Navratri 2026 Colours: Day-Wise List, Meaning and What to Gift

Every year, a week before Navratri, the same question goes round every office and family WhatsApp group: which colour is it on which day? The Navratri colours for 2026 are below, day by day, in a table you can screenshot.

We make gifts and décor by hand, and colour is most of our working day, so this guide goes one step further than the list. For each of the nine days it tells you what the colour stands for, an easy way to wear it without buying a new outfit, and one handmade gift or decoration in that colour. There is a section for offices and housing societies too, because that is where the colour chart matters most.

When is Navratri in 2026?

Sharad Navratri 2026 begins on Sunday 11 October with Ghatasthapana and ends on Monday 19 October. Durga Ashtami is on Sunday 18 October and Maha Navami on Monday 19 October. Vijayadashami, or Dussehra, follows on Tuesday 20 October. Diwali comes 19 days after that, on Sunday 8 November.

The dates follow the lunar calendar. In some years two tithis fall on one day, and the count can differ by a day between regions and panchangs. For puja timings and for Ashtami and Navami in particular, check the panchang your family follows.

What are the nine colours of Navratri 2026?

The nine colours of Navratri 2026 are orange (11 October), white (12 October), red (13 October), royal blue (14 October), yellow (15 October), green (16 October), grey (17 October), purple (18 October) and peacock green (19 October). Each day is also dedicated to one form of Goddess Durga.

How are the Navratri colours decided?

The colour of each day is set by the day of the week on which it falls. Sunday is orange, Monday white, Tuesday red, Wednesday royal blue, Thursday yellow, Friday green and Saturday grey. Navratri has nine days and a week has seven, so the last two days take purple and peacock green.

That is why the order changes every year. In 2026 Navratri starts on a Sunday, so the first day is orange. In a year when it starts on a Thursday, the first day is yellow.

It is worth knowing that this is a popular custom and not a rule from scripture. It spread from Maharashtra and Gujarat, helped along by newspapers that printed the chart each year, and is now followed across the country, most keenly in offices, colleges and housing societies. Nobody is doing Navratri wrong by wearing a different colour, or by not following the chart at all. In Bengal, for example, Durga Puja has its own traditions of dress, with red-and-white sarees on Dashami.

Navratri colours day by day: what to wear and gift

For each day: the meaning people attach to the colour, the easiest way to wear it, and one handmade idea. The meanings are the ones commonly given; different families tell them a little differently.

Day 1, Sunday 11 October: orange

Stands for: warmth and energy, a bright start. Wear it: an orange dupatta or a marigold in your hair does the job; orange also photographs well under garba lights. Handmade idea: strings of artificial marigold for the door and the balcony railing. They go up today, stay fresh-looking through Diwali, and come out again next year. This is also the day of Ghatasthapana, when the kalash is set up, so decorate the puja corner first.

Day 2, Monday 12 October: white

Stands for: peace and purity. Wear it: the easiest day of the nine. A white kurta, a white shirt to the office, or a string of mogra. Handmade idea: a white cotton handkerchief with an embroidered initial. It is a small, proper gift for a father, a teacher or a colleague, and white thread-work on white cloth looks quietly rich. If you are fasting, this is a good day to keep things simple.

Day 3, Tuesday 13 October: red

Stands for: strength and devotion; red is the colour most closely tied to the Goddess. Wear it: red bangles, a red bindi, a red chunri. Handmade idea: a bouquet of red ribbon roses for the puja room or for your mother. Fresh hibiscus and roses are right for the offering itself. An everlasting bunch is for the weeks after, when the fresh ones are gone.

Day 4, Wednesday 14 October: royal blue

Stands for: calm, depth and good health. Wear it: this is the colour people have least of. A royal blue stole or a pair of earrings is enough. Handmade idea: a resin keychain with a name, set with blue pressed flowers. Wednesday is mid-week, when the office colour group is in full swing, and a keychain each is an easy thing for a team to exchange.

Day 5, Thursday 15 October: yellow

Stands for: happiness and brightness. Wear it: yellow suits almost everyone in daylight. A yellow kurta for the office, haldi-yellow bangles for the evening. Handmade idea: a small bunch of yellow artificial flowers for a desk or a study table. It is also a kind gift for an elderly neighbour who cannot get out to the pandal this year.

Day 6, Friday 16 October: green

Stands for: growth and new beginnings. Wear it: green glass bangles are the classic; a green dupatta works with nearly any suit. Handmade idea: a hand-painted planter with a money plant, or a photo frame with a leaf border for a family picture. Friday night is the big garba night in most cities, so green is the colour you will see in the most photographs.

Day 7, Saturday 17 October: grey

Stands for: balance, and the strength to face what is difficult. Wear it: the day everyone finds hardest. Wear grey with silver jewellery and it stops looking like office wear. A grey stole over a bright suit also counts. Handmade idea: a wall clock with a grey dial and the family name in white. Grey is the most useful décor colour of the nine, because it sits well in any room.

Day 8, Sunday 18 October: purple

Stands for: ambition and richness. Wear it: purple silk if you have it; a purple dupatta if you do not. Handmade idea: today is Durga Ashtami, when many families do Kanya Pujan. Small gifts for the girls in purple wrapping, or a purple hair accessory in each gift bag, tie the day's colour to the day's ritual. See our Navratri gift ideas for a full Kanya Pujan list.

Day 9, Monday 19 October: peacock green

Stands for: compassion and freshness. It is a blue-green, like the neck of a peacock. Wear it: teal or sea green is close enough. Nobody will hold a shade card against you. Handmade idea: a resin piece with a peacock-green tint, or a peacock-feather motif on a frame. This is Maha Navami, the last day, so it is the natural day to hand over the gift you planned for the whole festival.

How do you follow the colours without nine new outfits?

You need one item in the colour of the day, and it does not have to be clothing. A dupatta, bangles, a bindi, a hair clip, a flower or a bag all count. Most people follow the chart with accessories over two or three plain outfits.

• Start with white, black or beige basics. Every one of the nine colours sits well on them.
• Buy bangles, not outfits. A dozen glass bangles in each colour costs less than one kurta, and nine sets fit in a shoebox.
• Borrow within the family. Your sister's yellow dupatta on Thursday, your green one for her on Friday.
• Use flowers. A marigold for orange, mogra for white, a rose for red. Fresh or artificial, pinned to a bun or a plait.
• Men can keep it simple. A kurta in two of the colours, and a pocket square, a stole or a handkerchief for the rest.

How do you use the Navratri colours in home décor?

Decorate the puja corner in one base colour for all nine days, and change a single element daily: the cloth under the kalash, the flowers or the rangoli colour. Changing everything every morning is tiring by day four. One daily change is enough for the photographs and the feeling.

• The base: marigold orange and red suit every day. Put up torans and garlands once, on the first morning.
• The daily change: nine small cloths, or nine bunches of flowers, one in each colour. Artificial flowers can be bought once and reused every year.
• The rangoli: keep the outline white and fill it with the colour of the day.
• The lights: warm white throughout. Coloured lights fight with the colour of the day.
• After Navratri: leave the marigold strings and torans up. Diwali is less than three weeks away.

Navratri colours at the office or in a housing society

The colour chart is most fun in a group, and most stressful too. If you are the one organising it, send the full list on one page a week ahead, say clearly that accessories count, and make it optional. People who are away, new, or not celebrating should not feel left out of the photograph.

1. Share the chart early. The table above, as an image, on the Friday before.
2. Say that one item is enough. A scarf, a tie, a bangle, a pen.
3. Pick one day for the group photo. Friday 16 October (green) is the easy one in 2026. Everyone has something green.
4. Keep a small prize. A handmade keychain or a flower bunch for the best-dressed on the day costs little and gets people to join in.
5. Skip the fines. A penalty for the wrong colour turns a festival into a rule.

If you want a small matching gift for the whole team, such as a name keychain each in the colour of the day, send the numbers through our corporate gifting enquiry form. Our guide to handcrafted corporate gifts in India covers budgets and timelines.

How do you match a Navratri gift to the colour of the day?

Match the gift to the day it will be given, not the day you order it. If you are visiting your sister on Friday 16 October, choose green. If the gift is for the whole festival, choose red or orange, which belong to all nine days.

The price ranges are what a handmade piece of each kind usually costs in India, to help you plan. They are not a quote. A personalised piece is made to order and needs about 10 to 12 days from order to doorstep, so for this Navratri, order now for Dussehra or choose a piece that needs no name on it. Our guide to choosing a personalised handmade gift explains the steps.

Common mistakes with the Navratri colours

• Using last year's chart. The order changes every year with the weekday. Check the year on the image before you forward it.
• Mixing up royal blue and peacock green. Royal blue is a deep, pure blue on day 4. Peacock green is a blue-green on day 9.
• Buying nine outfits. Half of them will not be worn again. Buy accessories.
• Treating it as a religious rule. It is a custom. The puja, the fast and the aarti matter more than the shade of your kurta.
• Leaving gifts to the last day. Anything made to order needs time. Decide in the first two days.

Planning ahead for the rest of the season? Our list of 40 handmade Diwali gift ideas is sorted by who each gift is for, and you can browse pieces that can carry a name or gifts under ₹500 in the shop.