Navratri 2025: Fasting Guidelines and Foods to Include or Avoid

Lifestyle Correspondent
info@impressivetimes.com

With Shardiya Navratri 2025 just around the corner, devotees across the country are preparing to celebrate the nine-day festival of Maa Durga with devotion and enthusiasm. This year, Navratri will be observed from September 22 to October 2, covering the Pratipada to Navami of Ashwin Shukla Paksha. During these nine days, devotees worship the nine forms of Maa Durga, known collectively as the Navadurgas, and many follow fasting practices to honor the festival.

Fasting during Navratri is not only about abstaining from certain foods but also about following a disciplined lifestyle. Devotees are advised to wake up early, bathe, wear fresh clothes, and offer prayers to Maa Durga. It is recommended that children, the elderly, pregnant women, and nursing mothers avoid strict fasting, while others can choose to fast either throughout the day or on selected days. Black clothing, haircuts, nail treatments, or shaving are generally avoided during this period. Devotees are also encouraged to perform acts of charity and help others, with special rituals like Kanya Pujan on Ashtami and Navami, where young girls are worshipped as manifestations of the Goddess.

Diet plays a significant role in observing Navratri fasts. Foods that are considered suitable include flours like buckwheat, rajgira, and water chestnut flour for making rotis or puris, as well as sabudana used in khichdi, vadas, and kheer. Fresh fruits, milk, yogurt, homemade juices, and vegetables such as gourd, potato, spinach, tomato, and capsicum are recommended, with rock salt used instead of regular salt. Samak rice, also called Varai or Barnyard millet, is a good substitute for regular rice. Foods to be avoided during Navratri include wheat, rice, pulses, beans, onions, garlic, meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, cigarettes, and packaged or canned foods.

By following these guidelines, devotees can observe the Navratri fast safely and meaningfully, remaining energetic while maintaining spiritual focus during this auspicious festival.