Savitri, Satyavan & the vat (banyan)
Vat Savitri
The vrat of Savitri — the wife whose resolve argued life back from Yama himself.
Tithi: Jyeshtha Amavasya in the north; Jyeshtha Purnima in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south.
In the simplest words
Wives circle the great banyan tree with thread, remembering Savitri — the wife so determined she argued her husband back from Yama himself.
The story & purpose
Savitri chose Satyavan knowing he had a year to live. When Yama came for him under the banyan, she followed the lord of death with such steadfast dharma-argument that he granted her boons — and in the last of them, outwitted with love, returned her husband's life.
Married women keep her fast beneath the vat — the tree that shelters life beyond one lifetime — winding raw thread around its trunk, each circuit a vow of protection. It is less superstition than covenant: love, argued patiently, does not let go.
What is done
Vat parikrama
The banyan circled (traditionally 7, 21, or 108 times) winding raw cotton thread.
Savitri katha
The story heard or read in a group — the vrat's heart.
Vrat & saubhagya offerings
A day's fast; sindoor, bangles, and fruit offered, then given to elder suhaginis.
Best timings
Puja in the morning at a banyan; the katha before midday.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Yama granted Savitri four boons — her father-in-law's sight, his lost kingdom, a hundred sons for her father, a hundred sons for herself — and the last could not be kept without Satyavan alive.
The vat stands for the imperishable: Markandeya saw Vishnu as a child on a banyan leaf when all else dissolved.
Savitri's dialogue with Yama in the Mahabharata is one of the tradition's finest debates on dharma.
Mantras of this festival
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Sarva Mangala Mangalye
Begin jaap →ॐ नमो नारायणाय
Ashtakshara — the eight-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् । उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
Mahamrityunjaya mantra
Begin jaap →