Varalakshmi Vratam Vratam The vratam married women keep for Lakshmi on the Friday before the full moon of Shravana, asking for the eight kinds of wealth.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Varalakshmi Vratam
- தமிழ்
- வரலட்சுமி விரதம்
- తెలుగు
- వరలక్ష్మి వ్రతం
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ವರಮಹಾಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ವ್ರತ
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The vratam married women keep for Lakshmi on the Friday before the full moon of Shravana, asking for the eight kinds of wealth. A kalasam is set up with a coconut, a face of the goddess, and a sari and jewellery, and worshipped as Lakshmi herself; a thread of nine strands with nine knots is tied on the wrist and the story is read. Neighbours are called in and given tamboolam in the evening.
- Deity
- Lakshmi
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
The hour
The rule in words
The last Friday on or before Shravana Pournami. When the Pournami itself falls on a Friday, that day is taken. The puja is done in the morning, after the kalasam is dressed.
The fast
Most keep a fast until the puja is finished and eat once after it. Nine kinds of sweet and savoury are offered, and the prasadam is given to the women who come.
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka keep it alike, Karnataka calling it Varamahalakshmi. Kerala and the north do not keep it; the north's nearest equivalent is Kojagari Lakshmi Puja in Ashwina.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.