The major vows and fasts of the Hindu calendar. 6 monthly (tithi-driven) vratas + 8 annual / festival-linked vratas. Each entry covers the timing rule, presiding deity, practice, food rules, the story behind it, and the phala (promised fruit).
Monthly tithi-driven vratas
Repeat every paksha (lunar fortnight). The recurring rhythm of the householder year.
24 / year (2 every month)Vishnu
📅 11th tithi of both pakshas — Shukla + Krishna
Practice
Full or partial fast from sunrise of Ekadashi to sunrise of Dwadashi. Vishnu Sahasranama recitation. Vishnu temple visit. No grains, beans, or lentils.
Food rules
Phalahara only — fruits, milk, ghee, sabudana, root vegetables. No rice, no wheat, no dal. Even animals fast on Ekadashi by tradition.
Katha
Murari demon was slain by a kanya born from Vishnu's body — that kanya is Ekadashi. Vishnu granted her: whoever fasts on this day will not see hell.
Phala
Burns a thousand sins. Sustained Ekadashi-vrata for one year grants the merit of an Ashwamedha yajna. 24 named Ekadashis through the year — Vaikuntha Ekadashi (Dec-Jan) is supreme.
24 / year (2 every month)Shiva
📅 13th tithi of both pakshas, observed at evening twilight (1.5 hr around sunset)
Practice
Fast during the day. Evening abhishekam of the Shiva linga with milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar (panchamrita). Bilva-pushpa offering. Recite Pradosha Stotra.
Food rules
Light food only before noon. Strict fast 4-6 pm onwards. Break fast after Pradosha puja with prasadam.
Katha
During samudra-manthana, halahala poison emerged. Shiva swallowed it. The devas worshipped him at twilight to thank him — the same hour Pradosha is observed today.
Phala
Removes Saturn doshas. Combines well with Saturday + Tuesday Pradoshas — Soma + Mangala + Shani Pradoshas each carry their own multipliers.
Sankashti Chaturthi
सङ्कष्टी चतुर्थी
12 / yearGanesha
📅 Chaturthi (4th tithi) of Krishna paksha each lunar month
Practice
Day-long fast. Evening: Ganesha pooja + 21 modaks + sankashti story + chandra-darshan (sighting the moon). Argya offered to the moon.
Food rules
Phalahara during day. Break fast after sighting the moon — milk + modak first.
Katha
Ganesha promised: anyone who fasts on Krishna-chaturthi and sees the moon afterwards will have their sankashti (great difficulty) removed. The Sankata Nashana Ganesha Stotra crystallises this.
Phala
Removes sankashtis — financial, legal, marital. Twelve Sankashtis a year, each named after one of Ganesha's 12 names.
Vinayaka Chaturthi
विनायक चतुर्थी
12 / yearGanesha
📅 Chaturthi of Shukla paksha each month
Practice
Shorter day-fast than Sankashti. Morning Ganesha pooja with durva grass, red flowers. No moon-sighting required.
Food rules
Phalahara. Modaks broken at mid-day.
Katha
Devi Parvati created Ganesha from sandalwood paste; Shiva re-vivified him with an elephant head on this day. Original Vinayaka Chaturthi.
Phala
Initiates new work, journeys, studies. Annual Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi = Ganesha Chaturthi, the 10-day festival.
Satyanarayana Purnima
सत्यनारायण व्रत
12 / year + many auspicious special occasionsVishnu (as Satya-Narayana, the Lord of Truth)
📅 Purnima of each lunar month — typically Sunday/Thursday-aligned
Practice
Sankalpa + Satyanarayana katha (Skanda Purana, 5 chapters). Banana-leaf altar with kalasha, panchamrita. Story recited by purohita. Sapatpadi panchamrita prasada.
Food rules
Fast till the puja completes. Break with the panchamrita prasada — banana, ghee, sugar, milk, curd.
Katha
Skanda Purana, Reva-khanda — Suta narrates to the rishis at Naimisharanya. Five distinct examples: poor brahmana, woodcutter, merchant, prince, devotee — each rewarded for keeping the vow, punished for breaking it.
Phala
Prosperity, family harmony, success in business. The most-performed grihastha puja in modern North India.
Amavasya — Pitru Tarpana
अमावस्या · पितृ तर्पण
12 / yearPitru (ancestors)
📅 Amavasya (new moon) of each lunar month
Practice
River-bank or domestic snana → ardha-arghya → pitru tarpana with sesame seeds + water + darbha grass. Three generations addressed. No grains till afternoon.
Food rules
Phalahara till tarpana complete. Brahmana-bhojana (feeding) part of full vidhi.
Katha
The pitrus subsist on shraddha offerings. Amavasya is the day they descend to receive — a missed tarpana is felt by them.
Phala
Pitru dosha cleared. Mahalaya Amavasya (Sept-Oct) is the maha-shraddha day for the year.
Annual / festival vratas
Once-a-year vows — peak festivals of the Hindu calendar.
Maha Shivaratri
महा शिवरात्रि
1 / year + monthly mini-Shivaratris on Krishna chaturdashiShiva
📅 Krishna chaturdashi of Magha (Feb-Mar) — once a year
Practice
All-night jagarana with four prahara (3-hour) abhishekas — milk, curd, ghee, honey. Bilva offering. Om Namah Shivaya japa through the night.
Food rules
Day-long phalahara. Break only after pratahkala puja the next morning.
Katha
Shiva drank the halahala poison. Devas asked him to stay awake to keep the poison in his throat — devotees keep vigil alongside him.
Phala
Removes one full janmas' worth of sins. Even a hunter accidentally offering bilva attained Kailasa per the Shiva Purana.
1 / yearKarva Mata + Shiva-Parvati + Chandra
📅 Krishna chaturthi of Karthika (Oct-Nov)
Practice
Married Hindu women fast nirjala (without water) from sunrise. Karva (clay pot) on a thali with sieve. Story of seven brothers. Moon-darshan through the sieve, then husband's face → break fast.
Food rules
Nirjala — no food, no water — from pre-dawn sargi meal until moon-sighting.
Katha
Bhavishya Purana — Karva's husband bitten by snake; her tapas brought him back. Seven-brothers folk-tale parallel.
Phala
Long life + welfare of the husband.
4 / year (2 prakat + 2 gupta)Devi (Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati — 3 nights each)
📅 9 nights of Ashwina Shukla Pratipada (Sept-Oct) + Chaitra Shukla (Mar-Apr) + 2 Gupta Navaratris in Ashadha + Magha
Practice
9 days of Devi puja. Akhand jyoti (uninterrupted lamp). Durga Saptashati recital. Kanya pujan on Ashtami / Navami. Dussehra on the 10th day.
Food rules
Many fast nirjala or phalahara. No onion, no garlic. Some take only one meal per day.
Katha
Devi Mahatmya — 9 nights of cosmic battle: Madhu-Kaitabha → Mahisha → Shumbha-Nishumbha. Each night Devi defeated one principal adversary.
Phala
Removes obstacles, brings courage, scholastic success. Saraswati-puja on Maha-Saptami initiates new learning.
Karthika Snana
कार्तिक स्नान
~30 days / yearVishnu + Shiva (Karthika is sacred to both — Vaikuntha + Tripurari month)
📅 Every dawn of Karthika maasa (Oct-Nov)
Practice
Pre-dawn cold bath in a river or sacred pond every day of the lunar month. Tulasi puja. Damanaka aarati. No oil on the body. Damodara stotra recitation.
Food rules
One meal per day (ekabhuktam). No onion-garlic. Avoid sour foods.
Katha
Karthika maasa is when Vishnu wakes from yoga-nidra (Devuthani Ekadashi opens it). Tulasi married Vishnu in this month — every household plants and worships tulasi.
Phala
Equal to a thousand normal punya days. Vaikunta darshan promised. Karthika Purnima (Dev Diwali) is its peak.
Saawan Somvar
श्रावण सोमवार
4-5 / year (Mondays in Shravana)Shiva
📅 Every Monday of Shravana (Jul-Aug)
Practice
Day fast. Evening Shiva linga abhisheka with milk + Ganga jal. Bilva offering. Tirtha-yatra to a jyotirlinga ideal.
Food rules
Phalahara only. Break fast at evening after Shiva puja.
Katha
During samudra-manthana, Halahala poison emerged in Shravana. Shiva drank it; the devas + Parvati cooled him with offerings — same offerings devotees make today.
Phala
Married women: long life for husband. Unmarried: a Shiva-like spouse. All: removal of grahas — Mangala (Tue) + Shani (Sat) doshas dissolve.
📅 Krishna ashtami of Bhadrapada (Aug-Sept)
Practice
Day fast. Evening + night-long jagarana till Krishna's birth-hour (midnight). Tulasi-mala japa. Dahi-handi tradition (Maharashtra). Vraja katha.
Food rules
Phalahara. Break at midnight with Krishna's prasadam — makhan, mishri, panchamrita.
Katha
Bhagavata Purana — Devaki + Vasudeva's 8th son born in the Mathura prison on this night. Yashoda received him at Gokula.
Phala
Frees from kingly-line karma. The vrata is open even to the Brahma-Vaivarta — Krishna says any devotee who fasts on his birthday is dearer to him than all yajnas.
Vaikuntha Ekadashi
वैकुण्ठ एकादशी
1 / yearVishnu
📅 Shukla Ekadashi of Margashirsha (Dec) — the Ekadashi nearest to winter solstice
Practice
Full Ekadashi fast. At Tirumala, the Vaikuntha Dwara (north gate) opens only on this day. Devotees pass through to receive Vaikuntha darshan.
Food rules
Strict Ekadashi rules — phalahara, no grains, no beans.
Katha
On this day Vishnu opens the Vaikuntha gate for any devotee who fasts and remembers him. Mukkoti Ekadashi in Telugu = "three crores of devotees ascended" — the cosmic gate opens.
Phala
Direct Vaikuntha lokam. The most-prized Ekadashi of the 24 in the year.
Vasanta Panchami / Saraswati Puja
वसन्त पञ्चमी
1 / yearSaraswati
📅 Shukla panchami of Magha (Jan-Feb)
Practice
White and yellow offerings — jasmine, mustard flowers. Books and instruments placed before Saraswati for blessing. New learning begins (Vidya Arambham for children).
Food rules
No strict fast — light meal, yellow rice traditional.
Katha
Saraswati emerged from Brahma's tongue on this day to give speech to creation. Spring (vasanta) starts — yellow mustard blooms across north India.
Phala
Scholastic success. The day Aksharabhyasa (child's first letter) is performed.
Coming soon: automatic date-resolution for every vrata in your locale via the SevaCart panchang. Mark a vrata to receive a 7-day-before reminder. (See
Family Ritual Calendar for the early version.)
Deepen your vrata
Commission a seva on your vrata day at a verified temple.
Sankat Chaturthi, Ekadashi, Pradosham, Amavasya — offer alongside your fast for full merit.