Dashama Vrata

The vow and the goddess

A vrata is a promise held for a set stretch of time and kept with worship and simple living. This one belongs to the goddess Dashama, who is also known as Momai. Women are its main keepers, though it is a Hindu observance and households take part in it together. The reason people give for it is the welfare of the family and its good fortune. It is not the work of a single day. The ten days return each year across five years.

Setting up the shrine

On the first day a shrine is made at home. A low prayer table, the bajot, is draped in red cloth, and on it goes the sandhani, a form shaped from raw earth. Beside it are a murti, or picture, of the goddess and a small icon of Ganesha. A copper pot, the kalash, holds a coconut called shriphal and mango leaves, and is marked with coloured powders, abhil, gulal and kanku. Ten knotted threads, the kautuka, are mixed with vermilion and placed on the pot. The observer wears ten red threads on the right hand. Women sometimes wear nine and take the tenth from their saree.

Through the ten days

Each day of the ten follows the same shape. There is puja, ritual worship at the shrine, then arti, the lamp offering, and a reading of the katha, the story that belongs to the vow. After that comes prasada, food that has been offered. Those keeping the vow eat only once a day, a practice called ek tanu, and the prasada is that meal. Devotees also join in jagarana, staying awake through the night in worship. On the final day the night is kept in the same way, and between four and five in the morning the murti is carried to a river or other water and immersed.

Closing the vow

The vow does not end after ten days. It is kept for five years, and each year the ten days come round again in the same way. In the last of those years comes the ujavanu, the ceremony that closes the vow for good. It usually means inviting goranis, women who act as ritual guests, and feeding them. The person who kept the vow is also asked to have a sandhani made in silver and to give it to a Brahmin chosen for the purpose. With that, the five-year observance is complete.

How Dashama Vrata is kept

Someone in the household decides to take the vow for five years. On the new moon of Ashadha, a shrine of raw earth, the sandhani, is set on red cloth over a low table, with images of the goddess and Ganesha and a copper pot holding a coconut and mango leaves. The person keeping the vow ties ten knotted threads on the right hand and eats once a day. Each day brings worship, a lamp offering, a story and prasada. The ten days end with a night of worship and the immersion of the murti in water, early in the morning.

When and where

The ten days begin on the new moon, amavasya, of the Hindu month of Ashadha, which falls in July or August. A second round is kept by some in Chaitra, around March. Dates come from the Gujarati calendar, the Vikram Samvat reckoning, so they shift from year to year. In 2026 the start is given as 12 August.

The vow belongs to Gujarat, in western India, and to Diu. These are the places where it is kept, and where it is strongest. It is a household observance rather than a temple one, so it lives in the homes of Hindu families there.

What Dashama Vrata means

Those who keep it say the point is the welfare of the family: prosperity, and good fortune for everyone in the household. The vow is made to the goddess Dashama, called Momai by many of her devotees, and the ten days are given to her. Because the promise runs for five years, it is not a small undertaking, and the closing ceremony marks that the promise has been kept in full.

Questions people ask about Dashama Vrata

See also

NovenaA nine-day Christian prayer tradition for petitions, feasts, or mourning.PretaOfferings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Nativity of MaryA Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusDormition of the Mother of GodA major feast in Eastern Christianity marking the death and heavenly ascent of Mary.

Good reading and sources

• Photos: Dashama offerings leave Sabarmati waters murky in AhmedabadHindustan Times, Article
• Photos: Dashama offerings leave Sabarmati waters murky in AhmedabadHindustan Times, Article

• Dashama Vrata on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-09.