Vat Savitri Vrat (Amavasya)
🗓️ Jyeshtha Amavasya (May–Jun)
The story behind Vat Savitri Vrat (Amavasya)
Vat Savitri Vrat is the northern Indian observance of the Savitri fast, kept on Jyeshtha Amavasya — a fortnight before the Vat Purnima observed in Maharashtra and the south, the same vrat on a different tithi. Married women fast and worship the banyan, recalling Savitri, who followed Yama when he took Satyavan and did not turn back until his life was restored. The katha is read as a story about resolve rather than luck: she does not plead, she argues, and Yama concedes the point.
Vat Savitri Vrat (Amavasya) Puja Vidhi
- 1
Snana & Vrat Sankalpa
Bathe early, wear the ornaments of a married woman, and take the sankalpa of the fast according to your capacity.
- 2
Savitri-Satyavan Sthapana
Place clay figures of Savitri and Satyavan at the root of the banyan, or before an image at home where no tree is near.
- 3
Vat Puja & Sutra Veshtan
Offer water, haldi, kumkum, akshata and soaked chana to the banyan, and wind raw thread around the trunk while circling it.
- 4
Katha, Vayan & Parana
Listen to the Savitri katha, give the vayan to an elder married woman, and break the fast after the puja is complete.
Vat Savitri Vrat (Amavasya) Mantra
ॐ सावित्र्यै नमः॥
Meaning
Salutations to Savitri, who by her resolve brought her husband back from Yama.
How to chant
Recited at each circumambulation while winding the thread around the banyan.