Many customs and rituals related to Shardiya Navratri are also observed during Chaitra Navratri. Ghatasthapana Muhurta and Sandhi Puja Muhurta are the popular muhurtas observed in both Shardiya Navratri and Chaitra Navratri.
Ghatasthapana signifies the beginning of nine days Navaratri celebration and is one of the most important rituals of the festival. There are well defined rules and procedures in our scriptures regarding how to perform Ghatasthapana during a specific period of time at the beginning of the Navratri festival. Ghatasthapana is performed to invoke Goddess Shakti and should be performed at the right time. Our scriptures warn that if it is performed at wrong time it will result in the wrath of the Goddess Shakti. Ghatasthapana should never be performed during Amavasya and night time.
The first one third period of the day, while Pratipada prevails, is considered to be most auspicious to perform Ghatasthapana. But, by any chance, if this time is not available then Ghatasthapana can be performed during Abhijit Muhurta. Nakshatra Chitra and Vaidhriti Yoga may be avoided during Ghatasthapana, though they are not prohibited. The most significant factor to be considered is that Ghatasthapana should be performed before Hindu midday while Pratipada is prevailing.
Templesinindiainfo.com team considers carefully all conditions and exceptions to determine the best time to perform Ghatasthapana and we are proud to say that we do it for over 20,000 cities across the world. Besides, we generate daily Panchangam data for over 20,000 cities across the globe. We do not use the same Muhurta for all cities, but we calculate the right Muhurta for each city separately considering all local factors like sunrise, sunset, midday, ascendant and, last but not the least, DST, if applicable.
Many sources advise to take Choghadiya Muhurta to perform Ghatasthapana, but you should know that it is against our scriptures. We, the Templesinindiainfo.com team, do researches on all reliable sources and follow only those recognized rules which are well documented in Vedic scriptures. However, if you still want to take Choghadiya Muhurta, you may take it from Choghadiya page but we do not recommend it to perform Ghatasthapana.
We also include Dvi-Svabhava Lagna into the calculated Muhurta, if it is found favourable. We have noted that Dvi-Svabhava Lagna Meena prevails at the time of sunrise during Chaitra Navratri and if we find it suitable, we take it for Ghatasthapana Muhurta.
Afternoon, night and any time beyond sixteen Ghatis after sunrise are not suitable for Ghatasthapana Muhurta.
Ghatasthapana is also called as Kalash Sthapana. We are sure that you might also be interested in the complete Chaitra Navratri Calendar.