Annapurna Devi: Navratri Day 4 2026 — Date & Puja Guide

By the fourth morning of Navratri, the kalasham on the altar has settled into a rhythm — the same diya lit before sunrise, the same handful of flowers changed each day. But Wednesday brings its own quiet ritual in many Hyderabad kitchens: the first cooked dish of the day is set aside for a moment before the stove, a small acknowledgment that what feeds the family is itself worth honoring. Grandmothers often insist nothing from the kitchen goes wasted on this day — even a handful of rice matters.

This guide covers who Annapurna Devi is, the legend behind her form, her iconography, the exact 2026 date for Telangana, and how to observe her day at home.

Annapurna Devi is the deity honored on the fourth day of Navratri. Her name is built from two roots: "Anna" (food or grain) and "Purna" (full, complete) — together, "she who is full of food," the goddess of nourishment. She is especially revered in the Kashi (Varanasi) tradition, where she is regarded as the form of Parvati who ensures no being, human or divine, ever goes without sustenance.

At a Glance:

1. Name: Annapurna Devi ("she who is full of food")
2. Navratri Day: Day 4
3. 2026 Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
4. Form: Seated, richly adorned, typically shown feeding Shiva, who approaches her as a mendicant with a begging bowl
5. Known For: Feeding all creation from an inexhaustible golden ladle; presiding deity of the Annapurna temple in Kashi (Varanasi)

Tradition, drawn largely from the Kashi Khanda and the wider Shiva Purana tradition, holds that Shiva once dismissed the material world — including the need for food — as maya, an illusion beneath the notice of a true ascetic. To correct this, Parvati is said to have withdrawn herself from the world, and with her, all sustenance vanished, leaving even the heavens hungry. Humbled, Shiva is said to have arrived in Kashi as a mendicant, carrying a begging bowl, asking for alms.

There, Parvati is said to have manifested as Annapurna and fed him with her own hand from a golden ladle, teaching him that food itself is a form of the divine — "Annam Brahma," food is Brahman — and that even the greatest ascetic depends on the world's sustenance. The elders who retell this story usually frame it less as literal history and more as a teaching: renunciation and nourishment aren't opposites, and gratitude for a meal is its own kind of devotion.

Annapurna Devi is generally depicted seated, richly dressed in red and gold, holding:

1. A golden ladle: held in one hand, used to serve food — the central image of this form
2. A bowl or vessel of rice or kheer: held in the other hand, said to never run empty
3. Jeweled crown and full ornamentation: reflecting abundance rather than austerity

In many temple depictions and paintings, Shiva is shown standing before her with a begging bowl, receiving alms — the composition itself carries the legend, need meeting abundance in a single image.

In 2026, Annapurna Devi is worshipped on Wednesday, October 14, the fourth day of Navratri, corresponding to Ashwin Shukla Chaturthi. These dates follow the Telugu (Amanta) panchangam observed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, verified against a Hyderabad-set panchangam source rather than a generic or North-India-default one.

Panchangam Note: tithi-based observances are reckoned from local sunrise and can shift by a day between different panchangams, or for readers following the festival outside India. If you're timing a specific puja or sankalpam around Chaturthi, it's worth confirming the exact tithi window with a local panchangam or your pandit rather than relying on a single online source.

Devotion to Annapurna Devi on this day is associated with gratitude for something ordinary enough to be taken for granted — a meal. Where the earlier days of Navratri build discipline and resolve, her day is often treated as a reminder that even the most devoted spiritual practice rests on the body being fed and cared for, not in spite of that need but through honoring it.

She is also closely associated, in belief, with generosity — the idea that feeding another person, even in a small way, is itself a form of worship. This is treated as a devotional practice rooted in tradition, not a rule with any fixed measure attached to it.

A home puja for Annapurna Devi's day follows the same basic Navratri structure most households already have running, with a few specific touches:

1. Clean the puja space and refresh the kalasham water and flowers as on previous days.
2. Light a diya and offer kumkum and turmeric.
3. Set aside the first portion of the day's cooked rice or a sweet dish as naivedyam before the family eats.
4. Recite her dhyana shloka or listen to the Annapurna Stotram if your family follows one.
5. If possible, mark the day with a small act of feeding someone — a family member, a helper, or someone in need.

Annapurna Devi's most widely used beej mantra, used across Navratri puja guides, is:

"Om Annapoornayai Namah"

This is generally chanted 108 times using a japa mala. Some households also recite the Annapurna Stotram, a hymn traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya that opens by invoking her as "Nityananda-kari" — the ever-blissful giver. If your family doesn't have a specific stotra passed down, a simple, sincere repetition of the beej mantra is considered sufficient.

Since Annapurna Devi is herself the goddess of food, her naivedyam tradition leans naturally toward rice-based offerings — a simple bowl of rice, a payasam, or whatever sweet the family typically prepares through Navratri. Many households treat this day as the right occasion for annadanam — donating or sharing a meal with someone in need — considering it the most meaningful offering of the day. As with the other days in this series, there isn't one fixed dish every Telugu household follows, so treat these as common conventions rather than strict rules.

Do:

1. Avoid wasting food on this day, cooked or uncooked, in keeping with the spirit of the day.
2. Set aside a portion of the day's food as naivedyam before the family eats.
3. Consider a small act of sharing food with someone else, if it's within your means.

Don't:

1. Don't treat annadanam as a mandatory ritual with a fixed measure — it's a devotional custom, not scripture.
2. Don't skip verifying the Chaturthi tithi timing against a Hyderabad-set panchangam if you're planning a specific puja hour.
3. Don't confuse Annapurna Devi with a general wealth goddess — her identity is specifically tied to food and nourishment.

1. The Annapurna temple in Varanasi stands directly adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and pilgrims commonly visit both together.
2. Annapurna Devi has her own dedicated festival, Annapurna Jayanti, observed on Margashira Purnima — a separate occasion from Navratri.
3. The Annapurna Stotram, attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, remains one of the most widely recited hymns dedicated to her.
4. Most depictions show Shiva himself approaching her with a begging bowl — a reminder, in tradition, that all beings, divine or human, depend on food.
5. Her worship during Navratri is one of the few centered explicitly on gratitude for something as ordinary and essential as a meal.

Planning your Navratri Ghatasthapana or daily Durga puja at home? Book Navratri Ghatasthapana Puja | Talk to Our Priest | Contact Divine Center

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1. Annapurna (goddess) — Wikipedia — background on her name, the Kashi legend, and her iconography.
2. Navratri 2026 Date & Day 4, Hyderabad — DrikPanchang — the Hyderabad-specific panchangam source used for the 2026 date and tithi.
3. Shaktism — Wikipedia — the wider Shakta tradition behind the forms of Devi worshipped across the festival calendar.

There's something quietly reassuring about a goddess whose defining act is feeding someone rather than fighting for them. Annapurna Devi's day sits right in the middle of the run-up to Navratri's more intense forms, and it works almost like a breath before the next stretch — a reminder that nourishment and generosity are their own kind of strength, not a lesser one.

Shubham.