Shanivar (Saturday) Vrat - Vrat Vidhi
Shanivar (Saturday) Vrat शनि देव
The Saturday fast for Shani Dev - kept for relief during Sade Sati, Dhaiya and Shani dasha.
Vrat mantra
ॐ शं शनैश्चराय नमः
Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah
What you can eat - and what to avoid
You can have
- Single evening meal after sunset: khichdi of urad, til-gud items, simple sattvik food
- 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 (Shanivar (Saturday) Vrat), its count if it is a series, and your prayer - then release the water.
Morning puja
Bathe early, take the sankalpa, and offer black til, black urad, mustard oil and blue/dark flowers to Shani Dev; pour mustard oil on the Shani murti where the tradition allows.
Keep the fast through the day
Keep the fast as prescribed - day fast · one meal after sunset puja. Spend free moments in japa of "Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah", and keep the mind sattvik: no anger, gossip or harsh speech.
Katha & evening puja
At dusk light a sarson (mustard) oil diya under a peepal tree or before Shani Dev, read the Shanivar vrat katha and Shani stotra, and sing the aarti.
Daan (charity) - the heart of Shani vrat
Donate black items on Saturday: black til, black urad, mustard oil, iron, black cloth or a blanket to the needy.
Paran - breaking the fast
After sunset - light a mustard-oil deepak (under a peepal tree if possible), do Shani puja, then take the evening meal, traditionally with urad or black til.
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
- Shani is pleased by honesty, discipline and service to the poor and labourers.
- Worship Hanuman Ji alongside - it is the classical shield in Shani periods.
- Keep the vrat with humility; arrogance is what Shani Dev humbles.
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.
