Navratri Colours 2026: Which Colour to Wear on Each Day

Navratri colours 2026

Each day has one colour and one goddess. Here are all nine, in order.

How are the Navratri 2026 colours decided?

This part confuses a lot of people, so here it is step by step.

Every weekday has a fixed colour. Sunday is orange. Monday is white. Tuesday is red. Wednesday is royal blue. Thursday is yellow. Friday is green. Saturday is grey. These never change.

Navratri 2026 starts on a Sunday. So day 1 takes Sunday's colour, which is orange. Day 2 falls on Monday, so it takes white. Day 3 falls on Tuesday, so it takes red. The list just follows the calendar.

Nine days do not fit into seven weekdays. So the last two days get two extra colours. Day 8 is always purple. Day 9 is always peacock green.

That is the whole rule. Nobody sits down and picks the colours each year for Navratri in Dubai.

This is also why the list looks different every year. Navratri starts on a different weekday each time, so the colours shift.

Who decided the nine Navratri colours?

This is a fun story!

These colours are not in any religious book. They are only about 20 years old. A newspaper invented them.

In 2003, a Marathi newspaper in Mumbai called Maharashtra Times was losing women readers to a rival paper. So it tried something new. It gave each day of Navratri a colour. It printed that colour in big letters on the front page. Then it asked readers to send in photos of themselves wearing the colour to work.

For the first few days almost nobody replied. Then it took off. Offices started planning it together. Shops started stocking for it. Within a few years, women across India were following the list, and it reached the Gulf soon after.

1. 2003A Mumbai newspaper starts itMaharashtra Times gives each Navratri day a colour to win back women readers.
2. 2000sIt spreads across IndiaOther papers copy it, shops stock for it, and forwards carry the list everywhere.
3. 2010sIt becomes normalOffices, garba groups and families plan nine days of outfits around it.
4. 2026A Sunday startNavratri 2026 opens on 11 October, so the list begins with orange.

What each Navratri colour means

Each colour comes from the goddess worshipped that day. Most families also offer her a special food. That food is called bhog.

What to wear for the Navratri 2026 colours in Dubai

October in Dubai is still hot. Afternoons reach about 35°C. Evenings stay near 25°C. But most garba nights during Navratri 2026 in Dubai are happening indoors, in halls with strong air conditioning. So the hard part is the walk from the car park, not the dancing.

Where to buy the Navratri 2026 colours in Dubai

How to wear nine colours without buying nine outfits

You do not need nine outfits. Most people who post a nine-day photo grid did not buy nine either. They changed one thing each day instead of everything.

1. Pick two plain outfits. One white or cream, one black or charcoal. Every colour on the list goes with both.
2. Buy the colour in the cheap layer. Dupattas, scarves and bangles. Five of those cost less than one lehenga.
3. Shop your own cupboard first. Hold what you already own against the nine-day list. Most people are already sorted for three or four days.
4. Save your best outfit for Ashtami. Day 8 falls on Sunday 18 October. That is the big night, so spend your money there.
5. Check the venue before you dress. Some Dubai garba nights announce their own theme, and it does not always match the colour of the day.

What men should wear for the Navratri 2026 colours

Men have it easier. A kediyu or a plain kurta in the day's colour, with white churidar, covers all nine days. Three shades are hard to buy for men: grey, royal blue and peacock green. On those days, wear a white kurta and add a coloured dupatta. That is what most men on a Dubai garba floor do anyway.

Sources and method. Dates and the day-wise colour order come from Drik Panchang's Sharad Navratri 2026 calendar. The origin of the colour custom comes from reporting on the 2003 Maharashtra Times campaign. Dubai October temperatures are long-term monthly averages. Checked 20 September 2026.