Vratam Savitri, Satyavan, Yama
Vat Purnima
The full moon of Jyeshtha, kept by married women for the long life of the husband, after Savitri, who followed Yama down the road and argued her husband Satyavan back from him under a banyan tree.
Vat Purnima 2027 falls on Friday, 18 June, computed for Chennai.
Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Friday, 18 June 2027
- Wednesday, 7 June 2028
- Monday, 25 June 2029
Where Vat Purnima falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 18 Jun
- 2028: 7 Jun, 10 days earlier
- 2029: 25 Jun, 17 days later
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The full moon of Jyeshtha, kept by married women for the long life of the husband, after Savitri, who followed Yama down the road and argued her husband Satyavan back from him under a banyan tree. The banyan is worshipped and wound round with a cotton thread five or seven times while the Savitri katha is read at its foot. Where there is no tree a branch, or a drawing of one, stands in for it.
- Deity
- Savitri, Satyavan, Yama
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
Significance
Savitri is remembered not for obedience but for her wits and her persistence: she walked behind Yama and kept him talking until he had granted her three boons, and the last one could only be kept by giving her husband back. The banyan is chosen because it does not die; its hanging roots become new trunks, so it stands for a line that goes on. Women keep the day for a long married life, and increasingly many keep it as a day of women together at the tree, sharing the fruit of the season and the stories of their own mothers. In some families husbands now keep the fast alongside their wives.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Vat Purnima: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a reel of white cotton thread
- haldi-kunku and akshata
- flowers
- a lamp and incense
- a small pot of water
- mangoes, jackfruit and other fruit of the season
- soaked chana or wheat
- blouse pieces for the vaan
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
The season's fruit is the offering: mangoes, jackfruit, karvanda and jamun, given away with the haldi-kunku. The fast is broken with sabudana khichdi or a plain meal, and in many houses with puran poli once the puja is done.
The hour
Clock times for Friday, 18 June 2027 at Chennai
Jyeshtha Pournima running at madhyahna, midday, because the thread is wound in the forenoon; this can put the vrat a day before the Pournima that holds the sunrise. Else the Pournima at sunrise.
The main rite. Jyeshtha Pournima as it runs at midday, since the thread is wound round the banyan in the forenoon. The fast is broken after the puja, or in stricter houses in the evening.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:43 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Purvahna | 09:35 | the forenoon, three tenths of the daylight after sunrise |
| Madhyahna | 12:10 | midday, the midpoint of sunrise and sunset |
Sunrise 05:43, sunset 18:37, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Pournami from 04:35 until next day 06:14 | then Krishna Prathamai until 2 days later, 08:16 |
| Nakshatra | Jyeshtha until 23:41 | then Mula until 2 days later, 02:13 |
| Rahu kaal | 10:33 to 12:10 (1 h 37 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 15:23 to 17:00 (1 h 37 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 07:20 to 08:57 (1 h 37 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:44 to 12:36 (0 h 52 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:12 | moonset next day 05:41 |
For Friday, 18 June 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
A fast through the day, broken after the puja; the strict keep it without water. Mangoes, jackfruit and the first fruit of the season are offered and given away with the haldi kunku.
What is avoided
The strict take no food or water until the puja is over. The banyan is not cut, lopped or climbed on the day, and its leaves are not plucked for use.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa keep it on the Jyeshtha Pournima; Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and much of the Hindi belt keep the same vow as Vat Savitri on the Jyeshtha Amavasya, a fortnight earlier. Traditions vary on which of the two a family follows, and some keep both.
In other regions
- North India
- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and much of the Hindi belt keep the same vow as Vat Savitri Vrat on the Jyeshtha new moon, a fortnight earlier, with the tree worshipped the same way.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat keep the vow on the Jyeshtha full moon, and in the cities the women of whole housing societies gather at one tree.
The dates above are the Maharashtra reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
वटपौर्णिमेच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाVatpaurnimechya hardik shubhechha
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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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.