11 articles in this category
Vrats & fasting
Vrats — devotional fasts — are one of the most-practiced and least-understood elements of Hindu life. Below: when each falls, what it does, who it serves, and how to keep it properly.
- 01
Ahoi Ashtami 2026: The Mothers' Fast, and the Star Nobody Can Time for You
🌟Ahoi Ashtami 2026 falls on Sunday 1 November. The story of Ahoi Mata, the vidhi, and why no honest panchang can print a star-sighting time.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 10 Sept 2026 · 9 min read
- 02
Kartik Maas: The Snan Niyam, the Food Rules, and the Festivals It Holds Together
🌊Kartik's pre-dawn snan, its widely varying food rules, akash deep, and tulsi worship, plus every major festival inside the month, linked in order.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 9 Sept 2026 · 11 min read
- 03
Pitru Paksha 2026: What You Can and Cannot Do, and Why
🙏Pitru Paksha rules on buying gold, a vehicle, property or clothes, on haircuts and temple visits, and what to do when something genuinely cannot wait.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 9 Sept 2026 · 11 min read
- 04
Navratri Fasting Rules: What the Vrat Actually Permits, and Why
🍽️Most Navratri food lists give you a column of allowed items and a column of forbidden ones with no explanation. Here is why grains, table salt, onion and garlic are excluded, why kuttu and singhara are not really grains at all, and why your family's version of the fast can look nothing like your neighbour's and still be correct.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 9 Sept 2026 · 10 min read
- 05
Chhath Puja 2026 Usha Arghya Time: Your Sunrise, and the Parana After
🌅The morning offering on 16 November is what actually ends the Chhath vrat, not the sunset the day before. Sunrise for Patna, Varanasi and cities across India and abroad, why the offering falls in saptami and not shashthi, and what the parana that breaks the fast actually involves.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 9 Sept 2026 · 8 min read
- 06
Thursday fast (Guruvar): for wisdom, marriage, and Jupiter's blessing
🌙Thursdays are ruled by Jupiter (Guru/Brihaspati) - the planet of wisdom, dharma, and benevolence. The Guruvar Vrat is observed especially by women for marriage and family stability.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 2 Jan 2026 · 6 min read
- 07
Monday vrat (Somwar): the weekly Shiva fast for marriage and harmony
🌙Mondays are ruled by the Moon, and dedicated to Shiva. The Monday vrat is one of the simplest, most observed weekly fasts in north India. Here is what it asks and gives.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 11 Nov 2025 · 6 min read
- 08
Saturday fast (Shanivar): pacifying Saturn, who rewards patience
🌙Saturday is Shani's day - and Shani is the most feared planet in Vedic astrology. The Shanivar Vrat is for those undergoing Sade Sati, Shani Mahadasha, or chronic Saturn-related struggle.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 28 Aug 2025 · 7 min read
- 09
Sankashti Chaturthi: when Ganesha removes obstacles every month
🌙Sankashti Chaturthi falls on Krishna Paksha Chaturthi (4th day of waning moon) every month. It is Ganesha's monthly "obstacle-clearing" day. Here is the practice.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 21 Mar 2025 · 6 min read
- 10
Pradosh Vrat: the 13th-day Shiva fast that most people miss
🌙Falling on Trayodashi (13th tithi) twice a month, Pradosh Vrat is observed at twilight (pradosh kaal) for Shiva. Smaller than Shivratri, but compounding - and that is its power.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 29 Jan 2025 · 6 min read
- 11
Ekadashi fasting: why the 11th lunar day is the most powerful Vedic fast
🌙Twice a month, Vaishnavas and seekers worldwide fast on Ekadashi. We explain what makes this day astronomically special, what to eat (and avoid), and the classical benefits.
Vidhata Editorial Desk · 15 Jan 2025 · 7 min read
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