Vat Savitri
- Writers Pouch
- Jun 23, 2021
- 4 min read
For health, wealth, peace, and prosperity of their family, like many other cultures, women of the Hindu culture perform puja alongside fasting also referred to as vrat. Out of the many vrats performed throughout the year, one vrat that women do for the well-being of their husbands in Maharashtra and some parts of northern India is the Vat Savitri.
Held on the full moon day of the third month in the Hindu calendar called Jyeshta, on Vat Savitri, women fast, tie threads to a banyan tree and worship Lord Shiva asking the almighty to give their husbands a long life. Though it has been celebrated for centuries now, the inception of this vrat is believed to be from a story in the monumental epic Mahabharata.
Once upon a time, there lived a king called Asvapati along with his wife Malavi. Blessed with no children, the couple prayed to Lord Savitr or the Sun God to bless them with a son but the Sun God blessed the couple with a beautiful and intelligent daughter instead. Accepting the gift wholeheartedly, the couple named the daughter Savitri in honor of the Sun God himself.
