Navratri 2024: Kerala govt announces public holiday on Friday for Maha Navami celebration

This year's Durga Ashtami puja will be performed at 10 PM on October 10, due to Tritiya coinciding with the sunrise over two days. The Maha Navami puja will follow on October 11, with the Vijayadashami puja scheduled for the morning of October 13.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has declared a public holiday for all government offices on Friday (Oct 11) in connection with Maha Navami, following the Chief Minister’s directive to implement the holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The state had previously declared a holiday for schools on October 11. As a result, students in Kerala will now have a three-day weekend, with October 12 being a holiday for Mahanavami in all educational institutions, followed by Sunday, October 13.

This year, the puja rituals are set to be conducted on the evening of October 10. While the puja is traditionally held at dusk on Durga Ashtami, this year it will be performed at 10 PM on Ashtami evening due to the coincidence of Tritiya with sunrise over two days.

After the Durga Ashtami and Maha Navami pujas on October 11 and 12, the Vijayadashami puja will take place in the morning on October 13. In anticipation of these events, the National Teachers Union (NTU) had previously submitted a memorandum to the Education Minister, requesting a holiday on October 11.