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 — they are the rhythm underneath the calendar rather than its landmarks.
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 from the tithi at sunrise for your selected city, and each one links through to that day's full panchangam so you can check the timings 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.
Ekadashi
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight — the principal fasting day of the Vaishnava year.
Next: 7 Sept · 22 Sept
Pradosham
The thirteenth tithi — Shiva worship in the twilight hour before sunset.
Next: 9 Sept · 24 Sept
Sankashti Chaturthi
The waning fourth tithi — Ganesha worship for the removal of obstacles, broken at moonrise.
Next: 1 Sept · 30 Sept
Masik Shivaratri
The waning fourteenth tithi — the monthly night of Shiva.
Next: 10 Sept · 9 Oct
Masik Durgashtami
The waxing eighth tithi — monthly worship of Durga.
Next: 19 Sept · 19 Oct
Kalashtami
The waning eighth tithi — worship of Kala Bhairava.
Next: 4 Sept · 2 Nov
Skanda Sashti
The waxing sixth tithi — monthly worship of Subrahmanya.
Next: 17 Sept · 16 Oct
Satyanarayana Puja
Kept on the full moon — the household vrat of Vishnu as Satyanarayana.
Next: 26 Sept · 26 Oct
Chandra Darshan
The first sighting of the new moon's crescent, the evening after amavasya.
Next: 12 Sept · 11 Oct
Pournami
The full moon — vratam, charity and the brightest night of the month.
Next: 26 Sept · 26 Oct
Amavasya
The new moon — reserved for the ancestors, not for beginnings.
Next: 11 Sept · 10 Oct
Dwadashi
The twelfth tithi — the window in which the Ekadashi fast must be broken.
Next: 8 Sept · 23 Sept