Shukravar Vrat or Upvaas | Santoshi Mata fast | Vaibhav Lakshmi Fast

Fasting on Fridays is for the Planet Venus. Friday is dedicated to Mother Goddess – Mahalakshmi, Santhoshi Ma, Annapuraneshwari, and Durga. Venus Planet is mainly associated with family life, taste, and business/livelihood. The benevolent influence of Venus favors the accumulation of wealth, jewelry, landed properties, happy home life, success in business and occupations, controlling obesity and fatness.

This fast is performed for appeasing Venus, It is a very popular fast and is generally observed by the ladies to please the goddess, Santoshi Mata. Santoshi Maa is another form of Parvati or Durga.

One can do two types of Vrat on Shukravar or Fridays. One is Santoshi Mata Puja and one is Dhan Lakshmi Puja. Both these Vrats are all wished to fulfill and have immense power to transform a devotee’s life from any kind of pain to peace, wealth, success, and happiness.

Santoshi Mata

Santoshi Mata is an incarnation of power or shakti. The fasting is also known as ‘Solah Shukravar Vrats’ because of a devotee fast for 16 consecutive Fridays for the fulfillment of a particular wish.

This fast has very strict rules that must be followed to fulfill their wish. The fast begin early Friday morning, The devotee wakes up and after taking bath perform puja to Mata, Keep a container filled with water and keep Chana and Gur as prasad and listen to Vrat Katha, after performing the puja distribute the prasad among family members, sprinkle the water in the house and then pouring remaining water to Tulsi plant.

The main rule of this fast is that nobody in the home should eat or touch anything sour on this day. The fasting person can eat food in the night which is done after the fast is broken i.e after performing evening prayers.

After completion of 16 fast Udyapan is observed to mark the end of this ritual. In Udyapan call 8 young boys and offer them prasad which includes chana, puri, and kheer, and finally give them Dakshina which should not be money but can be some fruit or sweet.

Vaibhav Lakshmi Fast

Dhan Lakshmi Ma is the goddess of wealth and Vaibhav Lakshmi Fast is observed for prosperity and good fortune. It is also performed for 16 days to fulfill every wish of the devotee. It brings immense wealth, fortunes, prosperity, love, happiness, and luck to the devotees.

Vaibhav Lakshmi Fast begins in the early morning after taking a bath one should perform its morning prayers and make a wish and Sankalp for doing the fast. One can eat fruits and have milk in the daytime evening perform Vaibhav Lakshmi puja.

For the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Vidhi, a plain piece of red cloth is placed on a wooden chauki or plank and over it place a picture or statue of Laxmi Ma or Shree Yantra, Keep a brass or copper Kalash with water, in a small cup keep some gold or silver coin or jewelry or can keep the coin in the puja. Make kheer or some sweets for prasad and read the Vrat Katha. After the puja distributes prasad to everybody at home.

After completion of 16 fasts, one should do Udayapan, which includes inviting 16 women in-house, women should not be pregnant or menstruating. Applying kumkum tilak and distributing kheer, bindi, and Vaibhav Lakshmi books. Red is the color of the day, Ladies should wear Red clothes to please Ma Lakshmi.

Also Read: Each Day of a Week is dedicated to Hindu God