On the Dvādaśī the pavitrāropaṇa — the offering of the sacred thread — to Vāsudeva is taught, with threads of gold, silver, copper, linen, silk and lotus-fibre.
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight, dearest of all days to Viṣṇu. Eleven stands for the ten senses and the mind; on this day they are turned from food toward the Lord. The Padma Purāṇa gives each of the year’s Ekādaśīs its own name, story and fruit.
📜The story from the scriptures
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 38 — the birth of Ekādaśī
In the Kṛta age the asura Mura drove the gods from heaven. Viṣṇu fought him for a thousand divine years and then withdrew to rest in the cave Hemavatī at Badarikāśrama. Mura followed, meaning to slay the sleeping Lord — when from Viṣṇu’s own body sprang a radiant maiden, armed, who met the asura in battle and reduced him to ashes with a sound. Waking, the Lord asked who had done this; she answered that she was born of him, on the eleventh day. Pleased, he named her Ekādaśī and granted her wish: that whoever fasts on her day be freed from wrong and come to his abode.
🌙The vrata
A light single meal on Daśamī; on Ekādaśī a full fast, or fruit and milk, with all grains and beans set aside; a night vigil with the names of Hari; and pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning after sunrise, within the Dvādaśī, after feeding another.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Viṣṇu is worshipped with tulasī leaves, sandal, flowers, lamp and fruit; the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, the Gītā and the Ekādaśī-māhātmya of the day are read; lamps are lit before the tulasī at dusk.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
Benefit: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
Benefit: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
📖Scriptural references 1
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 36–63
2Wed
Wednesday, 2 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · bright fortnight (śukla) Dvādaśī · Mūla
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
bright fortnight (śukla) Dvādaśī · until 09:25
Nakṣatra
Mūla
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
05:58 · 19:08
Pradoṣa Vrata
✦Significance
The thirteenth tithi at twilight — the hour and a half around sunset when Śiva, having drunk the poison of the churned ocean, danced between the horns of Nandī for the joy of the gods. Worship in this window is held to please him swiftly; a Monday (Soma) or Saturday (Śani) Pradoṣa is prized most.
When the hālāhala poison rose from the churned ocean and scorched the worlds, the gods fled to Kailāsa. Śiva, in compassion, gathered the poison in his palm and drank it; Pārvatī pressed his throat, and it stayed there, turning it blue — Nīlakaṇṭha. The Skanda Purāṇa tells that on the thirteenth, at dusk, he danced in gladness while the gods stood round in worship, and relates how a destitute widow’s son and an orphaned prince, taught the Pradoṣa vow by the sage Śāṇḍilya, regained a kingdom by it.
🌙The vrata
A fast from sunrise, broken after the twilight worship; kept on both thirteenths of the month.
🔥Pūjā and havan
In the pradoṣa window: abhiṣeka of the liṅga with milk and water, bilva leaves, lamp and incense; Nandī is worshipped first and the liṅga viewed between his horns; the pradakṣiṇā is done in the half-circle Soma-sūtra manner; the Śiva-pradoṣa-stotra and Rudram are recited.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
Benefit: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
Meaning: We worship the three-eyed Lord, fragrant, the nourisher of all; as a ripe gourd is freed from its stalk, may he free us from death, not from immortality.
Benefit: The great death-conquering mantra — japa of 108 for health, long life, recovery from illness and fearlessness.
The bond of protection. A consecrated thread (rakṣā) is tied on the wrist — by the priest on the patron, by the sister on the brother — and with it a vow of mutual care. On the same full moon the twice-born renew the sacred thread and begin the year’s Vedic study (Upākarma, Āvaṇi Aviṭṭam), and the coast offers coconuts to the sea (Nāraḷī Pūrṇimā).
📜The story from the scriptures
Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, Uttara-parva 137
Kṛṣṇa told Yudhiṣṭhira of an ancient war: for twelve years the gods fought the asuras and Indra, worn out, was ready to yield. His queen Śacī said, “Today is the full moon of Śrāvaṇa; I shall make you invincible.” With the blessing of Bṛhaspati she prepared a protective amulet, consecrated it with mantras and tied it on Indra’s right wrist. He returned to the field and won back the three worlds. “Such is the power of the rakṣā,” said Kṛṣṇa — “it gives victory, happiness, sons, health and wealth; let it be tied every year.”
🪔Regional traditions and folklore
The Bhāgavata’s Bali story gives the mantra its first line: Lakṣmī is said to have tied a thread on King Bali and asked, as a sister’s gift, for the return of Viṣṇu who was guarding his door. Draupadī bound Kṛṣṇa’s bleeding finger with a strip of her sari, and he repaid it thread for thread in the Kuru court. In Rajasthan lumbā rākhīs are tied on the sister-in-law’s bangle; in Nepal it is Janai Pūrṇimā; in Odisha and Bengal it is Jhūlan Pūrṇimā and Balarāma’s birthday.
🔥Pūjā and havan
The rākhī is placed on a plate with lamp, rice, kumkum and sweets and offered first to the family deity. The sister applies tilaka, ties the thread on the right wrist reciting the rakṣā verse, waves the ārati and sweetens the brother’s mouth; he gives a gift and his word. For Upākarma: ṛṣi-tarpaṇa, the new yajñopavīta, a homa, and the next morning 1,008 Gāyatrī japa.
ॐMantras and japa 2
येन बद्धो बली राजा दानवेन्द्रो महाबलः ।
तेन त्वामभिबध्नामि रक्षे मा चल मा चल ॥
oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ | tat savitur vareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi | dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ||
Meaning: We meditate on the adorable radiance of the divine Savitṛ; may he awaken our understanding.
Benefit: The mother of the Vedic mantras — recited at sunrise, noon and sunset for clarity of mind, inner light and the blessing of the Sun.
Ṛgveda 3.62.10 (Viśvāmitra)
📖Scriptural references 2
Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, Uttara-parva 137
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.22–23
Pūrṇimā — the full moon
✦Significance
The full moon — the day of fullness, when the mind’s own planet is complete. It is the customary day for the Satyanārāyaṇa vrata, for charity, for honouring the guru and for a bath in sacred waters; each month’s full moon carries its own festival.
Nārada, grieved by the sufferings of people in the Kali age, asked Viṣṇu for a simple remedy, and the Lord taught him the worship of Satya-Nārāyaṇa — Truth itself as God. The kathā’s five chapters tell of a poor brāhmaṇa of Kāśī, a woodcutter, the merchant Sādhu and his daughter Kalāvatī, and King Tuṅgadhvaja: each prospered by keeping the vow and honouring its prasāda, and each stumbled on forgetting a promise made to the Lord — for truthfulness is the vow’s real offering.
🔥Pūjā and havan
In the evening: a kalaśa and an image or picture of Viṣṇu under a canopy of plantain stems; offerings of tulasī, fruit and the prasāda of roasted wheat flour, sugar, ghee, milk and banana (sapāda-bhakṣya); the five-chapter kathā is read aloud and the prasāda shared with all. Arghya is offered to the risen moon.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
Benefit: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
Benefit: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
📖Scriptural references 1
Skanda Purāṇa, Revā-khaṇḍa (Satyanārāyaṇa-kathā)
6Sun
Sunday, 6 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Pratipadā · Dhaniṣṭhā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Pratipadā · until 15:45
Nakṣatra
Dhaniṣṭhā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
05:59 · 19:06
7Mon
Monday, 7 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Dvitīyā · Śatabhiṣā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Dvitīyā · until 18:04
Nakṣatra
Śatabhiṣā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:00 · 19:05
8Tue
Tuesday, 8 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Tṛtīyā · Pūrva Bhādrapadā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Tṛtīyā · until 20:30
Nakṣatra
Pūrva Bhādrapadā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:00 · 19:04
9Wed
Wednesday, 9 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Caturthī · Pūrva Bhādrapadā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Caturthī · until 22:56
Nakṣatra
Pūrva Bhādrapadā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:01 · 19:04
Saṅkaṣṭī Caturthī
✦Significance
The fourth of the dark fortnight, Gaṇeśa’s monthly vow: saṅkaṣṭa-hara, “the remover of hardships”. The fast is kept until the moon rises. When it falls on a Tuesday it is Aṅgārakī, the most prized of all.
📜The story from the scriptures
Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā-khaṇḍa; Mudgala Purāṇa
The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells that Aṅgāraka (Mars), son of the Earth and the sage Bharadvāja, worshipped Gaṇeśa with long austerity; the Lord appeared to him on a dark fourth that fell on a Tuesday and granted that the day bear his name, and that whoever keeps the vow on it have every obstacle removed. Each month’s Caturthī has its own form of Gaṇeśa and its own story, told at moonrise.
🌙The vrata
A day-long fast, fruit and roots permitted; at moonrise Gaṇeśa is worshipped, arghya is given to the Moon, the kathā is heard and the fast is broken.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Twenty-one dūrvā blades, red flowers, modaka or sesame laḍḍū; the Saṅkaṣṭa-nāśana Gaṇeśa-stotra from the Nārada Purāṇa and the Atharvaśīrṣa are recited.
ॐMantras and japa 1
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ॥
oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ ||
Meaning: Salutation to Gaṇapati, lord of the hosts.
Benefit: Recited before every beginning — removes obstacles and grants success, learning and a steady intellect.
Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa Upaniṣad 7
📖Scriptural references 2
Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā-khaṇḍa
Nārada Purāṇa (Saṅkaṣṭa-nāśana-stotra)
10Thu
Thursday, 10 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Pañcamī · Uttara Bhādrapadā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Pañcamī · until 01:14 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Uttara Bhādrapadā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:01 · 19:03
11Fri
Friday, 11 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Ṣaṣṭhī · Revatī
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Ṣaṣṭhī · until 03:13 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Revatī
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:01 · 19:02
12Sat
Saturday, 12 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Saptamī · Aśvinī
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Saptamī · until 04:43 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Aśvinī
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:02 · 19:02
13Sun
Sunday, 13 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Aṣṭamī · Bharaṇī
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Aṣṭamī · until 05:37 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Bharaṇī
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:02 · 19:01
Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī
✦Significance
The midnight birth of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the eighth avatāra, on the eighth tithi of the dark half under the star Rohiṇī — the Lord who comes “whenever dharma declines”. The fast is kept until midnight; the night is spent in song.
📜The story from the scriptures
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.1–3
Kaṃsa, king of Mathurā, was driving the wedding chariot of his cousin Devakī when a voice from the sky declared that her eighth child would slay him. He imprisoned Devakī and Vasudeva and killed six of their newborns; the seventh, Balarāma, was carried to Rohiṇī’s womb. When the eighth was due, the quarters grew clear, rivers ran calm and the fires of the sages burned bright; at midnight, as Rohiṇī rose, Viṣṇu appeared before his parents four-armed, bearing conch, disc, mace and lotus, and then became an ordinary infant. The chains fell, the guards slept, the prison doors swung open; Vasudeva carried the child in a basket through the storm, Śeṣa spreading his hoods above as an umbrella and the Yamunā parting to make a path. In Gokula he laid the child beside the sleeping Yaśodā and brought back her newborn daughter — Yogamāyā, who slipped from Kaṃsa’s hands into the sky and announced that his slayer was already born.
🪔Regional traditions and folklore
Mathurā and Vṛndāvana celebrate with rāsa-līlā plays and jhūlans (swings). In Maharashtra the Dahī Haṇḍī has human pyramids reaching for a pot of curd hung high, as the butter-thief once did. Tamil homes draw tiny footprints in rice flour from doorstep to shrine and offer sīḍai and murukku; in Udupi, Dvārakā, Guruvāyūr and Manipur the night is kept with great splendour. The next day is Nandotsava, Nanda’s joy at the birth.
🌙The vrata
The vrata is a full-day fast (fruit and milk for those who need it), a night vigil with kīrtana, and pāraṇa the next day after the tithi and star have passed. The Bhaviṣya Purāṇa praises it as a vow whose merit equals many Ekādaśīs.
🔥Pūjā and havan
At midnight the infant Kṛṣṇa (Laḍḍū Gopāla) is bathed in pañcāmṛta — milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar — dressed in new clothes, placed in a decorated cradle and rocked. Butter, miśrī, pañjīrī, tulasī and fifty-six dishes (chappan bhoga) are offered; the tenth canto of the Bhāgavata and the Gītā are read.
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight, dearest of all days to Viṣṇu. Eleven stands for the ten senses and the mind; on this day they are turned from food toward the Lord. The Padma Purāṇa gives each of the year’s Ekādaśīs its own name, story and fruit.
📜The story from the scriptures
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 38 — the birth of Ekādaśī
In the Kṛta age the asura Mura drove the gods from heaven. Viṣṇu fought him for a thousand divine years and then withdrew to rest in the cave Hemavatī at Badarikāśrama. Mura followed, meaning to slay the sleeping Lord — when from Viṣṇu’s own body sprang a radiant maiden, armed, who met the asura in battle and reduced him to ashes with a sound. Waking, the Lord asked who had done this; she answered that she was born of him, on the eleventh day. Pleased, he named her Ekādaśī and granted her wish: that whoever fasts on her day be freed from wrong and come to his abode.
🌙The vrata
A light single meal on Daśamī; on Ekādaśī a full fast, or fruit and milk, with all grains and beans set aside; a night vigil with the names of Hari; and pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning after sunrise, within the Dvādaśī, after feeding another.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Viṣṇu is worshipped with tulasī leaves, sandal, flowers, lamp and fruit; the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, the Gītā and the Ekādaśī-māhātmya of the day are read; lamps are lit before the tulasī at dusk.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
Benefit: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
Benefit: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
📖Scriptural references 1
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 36–63
17Thu
Thursday, 17 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Dvādaśī · Ārdrā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Dvādaśī · until 01:44 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Ārdrā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:04 · 18:58
18Fri
Friday, 18 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Trayodaśī · Punarvasu
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Trayodaśī · until 23:01
Nakṣatra
Punarvasu
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:04 · 18:57
Pradoṣa Vrata
✦Significance
The thirteenth tithi at twilight — the hour and a half around sunset when Śiva, having drunk the poison of the churned ocean, danced between the horns of Nandī for the joy of the gods. Worship in this window is held to please him swiftly; a Monday (Soma) or Saturday (Śani) Pradoṣa is prized most.
When the hālāhala poison rose from the churned ocean and scorched the worlds, the gods fled to Kailāsa. Śiva, in compassion, gathered the poison in his palm and drank it; Pārvatī pressed his throat, and it stayed there, turning it blue — Nīlakaṇṭha. The Skanda Purāṇa tells that on the thirteenth, at dusk, he danced in gladness while the gods stood round in worship, and relates how a destitute widow’s son and an orphaned prince, taught the Pradoṣa vow by the sage Śāṇḍilya, regained a kingdom by it.
🌙The vrata
A fast from sunrise, broken after the twilight worship; kept on both thirteenths of the month.
🔥Pūjā and havan
In the pradoṣa window: abhiṣeka of the liṅga with milk and water, bilva leaves, lamp and incense; Nandī is worshipped first and the liṅga viewed between his horns; the pradakṣiṇā is done in the half-circle Soma-sūtra manner; the Śiva-pradoṣa-stotra and Rudram are recited.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
Benefit: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
Meaning: We worship the three-eyed Lord, fragrant, the nourisher of all; as a ripe gourd is freed from its stalk, may he free us from death, not from immortality.
Benefit: The great death-conquering mantra — japa of 108 for health, long life, recovery from illness and fearlessness.
Ṛgveda 7.59.12 (Vasiṣṭha); Śukla Yajurveda 3.60
📖Scriptural references 2
Skanda Purāṇa, Brahmottara-khaṇḍa 6–7
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.7
Māsika Śivarātri
✦Significance
The monthly night of Śiva, the fourteenth of the dark half, when the waning moon — the mind — is almost still. Those who keep all twelve through the year complete the vow on Mahā Śivarātri.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Evening or midnight worship of the liṅga with water, milk and bilva; a fast through the day; japa of the pañcākṣarī.
ॐMantras and japa 1
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
Benefit: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
Śrāvaṇa · dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Caturdaśī · Puṣya
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa) Caturdaśī · until 19:48
Nakṣatra
Puṣya
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:04 · 18:56
20Sun
Sunday, 20 August 2028
Śrāvaṇa · Amāvāsyā · Āśleṣā
☀About the day
Lunar month
Śrāvaṇa
Tithi at sunrise
Amāvāsyā · until 16:14
Nakṣatra
Āśleṣā
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:05 · 18:55
Amāvāsyā — the new moon
✦Significance
The new moon, when Sun and Moon dwell together — the day that belongs to the ancestors. Offerings of water and sesame made today reach them directly, and their blessing is sought for the family’s welfare. A new moon on a Monday (Somavatī) is especially sacred for married women, who circle the pīpal tree 108 times; on a Saturday (Śanaiścarī) Śani is propitiated with sesame oil; on a Tuesday (Bhaumavatī) debts are said to be cleared by ancestral rites.
📜The story from the scriptures
Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana-parva 87–92; Matsya Purāṇa 14 (Acchodā and the Pitṛs)
The Matsya Purāṇa tells of Acchodā, mind-born daughter of the Pitṛs, who through a moment’s wavering fell from heaven. The Pitṛs, in compassion, told her that the day of her fall would be named Amāvasyā, dear to them above all days, and that whatever is offered to the ancestors on it would be imperishable. Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira that of all tithis the new moon is foremost for the śrāddha.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Tarpaṇa with water and black sesame facing south; feeding of crows, cows and the needy; a lamp of sesame oil under the pīpal at dusk; on Somavatī, circumambulation of the pīpal with thread, and a vow of silence at the bath.
Pārvatī’s own vow. Women keep it — many without food or water — for a marriage as steadfast as that of Śiva and Pārvatī; unmarried girls keep it for a worthy husband. The name joins harita, “carried off”, and ālikā, “a friend”.
Śiva himself tells Pārvatī the story of her former austerity. As the daughter of Himavān she had set her heart on Śiva from childhood and practised severe tapas — standing in water in winter, amid five fires in summer, living on dry leaves. When Nārada brought Viṣṇu’s proposal and her father joyfully agreed, she confided her grief to a friend, who led her away to a dense forest so that the marriage could not take place. There, on the third of bright Bhādrapada under the star Hasta, Pārvatī shaped a liṅga of river sand, worshipped it and kept vigil all night without food or water. Śiva’s seat trembled; he appeared and accepted her as his wife. Himavān, finding her, consented to the marriage.
🪔Regional traditions and folklore
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Nepal keep the vow with henna, green bangles, swings and songs; in Nepal women in red throng Paśupatinātha. Maharashtra keeps it as Haritālikā on the eve of Gaṇeśa Caturthī, and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as Gaurī Habba, when Gaurī comes to her mother’s house a day before her son.
🌙The vrata
A nirjala fast through the day and night; the kathā is heard in the evening, the night is kept awake with songs of Gaurī, and the fast is broken after the morning worship with the offered food.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Images of Śiva, Pārvatī and Gaṇeśa are made of sand or clay and set on a plantain-leaf pavilion. Sixteen adornments (suhāga items) are offered to Pārvatī and a dhotī and upper cloth to Śiva, with bilva, dhatūra, flowers and seasonal fruit; worship is repeated in each of the four watches of the night.
Meaning: O auspiciousness of all that is auspicious, O consort of Śiva, accomplisher of every aim, refuge, three-eyed Gaurī, Nārāyaṇī — salutation to you.
Benefit: The best-loved verse of the Caṇḍī — recited for auspiciousness in the home, the fulfilment of rightful wishes and the Mother’s protection.
Devī Māhātmya 11.10 (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) — the gods’ hymn to Nārāyaṇī
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
Benefit: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
Bhādrapada · bright fortnight (śukla) Caturthī · Hasta
☀About the day
Lunar month
Bhādrapada
Tithi at sunrise
bright fortnight (śukla) Caturthī · until 01:56 (next day)
Nakṣatra
Hasta
Sunrise · Sunset (Ujjain)
06:06 · 18:53
Gaṇeśa Caturthī
✦Significance
The birthday of Gaṇeśa — remover of obstacles, lord of beginnings, patron of letters and learning. A clay image is brought home, worshipped for one and a half, five, seven or ten days, and returned to the water on Ananta Caturdaśī: form arises from the formless and goes back to it.
📜The story from the scriptures
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra-saṃhitā, Kumāra-khaṇḍa 13–18
Pārvatī, wishing for an attendant wholly her own, fashioned a boy from the scurf of her body, gave him life and set him to guard her door while she bathed. When Śiva came the boy barred his way; neither the gaṇas nor the gods could move him, and in the battle that followed Śiva struck off his head. Pārvatī’s grief and anger threatened the worlds, so Śiva sent the gods northward to bring the head of the first creature they met — an elephant. Joined to the boy’s body it lived; Śiva embraced him as his son, named him Gaṇeśa, chief of his hosts, and decreed that he be worshipped first in every rite. The Purāṇa adds that he was born on the fourth of the dark half of Bhādrapada at moonrise, and that his vow is kept on every Caturthī.
🪔Regional traditions and folklore
The Moon once laughed at Gaṇeśa’s round belly and was cursed: whoever looks at the moon tonight suffers false accusation. Kṛṣṇa himself, the story goes, glimpsed it and was blamed for the theft of the Syamantaka jewel (Bhāgavata 10.56–57); hearing that story removes the blemish. Lokmānya Tilak made the festival a public celebration in 1893, and Mumbai and Pune’s paṇḍāls are its heart today. Tamil Nadu keeps Piḷḷaiyār Caturthī with koḻukkaṭṭai, Goa Chavath with mātolī canopies of wild fruit.
🔥Pūjā and havan
The clay image is installed with prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā and the sixteen-step worship. Twenty-one dūrvā blades, twenty-one modakas, red hibiscus, śamī and sandal are offered; the Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa is recited; a Gaṇapati homa with modaka, dūrvā and lājā is performed at dawn. On the last day comes uttara-pūjā and immersion with the cry “come again early next year”.
ॐMantras and japa 1
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ॥
oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ ||
Meaning: Salutation to Gaṇapati, lord of the hosts.
Benefit: Recited before every beginning — removes obstacles and grants success, learning and a steady intellect.
The day of the Seven Sages — Kaśyapa, Atri, Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vasiṣṭha — with Arundhatī. It is a vow of purification and of gratitude to the seers from whom the Veda and the family lines (gotras) descend.
A brāhmaṇa named Uttaṅka lived in Vidarbha with his wife Suśīlā; their daughter, widowed young, stayed with them. One night her body was covered with worms. The father, in meditation, saw that in an earlier birth she had been careless of the rules of purity in the household, and had once mocked this very vow. He had her keep the Ṛṣi Pañcamī vrata with full devotion; she was healed and, in time, attained good fortune in every birth. Brahmā, who tells the story, declares the vow a cleanser of faults done knowingly or unknowingly.
🪔Regional traditions and folklore
In Maharashtra the day’s meal, ṛṣicī bhājī, is cooked only from vegetables grown without the plough and eaten without salt; in Nepal women bathe with the 365 stems of the apāmārga (datiwan) plant. Māheśvarī and some Rajasthani communities tie rākhī on this day.
🌙The vrata
Bath in a river with apāmārga twigs and earth, a day’s fast or a single meal of unploughed produce, and the kathā in the afternoon; kept for seven years and closed with an udyāpana honouring seven brāhmaṇas.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Seven sages and Arundhatī are invoked on eight betel nuts or a drawn lotus of eight petals and worshipped with sandal, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya; water is offered to each by name.
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight, dearest of all days to Viṣṇu. Eleven stands for the ten senses and the mind; on this day they are turned from food toward the Lord. The Padma Purāṇa gives each of the year’s Ekādaśīs its own name, story and fruit.
📜The story from the scriptures
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 38 — the birth of Ekādaśī
In the Kṛta age the asura Mura drove the gods from heaven. Viṣṇu fought him for a thousand divine years and then withdrew to rest in the cave Hemavatī at Badarikāśrama. Mura followed, meaning to slay the sleeping Lord — when from Viṣṇu’s own body sprang a radiant maiden, armed, who met the asura in battle and reduced him to ashes with a sound. Waking, the Lord asked who had done this; she answered that she was born of him, on the eleventh day. Pleased, he named her Ekādaśī and granted her wish: that whoever fasts on her day be freed from wrong and come to his abode.
🌙The vrata
A light single meal on Daśamī; on Ekādaśī a full fast, or fruit and milk, with all grains and beans set aside; a night vigil with the names of Hari; and pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning after sunrise, within the Dvādaśī, after feeding another.
🔥Pūjā and havan
Viṣṇu is worshipped with tulasī leaves, sandal, flowers, lamp and fruit; the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, the Gītā and the Ekādaśī-māhātmya of the day are read; lamps are lit before the tulasī at dusk.
ॐMantras and japa 2
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
Benefit: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
Meaning: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
Benefit: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
The year of twenty-four Ekādaśīs — outer ring bright fortnight, inner ring dark; the centre holds the two of the intercalary month
The Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, adhyāyas 38–63, tells the glory of each Ekādaśī as Śrī Kṛṣṇa told it to Yudhiṣṭhira. The cards give the amānta month; the Purāṇa speaks in the pūrṇimānta reckoning of North India, which writes each dark fortnight under the following month’s name — so a verse may say “Pauṣa” where the card says Mārgaśīrṣa. The day is the same. Each card opens onto its chapter in the Library.
On the Dvādaśī the pavitrāropaṇa — the offering of the sacred thread — to Vāsudeva is taught, with threads of gold, silver, copper, linen, silk and lotus-fibre.
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
In the chapter: King Mahījit and the sage Lomaśa; the pavitrāropaṇa follows on the Dvādaśī
देवता निर्जिताः सर्वाः स्वर्गभ्रष्टाः कृताः प्रभो ।
अत्युग्रेण हि दैत्येन मुरनाम्ना महौजसा ।
इंद्रस्य वचनं श्रुत्वा विष्णुर्वचनमब्रवीत् ॥ 65 ॥
All the gods have been defeated and cast out of heaven, O Lord, by the exceedingly fierce and mighty daitya named Mura. Hearing Indra’s words, Viṣṇu spoke.
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
In the chapter: the daitya Mura of Candrāvatī, who drives the gods from heaven — the chapter of Ekādaśī’s own origin
… for so many thousand years he is honoured in heaven. Bathing with sesame, rubbing the body with sesame, offering sesame into the fire, sesame in water —
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
Nārada asked the lotus-seated Brahmā: “The one in the dark fortnight of Phālguna, Vijayā by name — tell me her merit, O best of the twice-born, by your grace.”
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
In the chapter: Rāma at the ocean and the sage Dālbhya
अमा वा यदि वा पूर्णा संपूर्णा जायते तदा ।
भूत्वा वै नाडिकाषष्ठिर्जायते प्रतिपद्दिने ।
अश्वमेधायुतैस्तुल्या सा भवेत्पक्षवर्द्धिनी ॥ 2 ॥
When the Amāvāsyā or the Pūrṇimā runs complete — a full sixty nāḍikās — and continues into the Pratipad day, that is Pakṣavardhinī, equal to ten thousand horse-sacrifices.
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
3
Jayā and Vijayā — named by the star
A bright Ekādaśī under Punarvasu is Jayā; a bright Dvādaśī under Śravaṇa is Vijayā. The chapter goes on to Jayantī and Pāpanāśinī in the same way.
On the Dvādaśī the pavitrāropaṇa — the offering of the sacred thread — to Vāsudeva is taught, with threads of gold, silver, copper, linen, silk and lotus-fibre.
English rendering by Horā — the edition on file carries a Hindi commentary only.
What the text asks of the day
Read together, the chapters ask for the same few things: the fast on the Ekādaśī (waterless, on Nirjalā); worship of Viṣṇu under the name the chapter gives — Dāmodara, Hṛṣīkeśa, Padmanābha; an offering that suits the day — fruits on Saphalā, sesame on Ṣaṭtilā, tulasī on Kāmikā; the vigil through the night with song and hymn; and worship again on the Dvādaśī before the fast is broken. The japa of the day is the dvādaśākṣarī, oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, with the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma.
🌘Eclipses (grahaṇa)
Varāhamihira gives both accounts side by side. First the story: the severed head that tasted the nectar and became a graha. Then the science: the Moon enters the earth’s shadow, and at a solar eclipse the Moon covers the Sun — “Rāhu is not the cause”. And then why the rite continues: by Brahmā’s boon Rāhu has a share of the oblation offered at an eclipse.
Some say that this head, though severed from the demon (asura) on account of a taste of the nectar of immortality, was not abandoned by the vital breaths, and thus attained the status of a planet (graha).
The truth is: in its own eclipse, the Moon enters the earth’s shadow; in the Sun’s eclipse, the Moon obscures the Sun. Hence the eclipse begins, for the Moon, from the hindward part, and for the Sun, not from the forward part.
Thus has the true cause of an eclipse been stated by the teachers of divine sight (the astronomer-sages); and it has been said that Rahu is not the true, physical cause in this -- such is the real purport of the science.