Printable puja sheets

What to gather

• ☐ A soop (winnowing basket) and a daura (bamboo basket) to carry the offerings
• ☐ A coconut and five kinds of seasonal fruit
• ☐ A lota of water or milk for the arghya
• ☐ A lamp and incense for the ghat
• ☐ Thekua and the other prasad your family makes
• ☐ Kheer and roti for the Kharna evening
• ☐ A clean place by a river or pond, or a small pool or tub at home
• ☐ Warm clothes and water for the family members who are not fasting

Steps

1. Day 1 · Nahay-Khay. Clean and purify the home. The vrati bathes, in a river where possible, and eats a single simple meal.
2. Day 2 · Kharna. The vrati fasts through the day without water. In the evening after sunset, kheer and roti are offered and then eaten by the vrati, and the prasad is shared with the family.
3. Day 3 · Prepare the offerings. The family makes the prasad and arranges the soop and daura with coconut, seasonal fruit and the other offerings, following its own practice. Some families use five kinds of fruit.
4. Day 3 · Go to the ghat. Carry the daura to the ghat and arrange the offerings in a safe place near the water. In many families a coconut is offered and a lamp lit here.
5. Day 3 · Arghya to the setting sun. As the sun sets, the vrati stands in the water holding the soop and offers arghya of water or milk to the Sun. Family members offer arghya too.
6. Day 4 · Arghya to the rising sun. Reach the ghat before dawn with the offerings prepared according to your family’s practice. As the sun rises, the vrati offers arghya again, and the family joins.
7. Break the fast (parana). After the dawn arghya, the vrati breaks the fast with prasad and water, and the prasad is shared with everyone.