Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India
Vat Savitri Puja is observed by the married women, who worship Savitri-Satyvan and the Vat (banyan) tree.
The Vat Savitri Vrat takes place on the full moon day of the month of jyestha that is around May-June. Married women in the different states of India observe a fast on this day and pray for the long life of their husbands along with good fortune for them. All the Hindu women worship and propitiate the respectable Savitri, as a Devi in this festival.
The fast is observed for three days and begins on the Trayodashi day and ends on the Purnima. The fast is supposed to be observed for three days and three nights and ends in the morning of the fourth day .However the fast is usually observed on the last day of the three days and all night long and broken the next day .On the first day of the fast, married women apply a paste of gingli (sesame) and amla(Indian gooseberry). After this a ritual bath is taken by the women. The roots of the vrata (Banyan tree) are consumed along with water for the three days. The fast is broken on the fourth day by having the bhoga offered. The bhoga comprises of rice, wet pulses, jack fruit, mango and bananas. This is how to observe the vat Savitri vrat fast.
During this festival, the married women make paintings of the Banyan tree on wood or plate with turmeric or sandalwood paste and worship this for the next three days and traditional dishes are also prepared. This continues for the three days of Trayodashi, Chaturdashi, Amavasi or Purnima. On the fourth day, women wake up early in the morning and after a sacred bath, dress up as brides in elegant sarees and jewellery, apply vermillion or sindoor on their hair parting line or forehead.
Worshipping the banyan tree is of great importance in this festival. After the women offer water and sprinkle red powder or kumkum on the tree, cotton threads are wrapped around the tree’s trunk. Then they go around the tree several times and this is known as parikrama. In the state of Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, women observe the SavitriBrata on Amavasya (new moon) day in Jyeshtha month every year.
A treatise named the SavitriBratakatha in Odia language is read out while the puja is being performed. In the western states of India, this festival is observed on the Purnima (full moon), instead of Amavasya, of the month and is known as Vat Purnima. It is a popular belief that Savitri got her husband back from the jaws of death on the first day of the Tamil month “Panguni.”As a result, this day is celebrated as “KaradayanNonbu” in Tamil Nadu.
