Introduction
Varalakshmi Vratam is a famous Hindu festival celebrated to please the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. This propitious day comes in 2024 as Friday, 16 August 2024. Married women in South India observe the festival with great spiritual fervor, going on fast and praying for the Varalakshmi devi to bless their husbands and families.
Significance of Varalakshmi Vratam
Varalakshmi Vratam is performed per the Hindu calendar; it falls every Friday preceding the full moon day in the Krishna paksha of Shravana Masam (July-August). The vratam is considered sacred because the females of the household believe that the vratam blesses the family with wealth, health, and happiness. “Varalakshmi” means “the goddess who fulfills the desires,” festival goers feel that the vratam, if performed with a lot of devotion, will fulfill their desires.
Rituals and Traditions
On 16 August 2024, women will rise early from bed, have a bath to purify themselves, and be ready to perform the vratam. The rituals include making a kalasha, an earthen pot containing water, an auparna plant, fresh mango leaves, and a coconut. This kalasha denotes goddess Lakshmi’s presence in the rituals performed in it. The women then elaborated on where the religious worship would be conducted, using flowers, rangoli, and other buttock items.
Lakshmi Puja involves offering items like prasadam, fruits, and flowers to the Goddess while reciting the Lakshmi mantras. Some specialties provided include desserts such as payasam, snacks known as vadas, and rice cooked with coconut. Women also wear locally made small ornaments made from black beads and strings of black rubber around their wrists to ward off evil spirits or evil looks.
Varalakshmi Vratam in Modern Times
Despite modernization and rapid changes in global society, Varalakshmi Vratam remains an integral part of the tradition that Hindu women still look forward to. It is a cultural event conducted to re-identify the community’s culture and traditions; hence, many families perform the whole ritual together. Social media sites have not let go of this tradition; several ladies share their Vratam stories, rites, recipes, etc.
Astrological Importance
Varalakshmi Vratam is one of the significant Hindu festivals, which is usually observed on auspicious days. This year, it is celebrated on the 16th of August, the year that people believe is the right year to bring change due to the positioning of stars and planets. Since this day is associated with Lakshmi Narayana, several women undertake the vratam here, believing that the benefits received would be doubled – helping gain both material wealth and spiritual health.
Conclusion
Varalakshmi Vratam which is observed after Trevor on the next lunar day after Amavasya is actually a day in which all the family members worship together in spirituality and austere practices. It happened on the 16th of August, this year. It is to be observed on the 16 th of August this year and in the subsequent years on the same date. Thus the evenings of Vratam if prescribed with a pure soul and faith the boons of the Goddess Lakshmi are received and the life becomes successful and happy. It ends up as appreciation of worship of the endowment of femaleness as power that is discovered by the universe that is not limited to time and culture and strengthens the bond of the family.
