Varalakshmi Vratam 2025
Varalakshmi Vratam also known as Varalakshmi Puja will be celebrated on Friday, 8 August 2025. This sacred observance takes place on the Friday preceding the full moon (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Shravana, aligning with age-old traditions followed especially in South India, mainly Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra.
This particular timing is considered highly auspicious because Fridays in the month of Shravana are believed to be the most favorable days to worship Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth, prosperity, fertility, and well-being.
The Varalakshmi Vratam is primarily observed by married women, who perform elaborate rituals to seek blessings not just for their own prosperity, but also for the health and longevity of their family members — particularly their husbands and children. The word “Varalakshmi” literally means “the boon-giving Lakshmi,” symbolizing the goddess in her most benevolent form.
Procedure for Varalakshmi Vratam
Day Before (7th Aug, 2025):
- Clean and decorate your home.
- Prepare the Kalasha: a pot filled with rice/water, coins, betel leaves and coconut, decorated with turmeric, kumkum, flowers, and mango leaves
On the Vratam Day (8th Aug, 2025):
- Start the day with a holy bath, invoke the Sankalpa.
- Begin puja with Ganapati prayers, then worship the Kalasham as Goddess Lakshmi.
- Offer naivedyam: Traditional items such as pongal, banana, coconut, fruits, sweets depending on regional style. Recite Sri Suktam or Lakshmi Ashtottara Shatanamavali (108 names)
- Tie the sacred yellow thread (toram/dorak granthi) on each participant’s wrist until evening.
- Invite married women (sumangalis) for haldi-kumkum ceremony and distribute prasadam
- Implementing Regional Specifics: In Tamil Nadu, known as Varalakshmi Nonbu, focus is on elaborate decoration of the Kalasha in feminine form and preparing four types of kolukattai, payasam and vadai for offerings
Steps for Decorating the Kalasham
- Clean the Kalasham which is made of brass or silver, then apply a paste of limestone or sandalwood followed by turmeric and kumkum.
- Fill the kalasham with rice, walnuts, dried fruits (like almonds and dates), coins, turmeric, kumkum, betel leaves, lemon, and karugamani as symbols of prosperity.
- Arrange mango leaves and optionally fragrant thazhampoo (screw-pine) flowers around the rim. Place a turmeric-scrubbed coconut on top, pointed end upward, decorated with kumkum dots or goddess mugam.
- Drape the Kalasham with a shiny silk skirt or blouse piece, and accessorize with jewelry, flower garlands, and decorative hair-like adornments for a goddess-like form.
- Place the Kalasham on a banana-leaf or a small platform with kolam beneath, and arrange diyas around it to complete the look.
Benefits of Varalakshmi Vratam
Varalakshmi Vratam is celebrated primarily by married women, this vratam is believed to bring blessings of wealth, health, prosperity, fertility, wisdom, and overall family well-being. It fosters spiritual growth through disciplined rituals, devotion, and chanting, while also encouraging cultural traditions and the empowerment of women. By sincerely observing this vratam, devotees seek the fulfillment of their heartfelt wishes, protection from financial and personal hardships, and harmony within the household. It is considered one of the most auspicious vrats for inviting divine grace and abundance into one’s life.