Varalakshmi Vratam

The vidhanam at a glance

1. Getting ready in the morning
2. Preparing the kalasham
3. Light the lamps
4. Achamanam
5. Ganapati puja
6. Sankalpam
7. Invoking amma
8. Angapuja & ashtottaram
9. Bangaru rupu puja
10. Thoram puja
11. The vratam katha
12. Offering naivedyam
13. Vayanam · thamboolam for amma
14. Dhoopam, deepam & harathi
15. Thamboolam for muthaidhuvulu
16. Prasadam
17. After the puja

The full vidhanam

1. Getting ready in the morning

   • Bathe early and wear clean clothes
   • Clean the puja space
   • Draw the muggu and ready the puja peeta
   • Spread a new cloth on the peeta
   • Ready the kalasham plate with rice

2. Preparing the kalasham

   • Apply turmeric and kumkuma to the kalasham
   • Fill the kalasham with water
   • Add akshintalu, coins, betel nut and other mangala dravyas per your family's way
   • Tie turmeric thread around the kalasham's neck
   • Arrange the mango leaves
   • Place the turmeric-smeared coconut on top
   • Tie the cloth / blouse piece
   • If using amma's face (mukham), fix it now
   • Set the kalasham on the rice-filled plate
   

   The dravyas placed in the kalasham vary by family tradition.

3. Light the lamps

   • Light the lamps and recite this shloka
   Shloka

   śuklāṃbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśivarṇaṃ caturbhujaṃ | prasannavadanaṃ dhyāyet sarvavighnopaśāṃtaye ||

4. Achamanam

   • Take a little water and do achamanam
   Shloka

   oṃ keśavāya namaḥ oṃ nārāyaṇāya namaḥ oṃ mādhavāya namaḥ

5. Ganapati puja

   • Place the pasupu Ganapati or a Vinayaka idol
   • Worship with turmeric, kumkuma, akshintalu and flowers
   • Offer naivedyam
   Shloka

   vakratuṃḍa mahākāya sūryakoṭi samaprabha | nirvighnaṃ kurume deva sarvakāryeṣu sarvadā ||

   Every auspicious beginning starts with Vinayaka.

6. Sankalpam

   • Declare the sankalpam — that you perform this vratham for amma's grace, the family's wellbeing, health, long life and prosperity.

7. Invoking amma

   • Meditate, invoking Varalakshmi amma into the kalasham — feel her seated in your puja mandir, and begin with devotion.
   • Offer turmeric and kumkuma
   • Offer sandal paste
   • Offer akshintalu
   • Offer flowers
   • Offer cloth, bangles and mangala dravyas per your family's way

8. Angapuja & ashtottaram

   • Do angapuja with flowers / akshintalu
   • Recite or listen to the ashtottara shatanamavali, offering flowers or akshintalu with each name

   Read — Ashtottara shatanamavali ↓

9. Bangaru rupu pujaOptional

   • Place any one gold item you have at home near amma
   • If there is none — a turmeric piece, a coin, or a betel leaf is enough
   • Worship it with turmeric, kumkuma and flowers

   This step is optional. Nothing is missing from the vratham without gold — amma looks at the devotion, not the metal.

   Did you know?

   Elders say gold holds shakti — it takes in the glow of the consecrated amma and keeps it in our home all year. And there's one more lovely thought: whatever gold we have is amma's grace anyway. Placing what she gave us back at her feet — saying "amma, all this is because of you" — that is the real beauty of our sanatana way.

10. Thoram puja

    • Tradition worships the thoram's 9 knots, one name each — offer a flower or akshintalu at every knot:
    Shloka

    oṃ kamalāyai namaḥ — prathamagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ ramāyai namaḥ — dvitīyagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ lokamātre namaḥ — tṛtīyagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ viśvajananyai namaḥ — caturthagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ mahālakṣmyai namaḥ — paṃcamagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ kṣīrābdhitanayāyai namaḥ — ṣaṣṭhagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ viśvasākṣiṇyai namaḥ — saptamagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ caṃdrasahodaryai namaḥ — aṣṭamagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi oṃ harivallabhāyai namaḥ — navamagraṃthiṃ pūjayāmi

    After the 9 knots, tie the thoram on the wrist per your family's way.

11. The vratam katha

    • Read or listen to the vratam katha
    • After the katha, offer namaskaram to amma

    Read — Vratam katha ↓

12. Offering naivedyam

    • Place the prepared naivedyams before amma and offer with devotion
    Shloka

    oṃ mahālakṣmī devyai namaḥ — naivedyaṃ samarpayāmi

13. Vayanam · thamboolam for amma

    • Offer the prepared vayanam / thamboolam to amma
    Shloka

    oṃ mahālakṣmī devyai namaḥ — tāṃbūlaṃ samarpayāmi

14. Dhoopam, deepam & harathi

    • Offer the flowers
    • ఓం మహాలక్ష్మీ దేవ్యై నమః — పుష్పం సమర్పయామి
    • Show the dhoopam
    • ఓం మహాలక్ష్మీ దేవ్యై నమః — ధూపం సమర్పయామి
    • Show the deepam
    • ఓం మహాలక్ష్మీ దేవ్యై నమః — దీపం సమర్పయామి
    • Give the camphor harathi
    • ఓం మహాలక్ష్మీ దేవ్యై నమః — హారతి సమర్పయామి
    • The whole family offers namaskaram to amma

15. Thamboolam for muthaidhuvulu

    • After the puja, give thamboolam to the muthaidhuvulu and take their blessings

16. Prasadam

    • Share amma's prasadam with family, relatives and the muthaidhuvulu

17. After the puja

    • When to move the kalasham, how to use the coconut and the kalasham water — these vary by family and region.
    • Your home's generations-old tradition always comes first.

Puja checklist

📖 Vratam katha

Ashtottara shatanamavali

Why do we celebrate?

In the Skanda Purana, Varalakshmi appears in the dream of a devoted woman named Charumati, asking to be worshipped on a Shravana Friday — a vratam Shiva himself narrated to Parvati.

Skanda Purana

She is 'the Lakshmi who grants boons' — and Telugu households have long held that this one puja carries the blessings of all eight Lakshmis.

Telugu tradition

How to celebrate

• Set up the kalasham with coconut and blouse cloth to welcome the Goddess
• Tie the toram — a turmeric thread with nine knots
• Pulihora and poornam boorelu as naivedyam
• Invite muthaiduvulu and offer tambulam
• Remember: devotion over decoration — a small heartfelt puja is complete

Frequently asked questions