🔱 Pradosh Vrat 2026

When is the next Pradosh — worship of Shiva and Parvati in the Pradosh Kaal after sunset on the Trayodashi of every paksha; different fruits for Soma, Bhauma and Shani Pradosh; a day-long fast, the meal after the evening aarti; the upcoming dates and Pradosh times above.

The Pradosh vrat comes twice in every lunar month — on the Trayodashi of the Krishna and the Shukla Paksha; the time of worship is the 'Pradosh Kaal' — from sunset for about 2 hours 24 minutes (6 ghatis), when the Trayodashi tithi is present in that period. According to the Skanda Purana, Shiva performs his dance of joy on Kailash in this period and all the gods praise him — hence it is the most fruitful muhurat for Shiva worship.

The weekday on which Pradosh falls gives it a separate name and fruit — Soma Pradosh on Monday (wishes, pacifying the Moon), Bhauma Pradosh on Tuesday (freedom from illness and debt), Shani Pradosh on Saturday (children, pacifying Saturn), Ravi Pradosh on Sunday (long life and health); women keep it for marital fortune, children and health, men for freedom from debt and disease. Above are the date of the next Pradosh, the Pradosh Kaal time (Delhi) and the next 12 dates; below the vidhi, samagri, katha, food and regional customs.

Significance — why this vrat

The importance of the Pradosh Kaal: Shiva recovered in the Pradosh of Trayodashi after drinking the poison of the churning of the ocean/the gods praised Shiva in this period (Skanda Purana); the day on which the Trayodashi is present in Pradosh is the vrat day — if Trayodashi begins in the evening, that day; if it runs from morning but ends before sunset, the previous day; the dates above follow the Pradosh rule.

By weekday: Ravi Pradosh — long life and health; Soma — fulfilment of wishes, peace of mind; Bhauma — freedom from debt and disease, Mangal dosha; Budha — learning and intellect; Guru — destruction of enemies, the ancestors' grace; Shukra — good fortune and wealth; Shani Pradosh — the blessing of children, pacifying Saturn's sade sati (the most famous — the Saturday Pradosh).

The fruit of the vrat: equal to the gift of two cows (folk belief), destruction of sin through Shiva's grace, freedom from debt, disease and poverty, children and good fortune; udyapan after 11 or 26 consecutive Pradoshs; Maha Shivratri (Phalguna Krishna Trayodashi-Chaturdashi) is itself the great form of Pradosh; the Pradoshs of Sawan are special.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

This is the household Pradosh vidhi — the day's fast, the Shiva-Parvati puja in the Pradosh Kaal, the katha, the meal after the aarti.

1. Bathe in the morning, remember Shiva, sankalp — '(weekday) Pradosh vrat, for (wish), the meal after the puja in the Pradosh Kaal'; fruit/no food all day (as strength allows), water may be taken (the strict form is waterless); no sleeping in the day.
2. Evening, before sunset: bathe again (if possible), white/light clothes; the puja place/Shiva temple — a Shivalinga or a Shiva-Parvati picture, a rangoli of five colours (some customs), a kusha seat, facing north-east.
3. The puja in the Pradosh Kaal (time above): water, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar (panchamrit) on the Shivalinga, then Gangajal; bel leaves (3 leaflets, face down), datura, aak, shami, bhang, white flowers, sandalwood and bhasma, akshat, the sacred thread; suhag items and red flowers for Parvati; 'Om Namah Shivaya' 108 times, the Shiva Chalisa/Rudrashtakam, the Mahamrityunjaya (for freedom from illness).
4. Hear the Pradosh katha (below — the katha by weekday too); lamp and incense, naivedya (kheer, fruit, halwa, sweets), the Shiva aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara', the camphor aarti; green fodder/jaggery for Nandi.
5. After the puja: prasad, then breaking the fast — a sattvic meal (without salt/once — some customs), many homes only fruit at night; normal the next morning.
6. By weekday: on Soma Pradosh the Moon arghya/the gift of white things; on Bhauma Pradosh the gift of masoor and jaggery, Hanuman darshan; on Shani Pradosh the gift of black sesame, oil and urad, the Shani mantra, a lamp at the peepal; on Shukra Pradosh the gift of suhag items.
7. Women: the worship of Parvati is special — offer suhag items (bangles-bindi-sindoor) and later wear/donate them; 11 Shani Pradoshs for the blessing of children; only remembrance during menstruation.
8. Udyapan: on completing 11/26 Pradoshs — Shiva puja, havan (Mahamrityunjaya/Om Namah Shivaya), feeding a Brahmin/couple, charity; then the vrat as one wishes.

Puja samagri checklist

The Shiva abhishek + Parvati's suhag + the Pradosh katha — the list for every Pradosh.

• A Shivalinga (parad/Narmadeshwar/clay) or a Shiva-Parvati picture, wooden seat, white cloth, kusha seat
• Abhishek: water, Gangajal, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar, sugarcane juice (if possible), coconut water
• Bel leaves (3 leaflets), datura, aak (madar) flowers, shami leaves, bhang, durva, white flowers (jasmine-kaner), red flowers (Parvati)
• Sandalwood, bhasma, akshat, sacred thread, mauli, roli-turmeric-kumkum, perfume, paan-supari-clove-cardamom
• Suhag items for Parvati: bangles, bindi, sindoor, mehndi, chunari
• Lamp (ghee/sesame oil), incense, camphor, aarti thali, bell and conch
• Naivedya: kheer, halwa, fruit (banana-apple), sweets, panchmewa; jaggery and fodder for Nandi
• The Pradosh katha/Shiva Chalisa book, rudraksha mala; charity items by weekday (sesame-oil-urad/masoor-jaggery/white things)

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Vrat katha (the story)

The halahala poison emerged in the churning of the ocean; Shiva held it in his throat — Neelkanth; the burning of the poison subsided in the Pradosh Kaal of Trayodashi, the gods praised Shiva on Kailash and Shiva performed his dance of joy — since then the Pradosh Kaal of Trayodashi is the best time for Shiva worship; Shiva is especially pleased with one who worships him in this period (Skanda Purana).

The Brahmin widow and the prince (the Pradosh katha): a Brahmin widow lived by begging with her son and kept the Pradosh vrat; she found an orphaned prince (of Vidarbha — whose kingdom an enemy had seized) and raised him as a son too. The Gandharva maiden Anshumati saw the prince, her father married them at Shiva's command; with the Gandharva army the prince won back his kingdom and made the widow's son his minister — the fruit of the widow's Pradosh vrat. The Soma/Bhauma/Shani Pradoshs likewise have their own kathas — read by weekday.

The Shani Pradosh katha: a childless merchant couple met a sadhu on pilgrimage, who told them of the Shani Pradosh vrat; the couple kept the vrat by the rules and by Shiva's grace a beautiful son was born — Shani Pradosh is famous for the blessing of children. The Moon too was freed from his wasting disease by the Soma Pradosh vrat (the tale of Daksha's curse) — hence Soma Pradosh pacifies the Moon's afflictions.

Kheer, halwa, fruit — Shiva's sattvic naivedya; fruit on the vrat day

On Pradosh, fruit/no food all day, the meal after the Pradosh puja — many homes without salt or once; kheer-halwa-fruit-sweets-panchmewa and bhang-milk (some customs) for Shiva, jaggery for Nandi; charity by weekday — white things on Monday, masoor and jaggery on Tuesday, sesame, urad and oil on Saturday.

• Naivedya: rice/sabudana/makhana kheer, semolina halwa, fruit (banana-apple-guava), peda-barfi, panchmewa, thandai/bhang-milk (some customs — Sawan)
• Fasting fare: fruit, milk, curd, makhana, sabudana khichdi, kuttu, rock salt (or no salt)
• The meal after the puja: sattvic — dal-rice-roti-sabzi (no onion-garlic), many homes one meal or only fruit at night
• Soma Pradosh: white things (milk-rice-mishri) as bhog and charity; Bhauma Pradosh: jaggery-gram, the gift of masoor; Shani Pradosh: sesame laddoo, the gift of urad khichdi; Ravi Pradosh: the gift of jaggery and wheat
• South (Pradosham): the Nandi abhishek, payasam-vada, ney appam; Maharashtra: the shivamuth (Sawan Mondays), sabudana as the fasting meal on Pradosh; Bengal: milk and batasha for Shiva

Regional customs

The Pradosham Nandi abhishek of Tamil Nadu, the Shani Pradosh of the north, the Sawan Pradosh of Maharashtra — the customs of Shiva's favourite hour.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Maha Shivratri · Somvar / Sawan Somvar vrat · Masik Shivratri · Ekadashi vrat

⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; the custom of your family and region comes first. The Pradosh Kaal is from Delhi's sunset — take your city's time from a panchang; do not keep a waterless fast in ill health.

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