Varalakshmi Vratam is a Friday vrat of Shravan on which women worship Goddess Mahalakshmi as Varalakshmi — 'the Lakshmi who grants boons' — for the wellbeing and prosperity of their family. A decorated kalash is set up as the living form of the Goddess, and the day is one of the most cherished of the year for Lakshmi devotees.
In 2026 the North Indian and Drik (New Delhi) reckoning keeps the vratam on Friday, 28 August, while the South-Indian tradition observes it a week earlier, on Friday, 21 August. The puja is best done in the morning, before noon. Below are both dates, the kalash puja vidhi, the vrat katha and its significance.
Varalakshmi Vratam 2026 at a glance
Date (North / Drik)
Friday, 28 August 2026
Date (South India)
Friday, 21 August 2026
Best time
Morning puja, before noon
Deity
Goddess Mahalakshmi
Kept mainly by
Married women
Occasion
Friday before Shravan Purnima
Varalakshmi Vratam 2026 dates
Both the North / Drik and the South-Indian traditions
North / Drik (New Delhi)
Friday, 28 August 2026
South India
Friday, 21 August 2026
There are two customary dates in 2026, because the North and South reckon the Shravan month differently. By the North Indian and Drik (New Delhi) panchang, Varalakshmi Vratam falls on Friday, 28 August 2026. In the South-Indian tradition — Telugu, Tamil and Kannada — it is the Friday before the Shravan full moon, which this year is Friday, 21 August 2026. The vrat and puja are identical; follow the date customary in your family.
Puja timing
Varalakshmi kalash puja vidhi
Setting up and worshipping the kalash
Clean the puja space and draw a rangoli. Take an early bath and wear fresh clothes before the morning puja.
Set up the kalash: fill a metal pot with rice or water, place mango leaves and a coconut on top, and wrap it with a new cloth. This kalash is worshipped as Varalakshmi herself.
Adorn the kalash with turmeric, kumkum, flowers and jewellery. Light the lamp and invoke the Goddess.
Tie the sacred yellow thread (toram), offer the Ashtottara and the Varalakshmi Vrat Katha, and conclude with aarti and naivedya.
The Varalakshmi Vrat Katha
The story of Charumati of Kundinapura
The Varalakshmi Vrat Katha tells of Charumati, a devout and gentle woman of Kundinapura, to whom Goddess Lakshmi appeared in a dream and asked that she keep this vrat. Charumati gathered the women of her town and worshipped the kalash with devotion. As they completed the puja, they were blessed with gold ornaments, wealth and every comfort — the Goddess's promise that sincere worship of Varalakshmi is richly answered. The katha is read aloud as part of the vrat.
Significance — the grace of Mahalakshmi
Why the vrat is kept
Worshipping Varalakshmi is held to be equal to worshipping Ashtalakshmi, the eight forms of Lakshmi who govern wealth, courage, progeny, food, knowledge, victory and prosperity. Married women keep the vrat chiefly for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands and the harmony and abundance of the home. Falling in Shravan, the most sacred of months, the vratam carries the added merit of the season of devotion.
Confirm the morning muhurat for your city
Lagna timings shift by city. Use our live tools to check the day's auspicious windows and sunrise for your own location before the puja.
Frequently asked questions
Varalakshmi Vratam 2026 date, puja and katha