Vat Savitri puja vidhi
Worship of the banyan tree with Savitri and Satyavan: water to the roots, offerings, winding raw cotton thread round the trunk in pradakshina, the katha and the fast — on Jyeshtha Amavasya or Jyeshtha Purnima by region.
When to do the puja
North India keeps it on Jyeshtha Amavasya; Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka keep Vat Purnima fifteen days later. The puja is done in the morning.
वटसावित्री व्रत (अमावास्या): 04/06/2027 (शुक्र)
- अपराह्ण ते
Later dates: वटपौर्णिमा 18/06/2027 (शुक्र)
Festival page: dates, rules and timings
Puja windows come from the festival engine’s rules; where those rules are still in review, the festival page carries the Beta label.
Panchang details for the sankalpa
For the day of the puja at your place: 04/06/2027 (शुक्र)
- Vikram Samvat
- 2084
- Month
- वैशाख कृष्ण पक्ष (अमान्त) · ज्येष्ठ कृष्ण पक्ष (पौर्णिमान्त)
- Tithi at the puja time
- अमावास्या
- Weekday (vara)
- शुक्रवार
Fasting
Married women fast for the long life of the husband, as the family keeps it.
Fasting is a devotional choice, not a requirement: children, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women and anyone unwell or on medication should eat as needed or ask a doctor first.
Samagri checklist
Suggested quantities for a household puja — adjust them to your custom. Tick the items as you collect them; the ticks are kept only in this browser.
Step-by-step vidhi
Each step says what to do, then the mantra. A short puja may use the five offerings (panchopachara) instead of sixteen.
-
Preparation
Bathe and wear clean clothes. Clean the puja place, spread a cloth on the chowki and keep every item of the checklist within reach before the muhurat begins. Sit on an asana facing east or north. Dress with shringar and carry the thali (roli, akshat, flowers, soaked gram, fruits, a water pot, raw cotton thread and a lamp) to a banyan tree.
-
Lighting the lamp
Light the main ghee lamp on the right side of the deity (as you face it) and keep it burning through the puja.
शुभं करोति कल्याणम् आरोग्यं धनसम्पदा ।शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
From our Bhakti library · Shubham Karoti (evening lamp prayer) -
Sankalpa (resolve)
Take water, akshat, a flower and a coin in the right hand and state the time and place (the Panchang details below), your name and gotra (if known) and the purpose: the Vat Savitri vrata for the long life of the husband. Then let the water flow onto the ground or a plate.
ॐ विष्णुर्विष्णुर्विष्णुः ।अद्य … मासे … पक्षे … तिथौ … वासरे …… गोत्रः … नामाहं … पूजनं करिष्ये ॥
Paddhati formula A priest or an elder can recite the full sankalpa; saying it in your own language is equally accepted in household worship.
-
Ganesha puja
Worship Ganesha first, who removes obstacles: offer water, roli, akshat, durva, a flower and a sweet (a betel nut wrapped in mauli can stand for Ganesha).
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभ ।निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा ॥
From our Bhakti library · Vakratunda Mahakaya ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ॥
From our Bhakti library · Om Gam Ganapataye Namah -
Dhyana and avahana of the deity
Meditate on the deity’s form, then invite the deity into the idol or picture with flowers and akshat in folded hands.
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
From our Bhakti library · Sarva Mangala Mangalye ॐ श्रीसावित्र्यै नमः । आवाहयामि स्थापयामि ॥
Paddhati formula -
Worship of the banyan
Pour water at the roots of the banyan, apply roli and haldi to the trunk, and offer akshat, flowers, soaked gram and fruits to the tree and to the images of Savitri and Satyavan.
-
Pradakshina with thread
Walk round the tree clockwise winding raw cotton thread round the trunk — 7 times, or 108 in some families.
The number of rounds follows your family tradition.
-
Vrata katha
Hear the story of Savitri, who followed Yama and won back the life of Satyavan by her wisdom and devotion (Mahabharata, Vana Parva).
-
Aarti
Light camphor or the ghee lamp in the aarti plate, ring the bell and wave the plate clockwise before the deity while the family sings the aarti. Then offer the flame to everyone present.
कर्पूरगौरं करुणावतारं संसारसारं भुजगेन्द्रहारम् ।सदा वसन्तं हृदयारविन्दे भवं भवानीसहितं नमामि ॥
From our Bhakti library · Karpura Gauram Karunavataram -
Kshama prarthana
With folded hands ask forgiveness for any omission in the worship, then distribute the prasad.
आवाहनं न जानामि न जानामि विसर्जनम् ।पूजां चैव न जानामि क्षमस्व परमेश्वर ॥मन्त्रहीनं क्रियाहीनं भक्तिहीनं सुरेश्वर ।यत्पूजितं मया देव परिपूर्णं तदस्तु मे ॥
From our Bhakti library · Avahanam Na Janami (closing prayer of puja) -
Visarjana and prasad
Give soaked gram, fruit and a shringar set to elder women and take their blessing; break the fast as your family keeps it.
Regional variations
- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi: Jyeshtha Amavasya; Odisha keeps Savitri Amavasya (Savitri Brata) with its own customs.
- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka: Vat Purnima on Jyeshtha Purnima, often a three-day vrata.
- Where no banyan is near, a branch or a picture of the banyan is worshipped at home; do not break branches of a living tree.
Follow your family tradition
Families and regions perform this puja in different ways. Where your family or your priest follows a different order, other mantras or other materials, follow your family tradition.
Aartis, stotras and katha
Sources
The festival-day rule comes from the festival engine’s definition; the procedure from these texts. Where we say “commonly followed practice”, no classical text prescribes the custom in this form.
- Mahabharata, Vana Parva (the story of Savitri and Satyavan) — The story behind the Vat Savitri vrata.
- Nirnaya Sindhu of Kamalakara Bhatta (1612) — The Dharmashastra digest that decides on which day and in which part of the day a festival or vrata is kept.
- Commonly followed practice — Household customs as families commonly follow them, without one classical text that prescribes them in this form. Follow your family tradition where it differs.
- Our Bhakti library — Texts quoted from the library carry that text’s own source and attribution on its page.
- Date rule: North Indian Savitri-vrata on Jyeshtha Amavasya (Purnimanta Jyeshtha Krishna 15). Day rule unchanged, pending review: the Amavasya that prevails at Aparahna (the 4th of the 5 parts of the daytime); when it touches the Aparahna of two days, the day of greater coverage. No Nibandha karmakala for the Savitri vrata has been identified to confirm or replace the Aparahna, and no official North Indian date was found to test it against. Nirnaya Sindhu allows the Chaturdashi-joined Amavasya for this vrata alone ("bhutaviddha na kartavya darsha purnima kadachana, varjayitva ... savitrivratam", quoted there); the Aparahna rule takes that day when Amavasya begins before its Aparahna (26 May 2025), and the next day when Amavasya covers only part of the first Aparahna and the whole of the next (30 May 2022). The Odisha observance is a separate rule (savitri_amavasya_odisha, udaya Amavasya).
This guide describes common household practice for devotional use. It is not a substitute for a priest where your tradition asks for one, and it makes no promise of any result.