Festival · 2027
Vat Savitri Vrat 2027 — Friday, 4 June 2027
Vat Savitri Vrat is the fast in which married women worship the banyan tree and remember Savitri, who, the Mahabharata says, won back her husband Satyavan’s life from Yama.
In 2026
Saturday, 16 May 2026
- Tithi
- Amavasya: 16 May, 5:11 AM – 17 May, 1:31 AM
- Lunar month
- Jyeshtha (purnimanta) / Vaishakha (amanta)
- Sunrise / sunset
- 5:29 AM / 7:05 PM
- Vat Purnima: 29 June 2026
Rule: Jyeshtha Amavasya (Vaishakha in the amanta reckoning), on the first day Amavasya touches madhyahna. Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south keep Vat Purnima on Jyeshtha Purnima instead.
In 2027
Friday, 4 June 2027
- Tithi
- Amavasya: 4 Jun, 4:05 AM – 5 Jun, 1:10 AM
- Lunar month
- Jyeshtha (purnimanta) / Vaishakha (amanta)
- Sunrise / sunset
- 5:23 AM / 7:15 PM
- Vat Purnima: 18 June 2027
Rule: Jyeshtha Amavasya (Vaishakha in the amanta reckoning), on the first day Amavasya touches madhyahna. Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south keep Vat Purnima on Jyeshtha Purnima instead.
Dates in other traditions
| Observance | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Vat PurnimaJyeshtha Purnima touching madhyahna (the middle fifth of the day); if on both days, the first — the Purnima vrat day. | 29 June 2026 | 18 June 2027 |
Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar
What is Vat Savitri Vrat?
Vat Savitri Vrat is kept by married women for the long life and well-being of their husbands and families. Its two names say what it is: vat is the banyan tree, which is worshipped during the day, and Savitri is the heroine whose story is read aloud beneath it. It is one of the best-known vratas of north and west India, and it is kept in two forms, on the new Moon of Jyeshtha in the north and on the full Moon of Jyeshtha, as Vat Purnima, in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south.
The story is told in the Mahabharata, in the Vana Parva, where the sage Markandeya tells it to Yudhishthira. Savitri, daughter of King Ashvapati of Madra, chose as her husband Satyavan, son of the blind and exiled king Dyumatsena, though the sage Narada warned that Satyavan would die within a year. On the appointed day she went with him into the forest, where he fell and died. When Yama came for his life, Savitri followed him and spoke with such wisdom and steadiness that Yama granted her boons, one after another, until he returned Satyavan’s life.
The Mahabharata tells that before that day Savitri kept a fast of three nights, and the vrata is modelled on her resolve. The banyan joined the story through custom: Satyavan is remembered as resting beneath one, and the tree, with its long life and aerial roots that grow into new trunks, came to stand for endurance and continuity. Tradition also holds that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva dwell in the banyan, at its root, trunk and crown.
Beyond its theme of devotion within marriage, many women read the story as one of courage and intelligence. Savitri does not plead helplessly; she argues, keeps her word and asks for boons that restore her father-in-law’s sight and kingdom and her own family’s future. In homes where the vrata is kept, older women pass the katha and the steps of the puja to younger ones, and the day is often spent together in a group around a neighbourhood banyan.
How it is observed
- Fasting from sunrise, in some families without water, and dressing in festive clothes and ornaments of a married woman.
- Worshipping the banyan with water, roli, rice, flowers, soaked black gram, fruit and a fan made of bamboo or palm leaf.
- Walking around the trunk while winding raw cotton thread, often seven times, and in some families 108 times.
- Hearing or reading the katha of Savitri and Satyavan, usually in a group under the tree.
- Offering images or figures of Savitri, Satyavan and Yama in some homes, alongside the tree worship.
- Touching the feet of elders, and giving a basket of fruit, grain and clothes as a gift to an older married woman.
- Breaking the fast, often with soaked gram, after the puja or the next morning, as family custom decides.
How the date is fixed
There are two traditions, and we show both. North India keeps Vat Savitri Vrat on Jyeshtha Amavasya, the new Moon that closes the dark half of Jyeshtha in its full-Moon-to-full-Moon (purnimanta) months; amanta calendars call the same tithi Vaishakha Amavasya. The day is the first one on which Amavasya is current at madhyahna, the middle fifth of the daylight, when the puja is done. Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south keep Vat Purnima on Jyeshtha Purnima, on the first day on which the Purnima tithi is current at madhyahna. The two dates are about two weeks apart.
Where practice differs
The Amavasya vrata is kept in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and among Maithili families in Nepal, and in Odisha it is Savitri Brata, where women worship at home and eat special fruits after the puja. Vat Purnima is kept in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and parts of Karnataka; in some Maharashtrian families the old custom of a three-day fast ending on Purnima is still followed. In cities without a banyan nearby, women often worship a banyan branch or a picture at home.
Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.
Questions people ask
Why is the banyan tree worshipped on Vat Savitri?
Tradition links the banyan with Satyavan’s return to life and holds that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva live in it. Its long life and spreading roots also make it a natural symbol for the lasting marriage and family the vrata prays for.
What is the difference between Vat Savitri and Vat Purnima?
They are the same vrata kept on different days. North India keeps it on Jyeshtha Amavasya; Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south keep it on Jyeshtha Purnima, about fifteen days later. The story and the tree worship are the same.
How many times is the thread wound around the banyan?
Most families walk around the tree seven times while winding raw cotton thread. Some do it 108 times, and others follow a count set by their own family custom.
Where does the story of Savitri and Satyavan come from?
It comes from the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, where the sage Markandeya tells it to Yudhishthira as the story of a woman whose devotion and wisdom won her husband’s life back from Yama.