On the ninth day — Navami — the Goddess trapped him in his buffalo form and stood on his neck as he tried to emerge in human form from the buffalo's body. At that moment, she struck him with her trident. The battle was over. The demon who had driven the gods from heaven was dead.

Across South India, Navami is one of the nine days of Navaratri and is specifically observed as Ayudha Puja — the worship of tools, instruments, books, and machinery. The logic: if Durga is the power that animates the universe, then the tools through which people do their work are an extension of that power. On Ayudha Puja, everything from a carpenter's saw to a musician's veena to a farmer's plough is cleaned, decorated with flowers, and briefly worshipped. Vehicles, computers, sewing machines — all are included in modern practice. In Bengal, this custom is observed more selectively, mostly by craftsmen and certain professional communities.

In Bengali households, Navami evening has a more domestic, family-centred quality. The pandal crowds peak in the morning and early afternoon. By evening, many families sit together for the last proper family meal of the Puja — which in a non-vegetarian Bengali household is typically mutton. Navami evening mutton curry is a tradition that is not written into any ritual text but is followed with the faithfulness of a ritual.

This is also the day when Kanya Pujan is widely observed — not just in temples and pandals but in many Bengali homes, where young girls (kanya, typically between 2 and 10 years old) are invited, their feet washed, and they are served a meal of puri, halwa, and chana as a mark of respect for the Goddess they represent. The tradition echoes the Kumari Puja of Ashtami but in a more domestic, informal key.

By Navami afternoon, the mood in pandals begins shifting slightly. Committees are thinking about tomorrow's Bisarjan logistics. Families are buying the Dashami morning bel leaves and sindoor. The Dhaak players are still playing — they'll play through Dashami morning — but there's a different quality to the evening. You feel it even if you don't notice you're feeling it.