TL;DR
63 original Navratri wishes, sorted by who you're sending to: short English lines, blessings for family, a Devanagari section for cards and family groups, Hinglish one-liners for WhatsApp status, one line for each of the nine nights (named for the Navadurga), and a small set of Gujarati, Bengali and Dussehra greetings. Tap any line to copy. The one edit that makes a wish theirs is at the bottom. Looking for photo captions instead? Those live in Navratri captions for Instagram and garba night captions.
One festival, many ways of keeping it
Sharad Navratri — the autumn one, in the month of Ashvin — is nine nights for Maa Durga, ending in Vijayadashami (Dussehra). But it looks completely different depending on where you stand:
- Gujarat and the Gujarati diaspora: garba and dandiya raas every night, around the garbo, the earthen lamp at the centre of the circle. Ahmedabad and Vadodara grounds run past midnight.
- Bengal: the same days are Durga Puja — pandal hopping in Kolkata, Maha Saptami to Dashami, sindoor khela, and "Shubho Bijoya" once Maa leaves.
- North India: fasting, the Ramlila stage, kanya pujan on Ashtami or Navami, and Ravan Dahan on Dussehra.
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra: Golu or Bommai Kolu, the steps of dolls; and in Karnataka, Mysuru Dasara.
- Maharashtra: the nine colours of Navratri — a different colour each day, which offices and housing societies dress to.
A good wish fits the person's version. The banks below are written to be broad, and the regional section at the end covers the greetings that change by language. (There's also Chaitra Navratri in spring — most of these lines work for both.)
Short wishes in English (12)
Blessings for family (10)
देवनागरी — नवरात्रि की शुभकामनाएँ (12)
For a card, the family group or the caption under the puja photo. Each line copies with its romanized version attached.
The eleventh line isn't ours: it's from the Devi Mahatmya (the Durga Saptashati), the verse that salutes the Goddess "who dwells in all beings as strength". It's the most widely recited Navratri verse, and the one line here to send to an elder unchanged.
Hinglish one-liners for WhatsApp status (12)
Romanized lines read best on WhatsApp status — they fit the box, survive the crop and render on every phone.
Nine nights, nine lines — one for each form of Durga (9)
Each night of Navratri honours one form of the Goddess, the Navadurga. If you message someone every evening — a parent, a grandparent, a partner — send the night's line. It's a small thing that shows you know the festival isn't one day.
Gujarati, Bengali and Dussehra greetings (8)
Short and correct beats long and translated. Each line copies with the native script underneath.
What NOT to do
- Don't send a colour-of-the-day wish from last year's list. The Maharashtra colour sequence changes every year with the starting weekday.
- Don't wish "Happy Durga Puja" only on Dashami. For Bengali friends, Shubho Bijoya is the Dashami greeting; the Pujo wishes go out from Shashthi or Saptami.
- Don't joke about someone's fast. Plenty of people keep a strict nine-day vrat. "Sabudana era" is fine with friends; "you look weak" is not.
- Don't mix up Navratri and Dussehra dates. Dussehra is the tenth day, after the nine nights.
- Don't forward the same garba GIF to four groups. One line with their name beats it.
When a wish wants a whole page
For the cousin who's missing garba in Ahmedabad for the first time, or a partner you'd dance every night with if you were in the same city, Lovely's Happy Navratri template turns your words into nine nights on a phone. It opens on a ring of nine colour swatches — "nine nights. one you." — and each colour they tap reveals the night and one of your lines (by default: "royal blue. because you are royalty."). Then a garba circle around a glowing garbo: they tap "taali!" on the beat and the circle grows, each clap revealing another line (you choose three to six). Then dandiya sticks — every strike lights up a mirror-framed photo, two to four of them. The finale is their name, your line, "jai mata di ✦" and your sign-off. It's ₹59 once and opens from a WhatsApp link.
"The colour wheel was a gamble," says Lovely's founder. "But it turns out people love writing nine small lines more than one big one. It's how they already think about the festival — night by night."
The online Navratri greeting guide goes screen by screen if you want help writing the nine colour lines.
Make it yours: borrow the night
The one edit that makes any line above personal: tie it to a night, not the festival.
- "Wishing you a Navratri full of colour" → "Saptami tonight — may Maa end whatever dark week you're having."
- "See you in the garba circle" → "See you at the GMDC ground on the eighth night. Don't be late this year."
- "May Maa Durga give you strength" → "May Maa Durga give you strength for Monday's surgery."
Navratri is long. That's its gift — you get nine chances to say something, and the eighth one usually lands best because nobody else is still sending.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Navratri wish?
A short line that invokes Maa Durga's strength for something real in the person's life. "May Maa Durga give you the strength for this new job that she gives the whole world for nine nights" is better than a generic "Happy Navratri". End with "Jai Mata Di" if the person uses it.
What do you say on each day of Navratri?
Each night honours one of the nine forms of Durga, the Navadurga — Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri. Sending a one-line wish that names the night's form is a thoughtful way to message family across all nine days; there is one line for each here.
How do you wish Navratri in Gujarati and Bengali?
In Gujarati, "Navratri ni hardik shubhechhao" (નવરાત્રીની હાર્દિક શુભેચ્છાઓ) and "Jai Mataji" are standard. In Bengali, where the same days are Durga Puja, people say "Shubho Sharodiya" (শুভ শারদীয়া) during the Pujo and "Shubho Bijoya" (শুভ বিজয়া) on and after Dashami.
Are the Navratri colours the same every year?
No. The popular nine-colour sequence, followed especially in Maharashtra, is fixed each year according to the weekday on which Navratri begins, so the list changes annually. Check that year's list before sending a colour-themed wish.
Can I send something more interactive than a Navratri wish?
Yes. Lovely's Happy Navratri template is a small festival on a phone: a wheel of nine colours where each night reveals one of your lines, a garba circle they clap along to, dandiya sticks that light up mirror-framed photos, and a finale with their name and "jai mata di". It costs ₹59 one-time.