The Satyanarayan puja is a worship of Vishnu as the Lord of Truth, held at home with family and friends, in which the five chapters of his katha are read and a simple sweet prasad is shared with everyone. In outline: set up a kalash and a small mandap, worship Ganesh, the navagraha and the kalash, then Satyanarayan with panchamrit, tulsi and the sapad bhog, hear the katha, sing the aarti and give prasad to all.
Many families choose Purnima; the full-moon days of the year are on the Purnima vrat page. The story read during the puja is on the Satyanarayan katha page.
Samagri: what to keep ready
- A chowki (low stool) with a yellow or red cloth
- Banana stems or leaves to make a small mandap at the four corners, and mango leaves
- A kalash of copper, brass or clay, filled with water, with a coconut and mango leaves on top
- A Shaligram, a small image of Vishnu or a picture of Satyanarayan
- A small image or a betel nut for Ganesh; a few grains or betel nuts for the navagraha, if your family includes them
- Panchamrit: milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar mixed together
- Tulsi leaves, which many families offer with every bhog to Vishnu
- Roli, haldi, chandan, akshat, janeu, mauli thread, flowers and a garland
- A ghee diya, incense, camphor for the aarti
- Sapad bhog ingredients: semolina or wheat flour, ghee, sugar, ripe bananas, a little milk and dry fruit
- Fruit, betel leaves and nuts, a few coins as dakshina
- A copy of the katha, if an elder or priest is not reading from memory
None of this needs to be costly. The katha itself says the puja may be done with whatever one has, and a home with only flour, ghee, sugar and a banana has enough for the bhog.
Step by step
- Prepare the place. Clean the room and place the chowki facing east or north. Spread the cloth, tie banana leaves or stems at the corners to form a mandap, and decorate with mango leaves and flowers. Draw a small swastik or rangoli in front.
- Make the prasad. Roast the semolina or flour in ghee until fragrant, add milk or water, sugar and mashed banana, and stir until it comes together. Families who make panjiri roast the flour dry in ghee and mix in sugar and dry fruit. Keep it covered for the offering.
- Set the kalash. Place the kalash on a little rice to the right of the chowki, with water, a coin, betel nut and akshat inside, mango leaves at the mouth and a coconut wrapped in red cloth on top.
- Sankalp. The person or couple doing the puja sits facing east, takes water, akshat and a flower in the right hand, and says in their own words their name, the place, and that they are doing the Satyanarayan puja for the family's wellbeing or in thanks for a wish fulfilled.
- Ganesh, kalash and navagraha. Worship Ganesh first with roli, akshat and flowers, then the kalash as the seat of the gods and, in families who do so, the nine planets.
- Satyanarayan puja. Bathe the Shaligram or image with water, then panchamrit, then clean water again. Wipe it, place it on the chowki, offer chandan, janeu, flowers, tulsi and a garland, light the diya and incense.
- Offer the bhog. Place the sapad bhog, panchamrit, fruit and betel on a leaf or plate before the Lord, with a tulsi leaf on each.
- Read the katha. All five chapters are read while everyone sits round the mandap. A bell or conch may sound at the end of each chapter.
- Aarti. Sing the aarti Om Jai Lakshmi Ramana with camphor and the ghee lamp, and take the flame to everyone present.
- Prasad to all. Mix a little of the panchamrit into the bhog and give it to every person present, including neighbours, helpers and latecomers. Those who were fasting break the fast with it.
Checking the time
There is no single fixed muhurat for this puja. Families who keep it on Purnima usually hold it in the evening while the full-moon tithi is running, so they check the panchang for when Purnima begins and ends. Those who like to start in a favourable period look at the choghadiya for their city and choose a labh, amrit or shubh window. For a housewarming or wedding, the main muhurat of the occasion usually sets the day, and the Satyanarayan puja follows on the same day or the next.
Customs families keep
These are customs, not conditions; your own family's practice comes first.
- Each main ingredient of the prasad is often taken in the same sapad measure, one and a quarter of whatever unit the family uses (a quarter kilo and a bit more, a cup and a quarter), which is where the name sapad bhog comes from.
- Many families make the prasad without onion or garlic in the kitchen that day.
- Those sitting for the puja often eat only after taking prasad.
- The prasad is never refused, and even a crumb is taken with both hands, a custom that comes straight from the katha.
- Some keep the puja every Purnima; others hold it once a year or on special occasions.
- In some homes the women read the katha together without a priest, which is just as complete.
Regional ways
- Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: the banana-leaf mandap, panchamrit and a semolina or flour sheera; panjiri is common in western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
- Maharashtra: the puja is very common after weddings and housewarmings, and the prasad sheera is made with banana and saffron.
- Bengal and Odisha: it is often held on Purnima with the prasad called shinni, made with flour, milk, banana and sugar; in rural Bengal some communities knew it as Satyapir.
- South India: the puja is popular in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with a rava kesari style prasad and the katha read in the regional language.
After the puja
Distribute the prasad widely, keep a little for those who could not come, and immerse the flowers and leaves in a plant pot or flowing water rather than the bin. Two related kathas are the Ekadashi vrat katha for Vishnu and the Santoshi Mata katha.