💛 Thursday (Brihaspativar) Vrat 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.
How to do Thursday (Brihaspativar) Vrat — the steps
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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).
- 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.
- 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
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
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Sixteen (or 7/21) Thursdays from the first Thursday of a Shukla Paksha; yellow clothes, yellow food, banana worship, katha and aarti
- 'Om Brim Brihaspataye Namah' 108 times; donate gram dal, turmeric, jaggery, banana, yellow cloth, books and pens; serve gurus, teachers and elders
- Udyapan on the 16th Thursday: 16 bananas and laddoos, a yellow meal for Brahmins or girls; yellow cloth and thread on the banana plant
- For marriage: the katha + banana puja + yellow donation — and have Jupiter's position checked in the chart
- Ill or pregnant: puja, katha and charity instead of the fast; the hair-wash rule does not override health
❌ Don't
- Washing or cutting hair, clipping nails, plastering or sweeping the house on Thursday (katha rule — folk belief), washing clothes in some homes
- Eating banana on the vrat day (some homes — only as offering; opinions differ), khichdi, meat, alcohol, garlic, onion
- Yellow sapphire or any Jupiter gem without a chart check; insulting a guru, elder or teacher (a Jupiter affliction)
- Udyapan before sixteen Thursdays are complete; troubling a girl or a sick person in the name of the vrat
- Cutting the banana plant or pouring dirty water at its root; throwing away the offered banana — give it to a cow
Vrat katha
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 hunti… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Thursday vrat and which Thursdays fall in {Y}?
The list above gives the next twelve Thursdays with month and paksha; begin on the first Thursday of a Shukla Paksha (folk rule: do not begin in the month of Pausha; nor in an Adhika month or Pitru Paksha; a running vrat continues).
Why is hair not washed on Thursday?
In the Brihaspati katha the queen was told to do exactly this to destroy her wealth — wash hair, plaster the house and give up yellow on Thursdays; hence folk belief forbids washing or cutting hair and plastering the house on Thursday (especially the vrat day). It is folk custom, not a rule of the astrological texts — follow your family's practice.
What to eat in the vrat — is salt allowed?
One yellow meal — gram dal, besan puri, yellow rice, banana, mango; many homes without salt (sweet with jaggery), many with rock salt — family custom; fruit is fine too. The banana is for the offering — some homes do not eat it themselves on the vrat day.
How to do the puja without a banana plant?
At a temple's or neighbour's banana plant, or grow one in a pot (considered auspicious); otherwise worship the banana fruit and the Brihaspati picture — offer water, turmeric and gram dal.
Delayed marriage — how to keep this vrat?
A maiden keeps sixteen Thursdays in yellow with Brihaspati puja, banana puja, gram-dal-jaggery offering, katha and yellow donation; also have Jupiter and the seventh house checked in the chart (Manglik or Guru affliction) — do not rely on the vrat alone.
How many Thursdays, and when is the udyapan?
Sixteen usually (some 7 or 21); udyapan on the 16th Thursday — 16 bananas and laddoos, yellow cloth, gram dal and jaggery donation, a yellow meal for 3/5/7 Brahmins or girls, katha and aarti.
Can men keep it? What is a Guru dosha?
Yes — men keep it for learning, career, wealth and children; Guru dosha = Jupiter debilitated, combust, in the 6th/8th/12th or afflicted in the chart — believed to obstruct marriage, education and children; remedies are the Thursday vrat, yellow donation, the Guru mantra and service to teachers; gems only on a pandit's advice.
🏠 Thursday (Brihaspativar) Vrat 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals