🧵 Anant Chaturdashi Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi — the worship and tying of the Anant thread, the katha, 14 dishes; alongside the Ganapati visarjan where it is the custom.
How to do Anant Chaturdashi — the steps
- Bathe in the morning, yellow/white clothes; sankalp — 'the Anant vrat (which year) for the family's protection/the return of lost prosperity'; at the puja place a kalash with a Sheshnag (7 hoods) made of kusha grass on it or a Vishnu picture, the Anant thread (14 knots, turmeric-dyed) in front.
- The Anant thread: 14 strands of raw cotton/silk (or mauli), dyed in turmeric water with 14 knots — 'Om Anantaya Namah' at each knot; a separate one for each family member; placed before Vishnu in the puja.
- Puja: panchamrit, sandalwood-akshat, Tulsi, yellow flowers, incense-lamp to the kalash-Sheshnag/Vishnu; turmeric-kumkum-akshat-flowers to the Anant thread; naivedya — kheer-poori/14 kinds of dishes (if possible), banana, paan; the mantra — 'Ananta-samsara-mahasamudre magnam samabhyuddhara Vasudeva, Ananta-rupe viniyojayasva hy Ananta-sutraya namo namaste'; the Vishnu Sahasranama/the Anant katha (below).
- Tying the thread: after the katha, on the right hand for men, the left for women — the husband ties for the wife, the mother for the children; the previous year's thread removed into water/at a peepal; wear the thread all year or at least 14 days (household custom).
- 14 items: many homes offer 14 fruits, 14 pooris/dishes, 14 paan-supari to Ananta — then to a Brahmin/sister/aunt; feeding 14 Brahmins at the udyapan in the 14th year.
- The vrat meal: one meal, without salt (strict form) or fruit; kheer-poori after the evening aarti; a night vigil (if possible).
- Ganapati visarjan (where installed): the Anant puja in the morning, then the uttar puja of Ganapati (aarti, modak, coconut, dakshina, 'punaragamanaya cha'), a bundle of curd-rice for the journey, the procession, immersion in water (an artificial tank/a bucket at home — for the environment), the clay to a tree.
- Pitru Paksha from the next day: gather up all auspicious items today, shraddha-tarpan from tomorrow; keeping the Anant thread on is fine.
Puja samagri checklist
The Anant thread, the kusha Sheshnag, kalash, panchamrit, 14 dishes — the Anant Chaturdashi list.
- The Anant thread: raw cotton/silk cord (14 strands), turmeric (for dyeing) — or a ready Anant dora (in the market)
- Kalash, kusha grass (to make the Sheshnag) or a Vishnu/Ananta-Sheshashayi picture, mango leaves, coconut, yellow cloth
- Panchamrit (milk-curd-ghee-honey-sugar), Gangajal, Tulsi leaves, sandalwood, akshat, kumkum, turmeric, mauli
- Yellow flowers (marigold-lotus), garland, incense, lamp, ghee, camphor, aarti thali, 14 paan-supari
- Naivedya: kheer, poori, 14 kinds of dishes/fruits (if possible), banana, sweets, panjiri
- The Anant katha/Vishnu Sahasranama book, dakshina, bayana for a Brahmin/sister/aunt
- Ganapati visarjan (where the custom): modak, coconut, curd-rice, gulal, dhol, artificial tank/bucket
- Udyapan (14th year): supplies to feed 14 Brahmins, the gift of 14 items (clothes-grain-utensils)
Kheer-poori, 14 dishes, modak — the Anant thali
The bhog of Anant Chaturdashi is kheer-poori (poori without salt — many homes), 14 kinds of dishes/fruits (for the 14 worlds); modak-laddoo and curd-rice in homes with the Ganapati visarjan; the sweet poori-kheer of 'Anant Puja' in Bihar-Nepal; one meal without salt (strict) or fruit in the vrat.
- Kheer (rice-milk-saffron) + poori (without salt — some homes) — the main bhog of Ananta; malpua, halwa
- 14 dishes/fruits: banana-apple-pomegranate-coconut-cucumber-guava…, laddoo-peda-barfi, panjiri — counted to 14 if possible
- Bihar-Mithila-Nepal: the kheer of Anant Puja, poori, thekua (some homes), 14 paan-supari
- Maharashtra-Gujarat (visarjan): modak-laddoo (uttar puja), curd-rice/curd-poha (Bappa's bundle for the road), puran poli, shrikhand
- Jain (Kshamavani): plain sattvic food, the parana of the Paryushan fast (after Chaturdashi/Samvatsari), sharing sweets
- The vrat meal: one meal without salt (strict) or fruit; the pregnant/unwell a normal sattvic meal
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- The turmeric-dyed Anant thread of 14 knots — after the puja and katha, men on the right hand, women on the left
- Keep the vrat 14 years; the old thread into water/at a peepal; the udyapan in the 14th year
- Hear the Kaundinya-Yudhishthira katha; 14 fruits and dishes for Ananta, then for the sister/aunt/Brahmin
- Ganapati visarjan in an artificial tank/at home — a clay idol, the clay to a tree
- Pitru Paksha from tomorrow — wind up auspicious work today; keeping the thread on is fine
❌ Don't
- No throwing away, breaking or placing the Anant thread in an impure place — the lesson of the Kaundinya tale; if removed, into water
- No abandoning the vrat midway (if broken, restart after atonement); no thread on the wrong hand
- No POP idol at the visarjan, no polluting rivers and lakes, no intoxicants or noise; no unsafe processions
- No tamasic food, salt (strict form) or sleeping in the day on the vrat day; no quarrels
- No new auspicious work the next day (the start of Pitru Paksha)
Vrat katha
Sheela, daughter of sage Sumantu, was married to sage Kaundinya; on the way after the send-off women were performing the Anant puja by a river — Sheela too tied the thread of 14 knots and kept the vrat, and Kaundinya's h… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Anant Chaturdashi in {Y} and the Ganapati visarjan?
This year's Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturdashi date and puja muhurat (Delhi) are above — the Anant puja in the morning/Abhijit, the Ganapati visarjan the same day in the afternoon-evening (all night in Mumbai); if the Chaturdashi is split across two days, the Anant puja on the day the Chaturdashi is present in the morning/forenoon.
On which hand is the Anant thread, and for how many days?
Men on the right hand (upper arm/wrist), women on the left; 14 knots; at least 14 days, in the scriptures worn until the next year, and the old one into water/at a peepal when tying the new; if it breaks, put it in water and tie a new (consecrated) one.
Why 14 years? What if it is missed in between?
The 14 worlds (hence the 14 knots) — Krishna prescribed a 14-year vrat to Yudhishthira; Kaundinya too kept it 14 years; if missed, atone the next year (charity/feeding Brahmins) and count again; the udyapan in the 14th year — 14 Brahmins, the gift of 14 items.
Why do women keep this vrat?
In the tale Sheela (Kaundinya's wife) kept it — the home filled with prosperity; the protection of husband and children, freedom from debt, disease and hardship, the return of lost wealth and position; both women and men in Bihar-Karnataka-Maharashtra; a new bride's first Anant at the in-laws'.
What is the link between Anant Chaturdashi and the Ganesh visarjan?
Ganeshotsav runs ten days from Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi — the tenth day is this Chaturdashi; Lokmanya Tilak (1893) set the close of the public Ganeshotsav on Anant Chaturdashi; hence it is the visarjan day in Maharashtra-Gujarat-Telangana; the Anant puja (Vishnu) and the visarjan (Ganesha) are separate rites on one day.
What is the Jain Kshamavani?
The Digambar Jain Dashalakshan festival from Bhadrapada Shukla Panchami to Chaturdashi (10 days) — on the last day, 'Anant Chaturdashi', a fast and rath yatra, Kshamavani the next day ('Michchhami Dukkadam' — asking forgiveness of all); the Shwetambar Paryushan-Samvatsari a few days earlier; the spirit — seeking forgiveness for the year's wrongs.
🏠 Anant Chaturdashi 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals