Most sacred 48-minute puja at junction of Ashtami and Navami tithis

Sandhi Puja is the most intense moment of Durga Puja, performed in the forty-eight minutes at the junction (sandhi) of Ashtami and Navami — the last twenty-four minutes of Ashtami and the first twenty-four of Navami. The Devi Mahatmya tells that in the battle against Mahishasura's allies, the demons Chanda and Munda attacked the Goddess, and from her furrowed brow sprang the fearsome Kali, who slew them both; the Goddess then named her Chamunda. That moment is held to fall at the meeting of the two tithis, and so Chamunda is worshipped then with the greatest fervour. The priest offers 108 lotuses and lights 108 lamps, the dhak rises to a frenzy, and in many pandals a symbolic bali is offered — an ash gourd, cucumber or banana — in place of the animal sacrifice once common. Because the timing is fixed to the exact tithi junction, families and pandals follow the panchang to the minute. Sandhi Puja is believed to be the moment when the Goddess is closest and most responsive, and prayers offered in it are said never to go unanswered.

Many devotees fast until the Sandhi Puja is complete.