💛 Thursday (Brihaspativar) Vrat 2026

Next Thursday — the day of Brihaspati (Jupiter) and Lord Vishnu: the 16-Thursday vrat, yellow clothes and yellow food, worship of the banana plant, gram dal and jaggery; for marriage, children, learning, Jupiter afflictions and wealth. The banana puja and the no-hair-wash custom explained below.

Thursday belongs to **Brihaspati** (Jupiter), the guru of the gods, and to Lord Vishnu. Women keep this vrat for a delayed marriage, a good match, the blessing of children, the husband's progress and the grace of the Guru (learning, wisdom, wealth) in the home — sixteen Thursdays (some homes 7 or 21), yellow clothes, yellow flowers, an offering of gram dal and jaggery, water and turmeric at the root of a banana plant, and the Brihaspati katha. Folk custom also forbids washing or cutting hair on this day, prescribes yellow food only, and one meal (often without salt).

When Jupiter is weak in the birth chart (obstacles in marriage, delayed children, interrupted studies), astrology recommends the Thursday vrat, yellow donations, the mantra 'Om Brim Brihaspataye Namah' and the banana puja. Above are the upcoming Thursdays with month and paksha; below the full vidhi, samagri, katha, offering, customs and FAQs.

Significance — why this vrat

Brihaspati: the guru of the gods, significator of knowledge, dharma, justice, children, marriage and wealth; yellow, gold, gram, turmeric and saffron are dear to him. A strong Jupiter makes education, marriage, children and honour easy; a weak or afflicted one obstructs them — the Thursday vrat, yellow things, the Guru mantra, banana worship and service to Brahmins and teachers are the remedies.

Vishnu's day: Thursday is the day of Lord Vishnu (Narayana) — yellow clothes, pitambar, a saffron-turmeric tilak, 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'; in South India and Maharashtra Thursday is also the day of Sai Baba and Dattatreya.

The banana: Jupiter's tree, dear to Vishnu — water, turmeric and gram dal are offered at the banana plant and it is circumambulated; if there is none at home, a temple's or a neighbour's; growing one in a pot has become common.

The maidens' vrat: for a delayed marriage the sixteen-Thursday vrat is the most common remedy in North India — puja in yellow, the Brihaspati katha, gram-dal-jaggery prasad, no hair-wash — the belief being that Jupiter's grace brings a worthy groom.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

The household vidhi of the Thursday vrat — begin on the first Thursday of a Shukla Paksha, keep 16 (or 7/21) Thursdays, udyapan at the end; puja in the morning, then at the banana plant.

1. Morning: bathe (do not wash the hair on the vrat day), wear yellow; a yellow cloth at the puja place, the picture of Brihaspati Dev or Vishnu decorated with yellow flowers and turmeric; water in a kalash.
2. Sankalp: 'I (name) will keep the vrat of Brihaspati Dev for sixteen Thursdays for (wish: marriage/children/learning/wealth); one yellow meal, and I will not wash my hair' — release the water.
3. Worship: turmeric-saffron tilak, yellow flowers (marigold, champa, yellow rose), yellow sandal, turmeric-tinted akshat, a yellow cloth; the offering — soaked or boiled gram dal, jaggery, banana, besan laddoo or yellow sweets; ghee lamp, incense; 'Om Brim Brihaspataye Namah' 108 times or 'Om Gram Grim Graum Sah Gurave Namah'; Vishnu Sahasranama or 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' if possible.
4. Banana plant puja: at the root, water from the kalash, turmeric, gram dal, jaggery, a yellow flower, raw thread (mauli) wound round the stem, a ghee lamp; 3 or 7 circumambulations and a prayer to Brihaspati Dev; if there is no banana plant at home, a temple's, or a potted one — or worship only the banana fruit.
5. Katha: read or hear the Thursday vrat katha (below — the king and queen, and the merchant's son); after the katha the aarti 'Om Jai Brihaspati Deva…' and the Vishnu aarti; distribute prasad (gram dal, jaggery, banana).
6. Vrat meal: one meal — yellow food: gram dal, besan roti or puri, yellow rice (turmeric/saffron), besan laddoo, banana, mango, papaya; many homes without salt, many with rock salt; fruit is also fine (banana chiefly).
7. Donation: yellow things — gram dal, turmeric, jaggery, banana, yellow cloth, brass, books and pens (to students), saffron; food and dakshina to a Brahmin, guru or teacher.
8. Udyapan (16th Thursday): the same puja; 16 bananas, 16 laddoos, a yellow cloth, gram dal and jaggery to a Brahmin or the needy; a yellow meal (gram dal, besan puri, yellow rice, banana, laddoo) for 3/5/7 girls or Brahmins; katha and aarti; a yellow cloth and thread on the banana plant.

Puja samagri checklist

Yellow everywhere — gram dal, jaggery, banana, turmeric, yellow flowers and cloth; the banana-plant puja has its own list.

• Picture of Brihaspati Dev or Lord Vishnu, yellow cloth, chauki, kalash (water), yellow clothes for the one keeping the vrat
• Gram dal (soaked/boiled), jaggery, bananas (5/11), besan laddoo or yellow sweets (saffron peda), mango or papaya in season
• Turmeric, saffron, yellow sandal, turmeric-tinted akshat, raw thread/mauli, yellow flowers (marigold, champa, yellow rose), garland
• Ghee lamp, incense, camphor, aarti plate, bell; the Brihaspati katha and aarti book
• Banana-plant puja: kalash water, turmeric, gram dal, jaggery, yellow flower, mauli, lamp; a potted banana (or a temple's)
• Donation: gram dal, turmeric, jaggery, banana, yellow cloth, a brass vessel, saffron, books and pens; yellow sapphire (only after a chart check)
• Udyapan: 16 bananas, 16 laddoos, yellow cloth, gram dal and jaggery; a yellow meal for 3/5/7 Brahmins or girls, dakshina

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Vrat katha (the story)

The Thursday vrat katha: a king was generous and righteous — he kept the vrat every Thursday and gave charity; but the queen hated charity — 'the king will squander everything'. One Thursday, when the king was away hunting, Brihaspati Dev came as a sadhu asking alms; the queen said — 'I loathe charity; tell me a way to be rid of this wealth.' The sadhu explained that children, wealth and happiness all come from charity, but the queen would not listen. Then he said — 'On Thursdays plaster the house, wash your hair, wear no yellow, eat no gram dal — do this for seven Thursdays and the wealth will be gone.'

The queen did exactly that — by the third Thursday the royal fortune had left; the king and queen became destitute and hungry; the king went abroad and cut wood for a living. On the maid's advice the queen asked a neighbour for gram dal and heard the Brihaspati katha, but erred again in the method. At last Brihaspati Dev came once more as a sadhu; the queen begged forgiveness and began the Thursday vrat properly — yellow clothes, gram dal and jaggery, banana worship, katha, charity. Abroad, the king too was inspired in a dream to keep the vrat — and one day while selling wood he found a full treasure, returned to his kingdom, the queen took up the vow of charity and Brihaspati's grace settled in the house for good. The lesson — the Thursday vrat, yellow charity and the rule of not washing hair or plastering the house come from this katha; wealth stays only with charity.

A second katha (the merchant's son): a merchant's son fell into trouble after abandoning the Thursday vrat; his wife kept sixteen Thursdays and worshipped the banana — he was released from prison and his trade returned. This too is told in homes.

Gram dal and jaggery, banana, besan laddoo; one yellow meal

Jupiter loves yellow — the offering is soaked or boiled gram dal, jaggery, banana, besan laddoo or saffron peda. The vrat meal is one yellow meal: gram dal, besan puri or roti, turmeric-saffron rice, banana, mango, papaya; many homes without salt (sweet with jaggery), many with rock salt; no garlic, onion or meat.

• Offering: soaked gram dal + jaggery (or boiled dal with jaggery and ghee), banana, besan laddoo, saffron peda or boondi, yellow barfi, dry fruits; gram dal and jaggery for the banana plant
• Vrat plate: gram dal (no onion-garlic, with turmeric), besan puri or missi roti, yellow rice (turmeric/saffron), potato-turmeric curry in some homes, kadhi (without curd — some homes avoid), saffron kheer
• Fruit meal: banana, mango, papaya, chikoo, saffron milk, besan laddoo; without salt or with rock salt — as the family does
• Udyapan meal (3/5/7 Brahmins or girls): gram dal, besan puri, yellow rice, banana, laddoo, saffron kheer
• Avoided: washing or cutting hair, plastering or mopping the house (the katha rule), eating khichdi or banana (only as offering — in some homes), meat, alcohol, garlic, onion

Regional customs

A household vrat of North and Central India — banana worship, yellow food and no hair-wash almost everywhere; in the South and Maharashtra Thursday belongs to Sai and Datta.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Monday vrat · Friday vrat (Santoshi Mata) · Saturday vrat · Ekadashi vrat (Vishnu) · Guru Purnima

⚠️ This description follows traditional practice and folk belief (the Brihaspati katha); the custom of your own family and region comes first. Guru dosha and gems are astrological beliefs — do not wear a gem without a chart check and a pandit's advice; do not fast when unwell.

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