🌕 Purnima Vrat (Satyanarayan Katha) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi of the monthly Purnima — the fast, the Satyanarayan katha (five chapters), the Moon arghya, paran; the customs of the big Purnimas on their own pages.
How to do Purnima Vrat (Satyanarayan Katha) — the steps
- Morning: bathe in the Brahma muhurat (river/Gangajal at home), white/yellow clothes; sankalp — 'the Purnima vrat and Satyanarayan puja, for (wish), paran after seeing the Moon'; the Sun arghya; worship of Vishnu-Lakshmi, Tulsi water.
- Through the day: fruit (fruit-milk-sabudana) or waterless (as strength allows); charity — grain, white things (rice-milk-sugar-clothes), water; 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'/the Vishnu Sahasranama; no sleeping in the day.
- Evening (Pradosh — time above) the Satyanarayan katha: yellow cloth on the wooden seat, banana stems/leaves, kalash (water-mango leaves-coconut), the Satyanarayan (Vishnu) picture/shaligram; Ganesha and Navagraha puja, panchamrit, Tulsi leaves, yellow flowers; panjiri (semolina-ghee-sugar-banana-Tulsi — sava pav/sava kilo), panchmewa, fruit; the 5 chapters of the katha by a priest or oneself; 'Satyanarayan Bhagwan ki jai' at every chapter; the aarti 'Jai Lakshmiramana'; prasad to family and neighbours.
- The arghya at moonrise (time above): water-milk-akshat-flowers to the Moon, 'Om Som Somaya Namah'/'Dadhishankha-tusharabham…', the bhog of kheer in the moonlight (all night on Sharad Purnima); the sight of the Moon.
- Paran: after the Moon arghya and katha the prasad (panjiri-panchamrit), then a sattvic meal — kheer-poori-sabzi; strict vratis take paran the next morning (Pratipada).
- The Purnima bath and charity: a pilgrimage bath in the morning/day (if possible), charity to cows, Brahmins and the poor; water and a lamp for the peepal/Tulsi; remembrance of the ancestors (the Purnima shraddha — Bhadrapada).
- Women's custom: married women ask the Moon for the long life of husband and children, girls for a groom; no katha during menstruation (later or the next Purnima); fruit and the sight of the Moon are auspicious for the pregnant.
- Udyapan: on completing 12 Purnimas — the Satyanarayan katha + havan, feeding 12 Brahmins/couples, the gift of white things; on Kartika or Magha Purnima.
Puja samagri checklist
The Satyanarayan katha items + the Moon arghya — the list for every Purnima.
- A Satyanarayan/Vishnu-Lakshmi picture or shaligram, wooden seat, yellow cloth, banana leaves/stems, kalash, mango leaves, coconut
- Panchamrit (milk-curd-ghee-honey-sugar), Gangajal, Tulsi leaves, yellow sandalwood, roli, akshat, mauli, sacred thread, yellow flowers and garland
- Panjiri: semolina, ghee, sugar, banana, Tulsi, panchmewa (sava pav/sava kilo — the 'sava' rule); fruit, paan-supari, dakshina
- Lamp (ghee), incense, camphor, aarti thali, conch, bell; the Satyanarayan katha book (5 chapters)
- Navagraha/Ganesha puja: supari-akshat (Navagraha), a turmeric root; havan (udyapan)
- The Moon arghya: copper/silver pot, water-milk-akshat-flowers; kheer (in the moonlight)
- Charity: rice-milk-sugar-white clothes-silver (Moon), grain-water
- Fasting fare: fruit, milk, sabudana, makhana, rock salt
Panjiri, panchamrit, banana, kheer — the Satyanarayan prasad and the Moon's kheer
The Satyanarayan prasad by the 'sava' rule — sava pav/sava kilo of semolina panjiri, panchamrit, banana-Tulsi; kheer for the Moon (rice-milk — white, dear to the Moon); fruit on the vrat day; kheer-poori-sabzi at the paran; the 'sinni/shirni' of Satyanarayan (flour-milk-banana-jaggery) in Bengal, the 'sheera' of Satyanarayan (semolina halwa) in Maharashtra.
- Panjiri: sava pav/kilo of semolina roasted in ghee with powdered sugar, banana (chopped), Tulsi leaves, panchmewa — to all with panchamrit after the katha
- Panchamrit (milk-curd-ghee-honey-sugar + Tulsi-Gangajal) — as charanamrit
- Kheer (rice-milk-saffron-dry fruits) — the bhog with the Moon arghya, kept in the moonlight (all night on Sharad Purnima)
- Fruit (banana essential, apple-pomegranate-grapes), mishri, coconut, paan-supari
- Paran: kheer-poori-potato sabzi, dal-rice (rice is not forbidden on Purnima — unlike Ekadashi)
- Regional: Bengal — sinni/shirni (a raw mix of flour-milk-banana-jaggery), payesh; Maharashtra — the semolina sheera of Satyanarayan (sava measure), puran poli; Gujarat — sheero-lapsi; south — the sapada bhakshya (sava measure of wheat-jaggery-banana-ghee) at the Satyanarayan puja, payasam
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- The vrat on the udaya tithi (list above); the katha on the evening when the Purnima is present at moonrise — see the tithi window
- All five chapters of the Satyanarayan katha complete, the prasad (panjiri-panchamrit-banana) to all and taken oneself
- The arghya at moonrise (time above), kheer in the moonlight; the gift of white things (Moon)
- A bath at a tirtha/at home, charity, remembrance of the ancestors; water for the Tulsi and peepal
- A vow of 12 Purnimas → udyapan; the unwell/pregnant take fruit
❌ Don't
- No getting up leaving the katha midway, no refusing/throwing away the prasad (the katha's lesson); no forgetting a vow once made
- No meat, liquor or tamasic food, quarrels or lies on Purnima; no cutting hair and nails (some customs)
- No paran without seeing the Moon (in the vrat form); if cloudy, the arghya in the direction after the time
- No plucking Tulsi on Purnima (some traditions — pluck earlier); there is no rice ban as on Ekadashi, do not be confused
- No bright lights and noise late into the Purnima night — a day of moonlit quiet
Vrat katha
The five chapters of the Satyanarayan katha (Skanda Purana, Reva Khanda) are read on Purnima — Vishnu told Narada this simple vrat for the suffering people of Kali Yuga: (1) the poor Brahmin of Kashi — learnt the vrat fr… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Purnima? The Purnima dates of {Y}?
Above are the date of the next Purnima, the tithi window and moonrise (Delhi) and the next 12 Purnimas with their month names — by the udaya tithi rule; if the Purnima is split across two days, the vrat on the udaya day, the Satyanarayan katha and Moon arghya on the evening when the Purnima is present at moonrise — see from the tithi window.
Why the Satyanarayan katha on Purnima? Can it be on another day?
The katha may be held on any auspicious day (housewarming, wedding, birthday, the fulfilment of a vow) — but Purnima, the Sankranti, Ekadashi and Thursday are best; on Purnima both Vishnu-Lakshmi and the Moon are strong; if one has vowed a monthly katha, on the evening of every Purnima; if there is no priest anyone in the family may read it.
Why is the panjiri in the 'sava' measure?
In the Satyanarayan katha the prasad is 'savaya' (sava pav/sava kilo/sava paanch) — a little more than the whole — a symbol of gratitude and increase; in the katha the merchant Sadhu suffered for forgetting his vow, hence the vowed prasad is savaya; the measure of the panjiri (semolina-ghee-sugar-banana-Tulsi), the panchamrit too is sava.
What to eat in the Purnima vrat? Is rice allowed?
Yes — there is no rice ban on Purnima as on Ekadashi; fruit in the vrat (fruit-milk-sabudana-makhana), kheer-poori-sabzi-rice after seeing the Moon; waterless only for the healthy and vowed; the prasad (panjiri-panchamrit) first.
What to do on Purnima for Chandra dosha?
A weak/afflicted Moon in the chart (restlessness, sleep, the mother's comfort) — the Purnima vrat, the Moon arghya, 'Om Som Somaya Namah' 108 times, the gift of white things (milk-rice-sugar-silver-pearl), the Shiva abhishek (the Moon rests on Shiva's head), service to the mother; a pearl on a priest's advice; a vow of 12 Purnimas.
Which Purnimas are the big ones?
Kartika (Dev Deepawali, the Ganga bath), Magha (the Maghi bath), Vaishakha (Buddha Purnima), Ashadha (Guru Purnima), Shravana (Raksha Bandhan), Ashwin (Sharad/Kojagari), Phalguna (Holika Dahan), Margashirsha (Dattatreya), Pausha (Shakambhari), Jyeshtha (Vat Savitri/Snana), Chaitra (Hanuman Jayanti), Bhadrapada (the start of Pitru Paksha) — all have their own pages under 'related' or on the hub.
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