Shukravar Vrat Vidhi 2026: How to Keep the Santoshi Mata and Vaibhav Lakshmi Friday Fasts
There are two Friday fasts: Santoshi Mata (16 Fridays, jaggery and roasted gram, no sour food at home) and Vaibhav Lakshmi (11 or 21 Fridays, kheer, coins, Shri Yantra puja). Start on any Friday; the next one is 11 September 2026.
The Friday fast comes in two main forms. The Santoshi Mata vrat runs for 16 consecutive Fridays: the offering is gud-chana (jaggery with roasted gram), and nobody in the house eats anything sour that day. The Vaibhav Lakshmi vrat runs for 11 or 21 Fridays: you worship Lakshmi or a Shri Yantra, offer kheer (rice pudding) and keep coins in the puja. Either fast can begin on any Friday; the next Friday is 11 September 2026.
Whose day is Friday, and how many Fridays does each fast take?
In the jyotish (Hindu astrology) tradition, Friday belongs to Shukra, the planet Venus. Shukra is described as the significator of comfort, beauty, wealth and relationships, which is why goddess worship became the Friday practice. It mirrors how Monday is Shiva's day (see our Somvar vrat calendar) and Thursday belongs to Guru, or Jupiter.
| Fast | How many Fridays | Main offering | Special rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santoshi Mata | 16 consecutive (about four months) | Jaggery and roasted gram | No sour food for anyone in the house that day |
| Vaibhav Lakshmi | 11 or 21 (about three or five months) | Kheer | Shri Yantra or Lakshmi puja, coins in the puja |
When should I start?
Tradition does not fix a starting date. Choose the Friday that suits you, take a sankalp (a spoken or silent resolve stating how many Fridays you will keep) and begin. In September 2026 the next Friday is 11 September, followed by 18 and 25 September.
How do I keep the Santoshi Mata vrat, step by step?
- Bath and sankalp: Bathe in the morning, wear clean clothes and resolve to keep 16 Fridays.
- Set up the puja: Place a kalash (a small pot of water) before a picture of Santoshi Mata. On top of it, set a small bowl of jaggery and roasted gram.
- Lamp and offering: Light a ghee lamp, offer flowers and present the gud-chana as bhog (the food offering).
- Katha: Read or listen to the Santoshi Mata vrat katha (the story of the fast). Tradition has you hold a little gud-chana in your hand while listening.
- Aarti and prasad: Perform the aarti and share the prasad (blessed offering) at home. Whoever takes the prasad also avoids sour food that day.
- Through the day: The person fasting eats one satvik meal (vegetarian, without onion or garlic) or only fruit, as family custom allows. No one in the household has anything sour.
Why is sour food avoided on Friday?
This is the best-known rule of the Santoshi Mata fast. By tradition it applies not just to the person fasting but to the whole household: no lemon, tamarind, curd, pickle, sour fruit or anything else that tastes sour. According to the katha, sour food served at the udyapan meal broke the discipline of the fast, and the rule has been kept ever since.
Treat it as a practice of restraint rather than something to fear. The name Santoshi comes from santosh, contentment; giving up one taste for one day is that contentment in practice. If someone slips and eats something sour, there is no need to abandon the fast; just hold the rule more carefully from the next Friday.
How do I keep the Vaibhav Lakshmi vrat?
- Sankalp: Bathe in the morning and resolve to keep 11 or 21 Fridays. Fix the number now, because the udyapan falls on that Friday.
- Puja: This puja is usually done in the evening. Place a picture of Lakshmi or a Shri Yantra at the puja spot. The Shri Yantra is a geometric diagram regarded as a form of Lakshmi, so worshipping it counts as Lakshmi puja.
- Coins: Put a few coins in a bowl, rinse them with water and place them before the goddess.
- Lamp, flowers, offering: Light a lamp, offer flowers and present kheer as bhog.
- Katha and aarti: Read the Vaibhav Lakshmi katha, perform the aarti and share the kheer as prasad.
- The coins afterwards: By tradition the puja coins are not spent; they stay at the puja spot.
What can I eat on the fast day?
| You can have | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Fruit, milk, dry fruits; one satvik meal or fruit only | Anything sour: lemon, tamarind, curd, pickle (for the whole house on the Santoshi Mata fast) |
| Gud-chana prasad (Santoshi Mata) or kheer prasad (Vaibhav Lakshmi) | Tamasik food: onion, garlic, meat, alcohol |
The sour-food rule belongs to the Santoshi Mata tradition; for the Vaibhav Lakshmi fast, follow what your household does.
The Santoshi Mata katha, in short
According to the katha, the youngest daughter-in-law of a large family was neglected and given the hardest work. Her husband left to earn a living far away, and for a long time no word came. She began the Santoshi Mata Friday fast, offering gud-chana and keeping away from sour food. The story says that in time her husband returned and the household's fortunes changed.
The last part of the story is the root of the sour-food rule. At the udyapan meal, the children of the house were given something sour, and the discipline of the fast was broken. The daughter-in-law performed the udyapan again, this time with nothing sour on the table.
The Vaibhav Lakshmi katha, in short
According to the katha, a devout woman named Sheela once lived comfortably, but circumstances changed and hard times came. One day an elderly woman visited and taught her the Friday Vaibhav Lakshmi fast: worship of Lakshmi or the Shri Yantra, an offering of kheer, and coins in the puja. Sheela completed the fast with faith, and the story says stability slowly returned to her home. It is believed the visitor was Lakshmi herself.
How is the udyapan done?
Udyapan is the formal closing of a fast once the count is complete.
Santoshi Mata udyapan: By tradition it falls on the 16th Friday. After the usual puja and katha, eight boys are served a meal. The food should be satvik and sweet, with nothing sour on the table; that is the central rule.
Vaibhav Lakshmi udyapan: On the 11th or 21st Friday, whichever you resolved on. Do a slightly fuller Lakshmi puja that day, offer kheer and share the prasad. Keep the puja coins safely at home.
No display is needed. Whatever is within your means is enough, and your family's or guru's tradition comes first.
What if I miss a Friday?
Do not count the missed Friday; pick up the same number the following week. If the fifth Friday was missed, the next Friday becomes the fifth. Travel, not keeping well or menstruation are natural reasons to skip, and none of them is considered to break the sankalp. The count just carries on.
Which Fridays fall between September and November 2026?
If you start on 11 September 2026, the twelve Fridays below are the first twelve weeks of your count. A few coincide with festivals, so fix your Friday puja time in advance on those days.
| No. | Date | Also on this day |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 September 2026 | Amavasya (new moon) |
| 2 | 18 September | — |
| 3 | 25 September | Anant Chaturdashi |
| 4 | 2 October | — |
| 5 | 9 October | — |
| 6 | 16 October | — |
| 7 | 23 October | — |
| 8 | 30 October | — |
| 9 | 6 November | Dhanteras |
| 10 | 13 November | Nahay-Khay (first day of Chhath) |
| 11 | 20 November | Dev Uthani Ekadashi |
| 12 | 27 November | — |
An 11-Friday Vaibhav Lakshmi fast begun on 11 September reaches its 11th Friday on 20 November, Dev Uthani Ekadashi. The 16- and 21-Friday counts run past this list.
Common questions
Can I keep both the Santoshi Mata and Vaibhav Lakshmi fasts together?
Both are Friday fasts, so most people pick one. If you want both, do the Santoshi Mata puja in the morning and the Vaibhav Lakshmi puja in the evening, and keep the sour-food rule all day.
What if a festival falls on a Friday, like Dhanteras on 6 November?
Keep the fast as usual. Do the Friday puja at your regular time and the festival puja separately; the two do not clash.
Can I combine it with a Monday or Tuesday fast?
Many people do, keeping Monday for Shiva and Tuesday for Hanuman, where reciting the Hanuman Chalisa is the usual practice.
One last note: no one can promise an outcome. The fast is a practice of faith and restraint, and its value lies in the regularity and the calm it brings. For each Friday's tithi, sunrise and auspicious timings, our daily panchang is the place to check.