Sankashti Chaturthi Vrat - Vrat Vidhi
Sankashti Chaturthi Vrat श्री गणेश
The monthly Chaturthi fast for Shri Ganesha, broken only after sighting the moon.
Vrat mantra
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
What you can eat - and what to avoid
You can have
- Through the day: phalahar - fruits, milk, sabudana
- After moonrise: modak / laddu prasad, then a sattvik meal
- Fruits and fresh fruit juices
- Milk, curd, paneer, butter, ghee
- Sabudana - khichdi, kheer or vada
- Kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara flour rotis / puris
- Samak (barnyard millet) rice
- Makhana, dry fruits and nuts
- Potato, sweet potato, arbi - cooked with sendha namak
- Sendha namak (rock salt) only
- Tea, coffee or coconut water in moderation
✗ Avoid
- All grains - wheat, rice, semolina (sooji), besan, oats
- Pulses and legumes - dal, chana, rajma, soy
- Regular table / sea salt (use only sendha namak)
- Onion and garlic
- Non-vegetarian food and eggs
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Heavy spices - keep to jeera, kali mirch, green chilli
Step-by-step vrat vidhi
Sankalpa - the vrat morning
Wake early, bathe and wear clean clothes. With water, akshat and a flower in the right palm, state your name, the vrat (Sankashti Chaturthi Vrat), its count if it is a series, and your prayer - then release the water.
Morning puja
Bathe early, take the sankalpa and worship Shri Ganesha with durva, red flowers, sindoor and dhoop-deep, chanting "Om Gam Ganapataye Namah".
Keep the fast through the day
Keep the fast as prescribed - sunrise to moonrise · phalahar. Spend free moments in japa of "Om Gam Ganapataye Namah", and keep the mind sattvik: no anger, gossip or harsh speech.
Katha & evening puja
After moonrise, repeat the Ganesha puja, read the Sankashti katha, offer modak/laddu bhog and sing the aarti before breaking the fast.
Chandra arghya at moonrise
Sight the moon, offer arghya of water (with a little milk, akshat and flowers) toward it, and pray to Ganesha for removal of sankat (troubles).
Paran - breaking the fast
At moonrise - offer arghya (water) to the moon, do the evening Ganesha puja, then break the fast with modak or prasad.
Daan & prasad
Share the prasad with everyone present and give some daan (food, fruit or dakshina) as per capacity - the vrat is completed by giving.
Special rules for this vrat
- The fast is broken only after moonrise - moonrise time differs city to city, so check your local Panchang.
- Angarki Sankashti (when Chaturthi falls on a Tuesday) is considered the most powerful.
- Tulsi is never offered to Shri Ganesha.
Family and regional traditions (parampara) vary - where yours differs, follow your parampara. Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone unwell or on medication should keep a softened vrat (fruit and milk) or skip it - a vrat is bhakti and restraint, never hardship to the body.
Choose another vrat
What is a Vrat Vidhi?
A vrat vidhi is how to keep a sacred fast: morning sankalpa, the deity's puja, the day's food discipline, the katha and aarti, and paran at the right time. Most vrats allow phalahar (fruits, milk, sabudana, kuttu, singhara, samak, sendha namak). Some are nirjala. Ekadashi drops grain; Santoshi Mata drops sour food; Ravivar vrat drops salt.
A vrat is bhakti and restraint, not hardship. Children, the elderly, pregnant women and the unwell should soften the fast. Parampara comes first. Pick a Dev or Devi for the day, fast type, food rules, paran, mantra, katha and aarti.
This is not a full puja manual. Worship steps are Puja Vidhi. Gather items from Puja Samagri. Read the story on Vrat Katha.
