Vara Mahalakshmi Vrata

Vara Mahalakshmi Vrata

Vara Mahalakshmi Vratha occurs in the month of Shravan on the Friday before Purnima. Have all the following ready a day before or the day of the puja...

• One tambya for kalash
• One Lakshmi face suitable or tambya.
  
• One small crawling Krishna idol,
• One each of gold, silver and money coin,
• A pearl and a coral,ring or whatever
  
• Rice or wheat are to be put in the kalash.
• Five dry fruits, badam, dry grapes, dry dates and palm sugar are also to be put in the kalash.
  
• One coconut that fits on to the tambya.
  
• Five mango leaves to hold the coconut.
  
• For navidhya, flowers, fruits, raw milk, curds, powder jaggery or sugar, honey, ghee, food cooked in madi.
  
• Festival food with sweet and kheer should be cooked.
  
• Other Items required: Tulasi plant in a vrindavan or pot.
• One small cup filled with rice and a piece of jaggery on it.
  
• Haldi, kumkum, gandha, manthrakshata, agarbathi.
  
• The flowers required are jasmine, rose, shamanthi, sampige, kevra, dhavana and moragu. Some flowers should be in the form of garlands and some should be free (udhari) for puja.
  
• Several pieces of seven or eight inch thread with nine knots on each.

Clean the place where the kalash is to be kept. Draw the aishwarya rangoli. On a plank place the mandasana, decorate with mango toran and small plantain tree on either side.

Draw a padma, a swastika and Shree on the tambya using a mixture of haldi and lime.

Draw the bhagya rangoli on the plank on which the mandasana is to be placed. In the tambya put all the items mentioned above for the kalasha.

On the morning of the puja after the front yard has been cleaned and the rangoli drawn, place the tulsi plant on a plank in front of the main door. On the threshold put a small silver cup with rice and a piece of jaggery on it.

Place the decorated kalash in front of the tulasi vrindavana. Perform tulsi puja as usual and also to the kalash. Perform mangalarthi.

The lady who is to perform the puja is to take the kalash in her hands with the kalash facing towards the house. She should then tumble the cup of rice placed on the threshold with her right foot, go inside and then place the kalash in the mandasana. Sing Bhagyadha Lakshmi baramma while taking the kalash inside. Next the Kalashpan/supari and a friut is kept on the right, as also a set of haldhi/ kumkum kadole/karumani and bangles is also kept.

Another small kalash is also to be prepared with water, haldi, kumkum, akshata inside with a small fruit (mosambi, pomagranate) kept between two betel leaves. This is known as Yamuna kalash.

Pray to Lord Ganesha, offer a fruit or jaggery as navidhya. Worship Yamuna kalash (small) with haldi, kumkum flowers and gejavastra . Offer tambula and fruit as navidhya. Perform arthi and dhoop arthi.

Now perform the Varalakshmi puja. Put a few flowers and mantrakshata near the kalash while reciting the following.

Padmasane Padmakare Sarvalokaika pujithe

Narayayana priye devi suprita varadha bhave

With a flower sprinkle a little scented water (gandha water) on the kalash. Dip a flower in panchamrita (prepared while performing saligram puja) and sprinkle on the kalash.

Mix curds, a little ghee and honey and make madhuparaka if panchamrita is not made.

Again sprinkle water on the kalasha with the flower. Worship with haldi powder and gejavastra. Again with haldi, gandha, kumkum and sindoor. This means that you have given a bath, clothed and applied mangaladhrivyas.

Offer flowers, garlands and perform Lakshmi ashtothara puja. Along with this also worship the threads with nine knots. Put one flower for every name in the ashtothara. After reciting a few more Lakshmi stotras, perform eka arthi (three vatis soaked in ghee).

This is followed by naividhya ,Fruits,milk boiled with dry fruits kesar and cardamom coconut tambula and cooked food is offered.

Then dhooparathi ,mangala arathi and deepa arathi is done.

All the members of the family do puja by offering flowers akshitha and do pradakshina namaskar. Then the ladies of the house and savashni tie the thread around their wrists. The savashni is given all the mangaladrivayas and Udithumbothu –Ontibharna is done.

In the evening lamps are lit, deepa and dhoopa arathis done. Laxmis songs& slokas are recited.Sumangalis are invited and given thambula with fruit and dakshina.

On the next day punar puja is performed as the previous day.After mangala arathi, move the kalash a little.Later keep it in a place where money and jewels of the family are kept.

There are some must do’s before the puja .Saligram puja with panchamrutha is a must.[this can be used for yamuna and laxmi kalash puja later].If due some reason saligram is not available perform puja to Krishna.

All naividhya is offered to the Lord first. It is believed that Devi does accept the naividhya offered only to her.

As varmalaxmi puja always is on a Friday make sure to start puja before rahukala or it should be started only after rahukala.

For udithombodu or ontibharna Rice 2 cups,atleast 200gms,2 haldi sticks, 2 cup supari, and coconut. The savashni should accept in her saree pallu. The lady of the house should put rice coconut and supari five times and the savashni will put a little rice back three times.

Some times Varama lakshmi puja will be on ekadasi day. On such accasions, only puja is performed, both Saligrama and Lakshmi puja, the next one has to offer Naividya, bramana/ savashni upachar ie giving of thambula, blouse/saree, food etc. On laksmi Puja day naividya to ONLY saligrama or Krishna is sugar or kade sakar. This is kept by and offered to lakshmi the next day.