Vratams and monthly observances

A vratam is a vow kept on a particular tithi: a fast, a worship, and a resolution held for a day. Most recur every lunar month, which is what distinguishes them from festivals: festivals mark the year, and vratams keep its monthly rhythm.

Each page below gives what the observance is, who keeps it, the fasting rule, the pooja method, and every date it falls on this year and next. The dates are computed for India, from the tithi in force at 06:00 IST, and each one links through to that day's full panchangam, where the timings are recomputed for your selected city so you can check the ones that matter — the parana window after an Ekadashi, the pradosha kala before sunset, moonrise for Sankashti.

Where a regional tradition reckons an observance differently — and for Ekadashi in particular it often does — we say so on the page rather than quietly picking one reading.

Dates for India · IST (UTC+5:30) · tithi read at 06:00 local time · amanta months · Lahiri ayanamsa. How we calculate

• Ekadashi

  The eleventh tithi of each fortnight — the principal fasting day of the Vaishnava year.

  Next: 6 Oct · 22 Oct

• Pradosham

  The thirteenth tithi — Shiva worship in the twilight hour before sunset.

  Next: 8 Oct · 24 Oct

• Sankashti Chaturthi

  The waning fourth tithi — Ganesha worship for the removal of obstacles, broken at moonrise.

  Next: 29 Oct · 28 Nov

• Masik Shivaratri

  The waning fourteenth tithi — the monthly night of Shiva.

  Next: 9 Oct · 8 Nov

• Masik Durgashtami

  The waxing eighth tithi — monthly worship of Durga.

  Next: 19 Oct · 17 Nov

• Kalashtami

  The waning eighth tithi — worship of Kala Bhairava.

  Next: 2 Nov · 1 Dec

• Skanda Sashti

  The waxing sixth tithi — monthly worship of Subrahmanya.

  Next: 16 Oct · 15 Nov

• Satyanarayana Puja

  Kept on the full moon — the household vrat of Vishnu as Satyanarayana.

  Next: 26 Oct · 24 Nov

• Chandra Darshan

  The first sighting of the new moon's crescent, the evening after amavasya.

  Next: 11 Oct · 10 Nov

• Pournami

  The full moon — vratam, charity and the brightest night of the month.

  Next: 26 Oct · 24 Nov

• Amavasya

  The new moon — reserved for the ancestors, not for beginnings.

  Next: 10 Oct · 9 Nov

• Dwadashi

  The twelfth tithi — the window in which the Ekadashi fast must be broken.

  Next: 7 Oct · 23 Oct