Jimutavahana
Jivitputrika (Jitiya)
A mother's waterless day for her child's life — the fiercest tenderness in the calendar.
Tithi: Ashwin Krishna Ashtami (north) · Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami (west & south) — the same night
Which calendar do you follow?
The bright fortnight is named the same everywhere. A dark fortnight belongs to one month in the north and to the month before it in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south — the same night, two true names. Saved only on this device.
In the simplest words
A mother's fast for her children's long life — waterless and fierce like her love, kept from Bihar to Nepal, broken only the next day.
The story & purpose
The vrat carries the name of Jimutavahana, the vidyadhara prince who lay down on the sacrifice-rock in a naga youth's place and let Garuda seize him instead. Moved by a mother's grief and a stranger's daya, Garuda ended the naga-offerings forever. Mothers invoke that same shield of compassion over their children.
Jitiya runs three days — nahai-khai's purifying start, the khur jitiya nirjala day, and parana. Grandmothers hand the vrat to mothers with the pre-dawn othgan meal; the fast is among the hardest kept anywhere, and among the most unquestioned.
What is done
Nahai-khai
Day one: bathing, satvik food, and sankalpa.
Nirjala jitiya
The ashtami kept without water where health allows, with Jimutavahana's katha at dusk.
Jitiya thread
The red-and-yellow jitiya cord — or silver jitiya pendants — worn for the children.
Parana
Next morning with jhor-bhaat, noni saag, and marua roti by regional custom.
Best timings
Sankalpa at dawn on ashtami; katha at dusk; parana next morning.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
The Jimutavahana story is also classical theatre — Harsha's Sanskrit play Nagananda staged it thirteen centuries ago.
In Mithila, chilwa fish and marua carry the vrat's folk symbolism of abundance for children.
Nepal's Tharu and Maithil communities keep Jitiya as a major three-day festival.
Mantras of this festival
ॐ नमो नारायणाय
Ashtakshara — the eight-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् । उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
Mahamrityunjaya mantra
Begin jaap →या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता । नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥
Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu
Begin jaap →