💍 Vivah Panchami (Ram-Sita wedding) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi — the vrat sankalp in the morning, Manas reading in the day, the Ram-Sita wedding tableau in the evening.
How to do Vivah Panchami (Ram-Sita wedding) — the steps
- Bathe in the morning and take the sankalp — 'I keep the Vivah Panchami vrat for a happy marriage / a good husband.' Fruit or one meal during the day.
- A yellow/red cloth on a wooden seat at the puja place; install the idol/picture of Ram-Sita (or Ram Darbar); begin with Ganesha puja.
- Yellow clothes and a crown for Rama, a red chunari, bangles and sindoor for Sita — dress both like bride and groom; tilak, garlands.
- Read or listen to the Dhanush-Yajna and wedding episode of the Bal Kand (Ramcharitmanas); chant 'Sita-Ram' 108 times.
- In the evening, in the auspicious muhurat (Abhijit/Godhuli — above), the wedding-leela: wedding songs, garland both, the gathbandhan (tie the end of Rama's yellow cloth to Sita's chunari), lamp aarti 'Shri Ramchandra kripalu bhajman'.
- Bhog — kheer, panchamrit, fruit, yellow laddoos; distribute prasad. Homes where a daughter's wedding is fixed keep the gathbandhan knot as a blessing.
- Break the fast after the evening puja; Sundarkand/Ramayana bhajans at night.
Puja samagri checklist
If a Ram Darbar idol/picture is already at home, the rest of the samagri is small.
- Idol or picture of Ram-Sita (Ram Darbar), wooden seat, yellow-red cloth
- Yellow clothes/crown for Rama, red chunari, bangles, sindoor and small shringar for Sita
- 2 garlands, yellow thread/mauli for the gathbandhan
- Roli, akshat, turmeric, sandalwood, flowers (marigold-rose), Tulsi leaves
- Lamp, ghee, incense, camphor, aarti thali
- Kheer, panchamrit, fruit, besan/boondi laddoos, paan-supari
- Ramcharitmanas (Bal Kand), Sundarkand book
- Charity: yellow cloth/grain to a Brahmin or a girl
Vivah Panchami bhog
Rama loves yellow and sattvik — kheer, panchamrit, besan-boondi laddoos, saffron rice. In Mithila a 'bhoj' on this day — dahi-chura, kheer, tilkut prasad.
- Bhog: kheer, panchamrit, saffron rice, boondi/besan laddoos, fruit, paan
- Fast: fruit and milk in the day; poori-sabzi-kheer after the evening puja
- Mithila: dahi-chura-jaggery, tilkut, kheer — like a 'son-in-law feast'
- Ayodhya-Janakpur: a bhandara of poori-pumpkin-kheer on the day of the Ram Baraat
- If a wedding is fixed, the two families send each other yellow sweets (folk custom)
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Dress Ram-Sita as bride and groom; the gathbandhan without fail
- Read the wedding episode of the Bal Kand — special for those facing obstacles to marriage
- The wedding-leela in an auspicious muhurat (Abhijit/Godhuli)
- Unmarried girls keeping the fast should offer bangles and sindoor to Sita
- Donate something yellow
❌ Don't
- Holding an actual wedding on this day is avoided in many traditions (memory of Ram-Sita's separation) — check the muhurat page
- No black clothes in the puja
- Do not leave the Manas reading incomplete — finish the episode
- No tamasic food during the fast
- Do not throw away the gathbandhan knot — keep it at the temple/Tulsi
Vrat katha
King Janaka of Mithila found a girl in the earth while ploughing and raised her as his daughter — she became Sita (Janaki). Janaka vowed that Sita would marry whoever could lift Shiva's Pinaka bow and string it. Kings ca… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Vivah Panchami in {Y}?
The date at the top is this year's Margashirsha Shukla Panchami — from panchang calculations; the Abhijit and Godhuli muhurats (Delhi) are shown too.
Is it auspicious to marry on Vivah Panchami?
It is the wedding day of Rama and Sita, yet folk tradition avoids weddings on this day — because Rama and Sita had to bear separation; this belief is strong in Mithila and Awadh. See the muhurat page for auspicious dates.
Who should keep this vrat?
Married women wishing for a happy marriage, and unmarried girls wishing for a good husband; for obstacles to marriage, reading the wedding episode of the Bal Kand on this day is considered special.
What is Manas Jayanti?
By one view Tulsidas ji completed the Ramcharitmanas on this Vivah Panchami, hence Manas reading and remembrance of Tulsidas on this day.
What happens in Mithila and Ayodhya on Vivah Panchami?
At Janakpur (Nepal) the wedding procession of Rama and Janaki arrives from Ayodhya — the mandap, sindoor daan, kohbar, Maithili wedding songs, thousands of devotees; in Ayodhya the wedding tableau at Kanak Bhavan and the Ram temple, the wedding episode of the Ramlila; in the homes of Mithila Sita is regarded as a daughter and the songs of 'a daughter's farewell' are sung.
What remedy to do on this day if marriage is delayed?
Worship Rama and Sita in the morning and chant 'Om Janakivallabhaya Namah' 108 times, read the wedding episode of the Bal Kand of the Ramcharitmanas (from the bow sacrifice to the farewell), donate yellow clothes, fruit and suhag items to a married woman/girl, water a banana tree; it is believed that prayer on the wedding day of Sita and Rama removes obstacles to marriage — if the chart has Manglik/Venus-Jupiter dosha, a separate remedy from a priest.
🏠 Vivah Panchami (Ram-Sita wedding) 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals