Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
Occasion: Friday before Shravan Purnima
Festival Significance: A sacred day to worship Goddess Varalakshmi – the bestower of wealth, health, and prosperity.

What is Varalakshmi Vratam?

Varalakshmi Vratam is a powerful and auspicious festival observed primarily by married Hindu women. It is dedicated to Goddess Varalakshmi, a form of Lakshmi Devi, the goddess of prosperity and auspiciousness. On this sacred day, women pray for the well-being of their families, long life of their husbands, and overall abundance in their homes.

The Ashta Lakshmis are considered divine forms of Lakshmi, and this vrat invokes their blessings.

Dhana (Wealth)

Dhanya (Grain & Food)

Veera (Courage)

Vijaya (Victory)

Santana (Progeny)

Gaja (Strength)

Arogya (Health)

Vidya (Knowledge)

Varalakshmi Vratam 2025: Important Details

Festival Date: Friday, 8 August 2025

Tithi: Friday before Shravan Pournami

Highly Auspicious For: Performing Lakshmi Puja and seeking divine blessings

How to Perform Varalakshmi Vratam – Step-by-Step Puja Procedure

Pre-Puja Preparation

Clean the house thoroughly.

Decorate the puja area with mango leaves, flowers, and rangoli.

Prepare the kalash to represent the goddess.

Kalash Sthapana (Pot Installation)

Use a silver or brass pot filled with water or rice.

Place five mango leaves in the pot.

Top it with a turmeric-smeared coconut.

Adorn the pot with saree, face mask, and jewelry to symbolize Goddess Lakshmi.

Puja Rituals

Wake up early, bathe, and wear traditional attire.

Perform sankalpam (spiritual intention).

Offer turmeric, kumkum, fruits, betel leaves, and naivedyam (pongal, payasam, etc.).

Chant Lakshmi Ashtottaram, Sri Suktham, or Lakshmi Sahasranamam.

Perform aarti with camphor and distribute prasad.

Sacred Thread (Toram)

Tie the toram (sacred thread) on the right wrist as a symbol of protection and blessings.

Evening Traditions

Invite sumangalis (married women) for haldi-kumkum.

Offer them bangles, flowers, tamboolam, and sweets.

Seek elders’ blessings.

Varalakshmi Vrat Katha (Sacred Story)

According to Skanda Purana, Lord Shiva explained the importance of this vrat to Parvati Devi.

In ancient times, in the city of Kundina, lived a virtuous woman named Charumathi. Known for her devotion, she served her family with love and humility. One night, Goddess Varalakshmi appeared in her dream and instructed her to perform the vrat on a Friday before Shravan Purnima.

Charumathi shared the dream with her family, and they supported her wholeheartedly. On the sacred day, she set up the puja mandapam, installed the kalash, invited other women, and performed the vrat with deep devotion.

Divine Grace and Miracles
During the first pradakshina, her anklets began to jingle on their own.

On the second, golden bangles adorned her hands.

With the third pradakshina, all the women were blessed with divine ornaments and prosperity.

From then on, women across the town started observing this vrat and were blessed with health, happiness, and wealth. The vrat thus became a tradition passed on from generation to generation.

Regional Practices

Tamil Nadu

Known as Varalakshmi Nombu

Elaborate kalash decoration with sarees and jewelry.

Andhra Pradesh & Telangana

Group chanting of Sri Suktham and Lakshmi Sahasranamam

Observing fast until puja concludes

Karnataka

Worship of Goddess Gauri and Lakshmi

Recitation of vrat katha among family members.

Maharashtra & Gujarat

Popular among South Indian communities.

It is a tradition to prepare special sweets like modak, kozhukattai, and sheera.

Traditional Naivedyam Offeringshttps://everlearnhub.com/

Sweet Pongal

Payasam (kheer)

Coconut rice

Tamarind rice

Modak, Laddu, Banana

Fruits and Dry Fruits.

Spiritual and Family Benefits

Attracts wealth and prosperity

Ensures health and long life for loved ones

Removes financial and mental obstacles

Strengthens family unity and peace

Grants divine blessings from Ashta Lakshmi.

Final Thoughts

Varalakshmi Vratam is not just a ritual – it’s a sacred journey of faith, devotion, and tradition. With a pure heart and peaceful mind, this vrat brings abundance, harmony, and spiritual upliftment to your life.

During Varalakshmi Vratam, it is common to offer gold coins or their representations (such as wooden coins, kumkum-stamped coins, or watermelon seeds shaped like coins) to Goddess Lakshmi as part of the decoration or naivedyam (offering). However, this is not mandatory. The offering of gold coins is mostly symbolic and traditional.

Why are gold coins offered?

1. Goddess Lakshmi is the deity of wealth, so decorating Her with valuable items like gold and coins is believed to be a sign of invoking prosperity.
2. Offering gold coins is considered to bring financial stability and blessings.
3. In some families, it is customary to add one coin every year as a symbol of their vow or as a marker of how many years the vratam has been performed. Where are the coins placed?

• The coins are typically placed at the feet of the Goddess or on the puja platform, often among silk cloths or garlands.
• Some people use tulasi (holy basil) garlands, Lakshmi-stamped coins, or replica coins for the same. Is this scripturally required?

The use of gold coins is not mentioned in the original Vratam scriptural procedures, but it has become a traditional practice passed down in many households. Each family’s customs and traditions may vary.

Whether or not to offer gold coins is entirely up to your devotion and family tradition. Even a small coin placed on a clean cloth with turmeric and kumkum is considered auspicious and acceptable.

Goddess Lakshmi is more interested in sincerity, discipline, and devotion than she is in her grandeur.

May Varalakshmi Devi bless your home with everlasting joy, health, and prosperity.