Nanda Ashtami · Nanda Devi Mela Festival Nanda Devi is the daughter of the hills and Shiva’s wife, and this is the day she is worshipped and then sent back to her husband.
Nanda Ashtami · Nanda Devi Mela 2027 falls on Wednesday, 8 September, computed for Chennai.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
- English
- Nanda Ashtami · Nanda Devi Mela
- कुमाउँनी
- नंदा अष्टमी
- गढ़वाली
- नंदा अष्टमी
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Himachal · Uttarakhand calendar, computed for Chennai
- Wednesday, 8 September 2027
- Sunday, 27 August 2028
- Saturday, 15 September 2029
Where Nanda Ashtami · Nanda Devi Mela falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 8 Sep
- 2028: 27 Aug
- 2029: 15 Sep
The dates, year by year
Himachal · Uttarakhand calendar, computed for Chennai
| Year | Nanda Ashtami · Nanda Devi Mela |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Sunday, 31 August 2025 |
| 2026 | Saturday, 19 September 2026 |
| 2027 | Wednesday, 8 September 2027 |
| 2028 | Sunday, 27 August 2028 |
| 2029 | Saturday, 15 September 2029 |
| 2030 | Thursday, 5 September 2030 |
| 2031 | Wednesday, 24 September 2031 |
| 2032 | Monday, 13 September 2032 |
| 2033 | Friday, 2 September 2033 |
| 2034 | Thursday, 21 September 2034 |
| 2035 | Monday, 10 September 2035 |
| 2036 | Friday, 29 August 2036 |
Worked out for Chennai, Lahiri ayanamsa. A date is a function of the place: set yours above and the next three come back for where you are.
What the day is
Nanda Devi is the daughter of the hills and Shiva’s wife, and this is the day she is worshipped and then sent back to her husband. Her image is made of kadali, a plantain stem cut in the forest and carried in with drums, and it is given up at the end of the day with the weeping of a daughter leaving home. The melas at Almora, Nainital, Ranikhet, Nauti and Kurud are held around the tithi, and in Chamba across the Himachal border the last bath of the Manimahesh yatra at the lake under Kailash is taken on the same morning.
- Deity
- Nanda Devi, Parvati, Shiva
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
Clock times for Wednesday, 8 September 2027 at Chennai
Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami at sunrise, the same name in both reckonings because a bright fortnight is named alike by each.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:58 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 05:58, sunset 18:15, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The fast
No fast is kept generally, though the women of the house keep the Ashtami in the Kumaoni and Garhwali households that hold Nanda as their kul devi.
Where the regions differ
The same tithi is Radha Ashtami in Himachal and in the Hindi belt. The twelve yearly Nanda Devi Raj Jat, which walks from Nauti in Chamoli to Homkund behind a four horned ram, is a different thing altogether, is not annual, and is called by the Nauti Rajbar family and its committee rather than by any arithmetic on the Sun or the Moon.
The dates above are the Himachal · Uttarakhand reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.