Pradosh Vrat

Kept on the Trayodashi of both pakshas, twice each lunar month. What makes this vrat distinct is the hour: the entire puja belongs to pradosh kaal, the twilight around sunset, and is not done at any other time. It is named for the weekday it falls on — Som Pradosh, Bhaum Pradosh, Shani Pradosh — and the weekday deity is honoured alongside Shiv.

Next date: 2026-09-09

Deity: Shiv

vidhi

Bathe in the morning, take the sankalp before Shiv, and keep the day on water and fruit — nirjala only if your health allows it.,Bathe again in the late afternoon and be ready before sunset, since the whole puja belongs to pradosh kaal.,Face north-east and do the abhishek on the Shivling with water, or with panchamrit if you are using it, closing with water in every case.,Offer bel patra, white flowers, chandan, bhasma and akshat, and light the ghee lamp as the sun goes down.,Chant Om Namah Shivaya one hundred and eight times, then listen to the Pradosh vrat katha.,Do the aarti at the close of pradosh kaal, offer the bhog, and break the fast only after that.

katha

This vrat also goes back to the churning of the ocean. When halahal rose from it, the devas and the asuras alike ran; Shiv drank the poison and held it in his throat, and only then could the churning go on and the amrit be obtained at last. In the delight of the amrit the devas forgot who had made it possible. When they realised it, they went to Kailash on the Trayodashi and stood before Shiv without excuses. He forgave them at once — the katha makes a point of how little persuading it took — and in his pleasure he danced there in the twilight between the horns of Nandi, with all the devas watching. That twilight hour is pradosh, and this is why the vrat is fixed to the hour and not to the day. It is held that on Trayodashi, in the hour Shiv danced, what is asked of him is not refused. The vrat is kept for the relief of a particular trouble more often than as a routine, and it is one of the few in which even those who cannot fast may take part fully, simply by being present for the puja at sunset.

mantra

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samagri

Water for the abhishek, and milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar if panchamrit is being made,Bel patra, white flowers and dhatura,Chandan, bhasma and akshat,Ghee lamp with a cotton wick, dhoop and camphor,Fruit and a white sweet for bhog,A rudraksha mala, and a woollen or kusha asan to sit on for the japa

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