total ban on bursting firecrackers on public streets and roads during festivals, a ban on laser lights and loud high-watt sound systems, decibel meters displayed at festival venues, sound limiters on speakers, and deposits from organisers that are forfeited if they break the noise limits. The state has until 15 October to comply. For garba nights this means organisers will be watching the volume closely. The order does not change the midnight extensions the state grants for the final nights; that order is still awaited for 2026.

Durga Puja: pandal hopping

Mumbai has more than 30 public Durga Pujas. They are clustered where the Bengali communities are rather than in one central district, so pandal hopping here means picking a cluster rather than walking a route.

  • Juhu and Andheri West: North Bombay Sarbojanin and the Juhu Cultural Association, plus Lokhandwala Durgotsav and Pragati Durga Puja in Versova
  • Powai: Hiranandani Spandan and the Powai Bengali Welfare Association, easy to do together
  • Chembur and Vikhroli in the east, and Mulund further north
  • South Mumbai: Bombay Durga Bari Samiti in Girgaon and the Kalbadevi Sarvajanik puja, the oldest part of the city’s Bengali presence
  • Dadar: Dadar Bengal Club
  • Khar: Ramakrishna Math and Mission, the most ritual-focused and the quietest; our Khar guide covers the area
  • Thane and Navi Mumbai: more than a dozen, in Vashi, Nerul, Airoli, Seawoods and across Thane

What to expect: an idol made in Kumartuli in Kolkata and shipped over, dhaak drummers whose playing is the sound of the festival, dhunuchi naach with incense burners on Ashtami evening, and bhog, a vegetarian meal of khichuri, labra and chutney, served free to anyone who queues. Take it. The food stalls outside are the best street eating of the year: kathi rolls, fish fry, mishti doi.

Mornings are calm and good for seeing the idol properly. Ashtami and Navami evenings are the most crowded nights of the five.

Temples during Navratri

The Devi temples are the other half of the festival. Mahalaxmi Temple at Breach Candy and Mumbadevi Temple at Bhuleshwar, the temple the city is named after, both run long queues through the nine days, longest on the weekend and on Ashtami. Go early, before 8 AM, or late in the evening. Our Mahalaxmi guide has a walk that takes in the temple, Haji Ali and Dhobi Ghat. Leave bags and phones with the stalls outside where required, and dress modestly: covered shoulders and knees.

Dussehra

The tenth day. Effigies of Ravan are burned on maidans across the city at sunset, the Durga idols are taken to the sea, and Maharashtrians exchange apta leaves as symbolic gold and visit relatives. It is considered the most auspicious day of the year to begin something: people buy vehicles, start businesses and enrol children in classes on Dussehra. Expect showrooms to be busy and the roads around immersion points to be restricted in the evening, much as on visarjan day.

What to wear

For garba, women wear a chaniya choli, a full mirror-worked skirt with a short blouse and a dupatta, and men a kediyu with churidar. You do not need one. A kurta is entirely acceptable, and plenty of people come in jeans. If you want the outfit, Law College Road stalls, the lanes off Crawford Market and the Borivali and Malad markets sell them from around ₹1,500, and rentals are common.

The nine colours, one for each day, are a real thing that people follow, and the list is published in newspapers in the week before. Ticketed events often announce a colour theme for each night.

Wear shoes you can dance in and then take off. Garba is often danced barefoot on a mat.

Practical notes

  • Fasting food. Many people fast during Navratri, avoiding grain, onion and garlic. Restaurants advertise upvaas or falahari menus: sabudana khichdi, rajgira puri, sabudana vada. Worth trying whether or not you are fasting.
  • Getting home. Nights end at 10 PM or midnight, which is when the whole ground tries to leave at once. Trains run late but thin out after midnight. Agree a plan before you go out.
  • Cash. Stalls at pandals and grounds are cash-friendly and the network gets congested.
  • Photography. Public celebrations, so photographs are fine. At the moment of aarti, and during the puja rituals inside a pandal, put the phone down. Ask before photographing individual families.
  • Drinking. Garba grounds are dry. Do not turn up having had a drink; organisers turn people away.

Sources

The 2026 loudspeaker extension order and individual pandal schedules are announced in the days before the festival. We will update this page and our What’s On page as they are.

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