Varalakshmi Puja or Varalakshmi Vratham is an important ritual observed by married women in South India and Maharashtra for the prosperity and welfare of their families. The date of Varalakshmi Vratham in 2011 is August 12. Varalakshmi Puja falls on a Friday in the month of August and the preparations for the puja begin on Thursday. All the necessary items needed for the pooja are collected by Thursday evening.
People wake up early in the morning on Friday and take a bath. Traditionally speaking the waking up time for the puja is the brahma muhurtham. Then the designated puja area and house is cleaned well and a beautiful ‘kolam’ or rangoli is drawn on the intended place of puja.
Next is the preparation of the ‘kalasham or kalash.’ A bronze or silver pot is selected and is cleaned thoroughly and a swastika symbol is drawn and is smeared with sandalwood paste. The kalasham pot is filled with raw rice or water, coins, a single whole lime, five different kinds of leaves, and beetle nut. The items used to fill the kalasham vary from region to region and includes turmeric, comb, mirror, small black bangles and black beads.
The kalasham up to the neck is sometimes covered with a cloth and mango leaves are placed on the mouth of the kalasham. Finally, a coconut smeared with turmeric is used to close the mouth of the kalasham. To this coconut, an image of Goddess Lakshmi is fixed or the image of Lakshmi is drawn using turmeric powder. Now the kalasham symbolically represents Goddess Lakshmi.
In some areas, women place a mirror behind the kalasham. Today, there are also specially made Varalakshmi pots available in the market.
The kalasham is usually placed on a bed of rice. First Lord Ganesha is worshipped. Then begins the Varalakshmi Puja. The puja consists of singing slokas dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi like the Lakshmi Sahasranamam. Arati is performed on the kalasham. Different types of sweets are offered. Some people offer pongal. In some areas women tie yellow thread on their hands.
The woman who is observing the Varalakshmi Puja abstains from eating certain kind of food and this varies from region to region. In some regions, women fast till the puja period.
Thamboolam – betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime – is offered to women in the locality and in the evening an arati is offered.
The next day, that is on Saturday, after taking a bath the kalasham is dismantled and the water in the kalasham is sprinkled in the house. If rice is used then it is mixed with rice in the house.
There are no hard and fast rules in performing the Varalakshmi Puja and you can be flexible on the puja items. Even a simple prayer will please Goddess Lakshmi.
You can read about mythology associated with the Varalakshmi Puja here.
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23 comments:
Great information for hindus across the world!
Thanks for the useful blog.
Good information for Pooja.
Ramesh
Thank you so much for this article.As this is my first year after marriage i was not aware how to perform this pooja from this site i got very good information.
Regards
Akula
I am doing my first varaletchumy puja in the hse. Have been doing it in the temple for years. For your info I m from Malaysia.
How do I conduct the ganapathi puja prior to conducting the varaletchumy puja.
Thank you & regards
Rachudevi
HAI I AM MRS.PRAVEENA.R.RAO FROM DUBAI. THANS A LOT FOR THIS ARTICLE..CAN WE CHANT "LAXMI SAHASRA NAMAM" DAILY?
Takk fyrir ahugaverd blog
hi...thanks for all the informetion, i would like to know....on varalaxami pooja previous day to keep ready can i grind urad dal for "garelu" , and chanaa dal purnam to make borelu , so on the pooja day i can save lot of time. pl pl pl tell me is it wrong doing like that.
@ yes you can grind urdal for garelu and channa dal purnam for borelu on the previous day. It is absolutely fine. I too do it like that as with children around i cannot do all the things on the day.
Can someone guide me what has to be done to the COCONUT used in Kalasham ???the next day when the puja is over ???
The best option is to dig a hole and bury the coconut - returning it back to nature. If not possible you can float it in a river but do not throw it in a plastic cover.
i am do well this pooja after reading this artical
dear LEENAK ,,dis vratam shud b dun very strictly,,,d coconut used in d pooja at kalasham,,shud b broken down and it shud b cut n usd in sweet pongal,,,using jaggery n rice ,,,and after preparing,,,,it shud b offerd to d gods at hom,,,,,,,,{and very imp ,if der is any female in home ,,runing menstrual cycle den d pooja can b dun on d very next fiday of d same month} ,,very very imp --plz don giv d rice coconut or anyting usd to d godess for any of ur relativs or frenz or neighbours or guests,,,,,,,,,,,it shud b eaten only by ur own family membrs dats it..............u can offer d guests,,any oder tings wich r not kept for d godess,,,,,,,,,any doughts any1 has plz mail me or find me on facebuk,,,,,,,,my fezbuk nem is Bilwaprasad Shivakumar...........il solve any type of confusn u hav,,,,,,,,,,,i kno it perfectly,,as i celebrate it ........d kalash water shud not b stampd...,,,if not u can put d watr for any of ur own plants{tulasi not complsry},it shud not flow down n shudnt b stampd by any1....so pour it for gropunded plants not for potted plants ,,bcoz potted plants leak out all d water frm down,,,,,,,,,,,if d mangalyam is turmeric root,,,throw in 2 a wel,,it shd not be gettin for any1
i heard that we should have a family tradition to do this vratham. is this true?? in our family, we are not having dz tradition but i want to start this freshly, so pl tell me dat is it k r is der anything wrong. if diz is not k, how can we pray d goddess in a simple way other than vratham with kalasham.
No you can start the vratam without any family tradition.
thanx alot .Though we do this pooja every year we tend to forget a lot.
Good info., and very helpful for NRI
good info
hi. very good info.. even my does Varamahalakshmi Vratha
good info
good info
It is very informative though i am not south indian but married to andhraite for 19 yrs, have learned from my ma in law who passed away few yrs ago. I would like to know if anyone has pooja vidhi in hindi or english? it will be a great help for non southindian person , though i follow the language a little but would like to preserve the tradition.
Very informative for performing the pooja by people across the globe!!!
@Leenak you can use the coconut for cooking
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