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Goddess Lakshmi standing on a pink lotus in a forest pool, four-armed, holding lotuses, with a white elephant and swans — a Raja Ravi Varma painting.
Lakshmi — Raja Ravi Varma, c. 1896 (Ravi Varma Press print)

Varalakshmi · 60–90 minutes, morning

Varalakshmi Vratam — the kalasham puja

The last Friday on or before Shravana Purnima (28 Aug 2026; 13 Aug 2027)

In the simplest words

Dressing a kalasham as Lakshmi herself — a coconut face or silver mask, sari, jewels — and asking the Friday goddess for the eight wellbeings of a home.

The South's great home-Lakshmi rite: the goddess is not bought but built — a kalasham of rice and water given her face and silk — and worshipped by the women of the house for every kind of wealth at once, the eight Lakshmis in one Friday.

Vara-Lakshmi is 'the Lakshmi who grants the boon'. The south keeps the vratam on the Friday before Shravana's full moon, mothers passing daughters the exact fold of the sari, so the goddess is welcomed the same way across generations.

Perform this puja

5 steps, one at a time, with the lamp, the mantras and the bell — on this screen.

Samagri — what you need

0/8 gathered

The vidhi, step by step

0/5 done

  1. Build the goddess

    Kalasham on rice, water and coins within, mango leaves at the mouth, the turmeric coconut as her face — dressed in silk and jewels, set facing east.

  2. Ganapati, then avahan

    After a short Ganesha jaap, Varalakshmi is invoked into the kalasham with flowers and the Shreem mantra.

    ॐ श्रीं महालक्ष्म्यै नमः

    Oṁ Śrīṁ Mahālakṣmyai Namaḥ

    Om — Shreem — salutations to Mahalakshmi. Shreem is shri compressed into a seed, planted by repetition. The mantra asks the goddess of abundance for her presence rather than her presents — where Lakshmi dwells, the tradition says, sufficiency follows on its own.

    Source: Traditional bīja-mantra of the Devi worship corpus

  3. Shodashopachara & the Gayatri

    The sixteen honours as capacity allows; then the Lakshmi Gayatri held for eleven rounds.

    ॐ महालक्ष्म्यै च विद्महे विष्णुपत्न्यै च धीमहि । तन्नो लक्ष्मीः प्रचोदयात् ॥

    Oṁ mahālakṣmyai ca vidmahe viṣṇu-patnyai ca dhīmahi, tanno lakṣmīḥ pracodayāt

    We know Mahalakshmi; we meditate on the consort of Vishnu; may Lakshmi set our minds in motion. Naming her vishnu-patni anchors the request: shri here is wedded to preservation — wealth that maintains a world rather than distorting one. And what is asked to be impelled is the intellect: let prosperity begin as right thinking about prosperity.

    Source: Lakshmi Gayatri as commonly recited; the Śrī Sūkta's appended verses give it as 'mahālakṣmī ca vidmahe viṣṇupatnī ca dhīmahi'

  4. Saradu — the nine knots

    The thread worshipped, then tied on each woman's right wrist — nine knots, nine graces asked, one per knot if you wish.

    ॐ श्रीं महालक्ष्म्यै नमः

    Oṁ Śrīṁ Mahālakṣmyai Namaḥ

    Om — Shreem — salutations to Mahalakshmi. Shreem is shri compressed into a seed, planted by repetition. The mantra asks the goddess of abundance for her presence rather than her presents — where Lakshmi dwells, the tradition says, sufficiency follows on its own.

    Source: Traditional bīja-mantra of the Devi worship corpus

  5. Katha, naivedya, thamboolam

    Charumati's katha; the payasam offered and the mangala harathi sung; then neighbours and friends invited for haldi-kumkum and thamboolam — the vratam ends outward.

Note: Next morning the kalasham is 'moved' with thanks; its rice cooks the family's meal, its water goes to the plants. 2026 carries a 21/28 Aug panchangam split — see the festival entry; your family's panchangam rules.

Varalakshmi Vratam →