Chaitra Navratri 2023 Vrat Rules: Food to Eat And Avoid During This 9-Day Festival

Observing fast during Navratri and not sure what to eat and avoid? Here’s the list of things we have included for you to know.

Chaitra Navratri 2023: Navratri is celebrated four times in a year, out of which two are more popularly observed. Chaitra Navratri falls in the month of March or April, while Sharadiya Navratri is observed in October-November and concludes with Dussehra. The Chaitra Navratri will be celebrated on March 22, 2023, devotees of maa Durga celebrate the nine-day auspicious festival with tremendous love and fanfare.

Chaitra Navratri is usually celebrated during Chaitra’s Shukla Paksha and falls in the month of March or April. During this 9-day festival, devotees keep fast and eat only satvik food. While some devotees fast on all nine days, others observe vrats in jodas – keeping the first two and the last two fasts. People who observe fast during Navratri can choose from a variety of vrat-friendly flours, vegetables, fruits while avoiding wheat, rice, semolina, maida, legumes and pulses among others.

5 Foods to Eat During Chaitra Navratri 2023:

1.  One should try to include curd, yoghurt, chaach (buttermilk) or raitas in their meals
2. Ghee is also excellent to have as it will keep you full and few drops of it is must during fast.
3. Potatoes, sweet potato, bottle gourd (lauki), arbi, pumpkin, spinach, bottle gourd, cucumber, carrots and all kinds of fruits others must be included.
4. Spices like cumin, clove, cinnamon can be consumed during fasting.
5. Include a handful of walnuts, almonds, dates, pistachios and raisins while you are fasting to pack a nutritional punch.

4 Foods to Avoid During Chaitra Navratri 2023

1. Onion and garlic are considered inauspicious foods and must be excluded in your Navratri diet.
2. Your regular flours like wheat, rice, refined flour, suji, corn flour, and all kinds of legumes and pulses should be avoided.
3. One should abstain having alcohol and non-vegetarian foods during the nine-day festival.
4. Mushrooms, leeks, shallots should also be avoided.