Vasu Baras / Vagh Baras (Govatsa Dwadashi) 2027

Puja Vidhi: Hindi Belt (Govatsa Dwadashi)

Who Should Do This Vrat?

• Mothers: Mothers keep this vrat for the long life and wellbeing of their children, especially their sons.
• Women Desiring Children: Women who long for a child also keep it, to seek the blessings of Gau Mata for offspring (Santan Prapti).

When Should This Be Performed?

• Bath and Sankalp: Taken in the morning, after bathing, to begin the vrat.
• Puja Muhurat: The puja is done in the evening at Godhuli Bela (the dusk hour when the cows return home), or during Pradosh Kaal (the period after sunset). Check the puja muhurat for your city on this page.
• The Single Meal: Eaten once, after the evening puja is complete.

About the Festival

Govatsa Dwadashi is a deeply revered observance of the Hindi-speaking North, where mothers worship the cow and her calf for the long life of their children. It takes place on the Dwadashi (twelfth day) of the Krishna Paksha in the month of Kartik.

The Vrat Katha (Story of Queens Sita and Gita)

Once upon a time, in the city of Suvarnapur, there reigned a king named Devdani. He kept a cow with her calf and a buffalo, and he had two queens, Sita and Gita. Sita loved the buffalo like a dear friend, while Gita loved the cow and her calf.

One day the buffalo told Sita that Gita was jealous of her because of the calf. Hoping to set things right, Sita cut up the calf and buried it in a heap of wheat. When the king sat down to eat, flesh rained down, blood and meat appeared all over the palace, and the food on his plate turned foul.

A voice from the heavens (Akashvani) then spoke to the king: "Queen Sita has killed the calf. Tomorrow is Govatsa Dwadashi, the Dwadashi of the Krishna Paksha in Kartik. Send the buffalo away, worship the cow and her calf, and eat neither cut fruit nor milk."

The king followed the voice faithfully. When the cow returned home in the evening, he worshipped her with full devotion, and as he remembered the calf, it came out of the wheat and stood beside its mother. Overjoyed, the king ordered that the whole kingdom keep this vrat every year. Since that day, mothers have observed Govatsa Dwadashi to seek protection and long life for their children.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the evening puja:

• Clay Images: Clay for making a cow, a calf, a tiger and a tigress, and a wooden board (patta) to set them on
• Tilak & Lamp: Roli, Haldi, Akshat (unbroken rice grains), Chandan, bajra or mung grains for the Tilak, and a lamp
• Offerings for the Images: Curd, soaked bajra, flour, and Ghee
• Food for the Cow: Green fodder, sprouted moong and moth, soaked chana, sweet roti, and jaggery (gud)
• Arghya Vessel: A copper vessel filled with water, with Akshat, sesame seeds (til), fragrance, and flowers, and garlands for the cow and calf
• For the Bayana: Moth, bajra, and money

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Morning Preparation and Sankalp

1. Wake up early, bathe, and wear clean clothes.
2. Take a small amount of water in your right palm and take a Sankalp (solemn vow): "O Gau Mata, today I keep this vrat for the long life and wellbeing of my children. Grant me the strength to fulfil this vow with pure devotion."
3. Through the day, do not eat anything made of wheat or anything cut with a knife.

Step 2: Preparing the Cow and Calf

1. Shape a cow, a calf, a tiger and a tigress from clay.
2. Set the clay images on a wooden board (patta).
3. If you have a cow and calf at home, bathe them and cover them with new cloth.

Step 3: Offerings to the Cow and Calf (Godhuli Bela)

1. Offering Garlands: Garland the cow and calf, or the clay images.
2. Applying Tilak: Apply a Tilak of Kumkum and Haldi with bajra or mung grains (or with Chandan).
3. Offering to the Images: Offer curd, soaked bajra, flour, and Ghee to the clay images.
4. Feeding the Cow: Feed the cow green fodder, sprouted moong and moth, soaked chana, sweet roti, and jaggery.

Step 4: Arghya and Aarti

1. Offer Arghya from the copper vessel, with Akshat, sesame seeds, water, fragrance, and flowers, while reciting: "ॐ सर्वदेवमये देवि लोकानां शुभनन्दिनि। मातर्ममाभिलषितं सफलं कुरु नन्दिनि॥"
2. Apply a little of the earth from the cow's hooves to your forehead.
3. Perform the Gau Mata Aarti, "Aarti Shri Gaiyya Maiyya Ki", with the lit lamp.
4. Touch the cow, ask her forgiveness, and walk around her.

Step 5: Reciting the Vrat Katha and the Bayana

1. Sit respectfully before the cow and calf, or the clay images, and recite or listen to the Govatsa Dwadashi Vrat Katha with deep focus and devotion.
2. After the story, place money on the moth and bajra to make the Bayana (a gift of respect).
3. Give the Bayana to your mother-in-law.

Step 6: The Single Meal

1. Once the evening puja is complete, eat one meal.
2. Take uncut fruit, roots, and food made of bajra.
3. Do not eat wheat, rice, cow's milk, curd, or Ghee, and eat nothing cut with a knife.

Puja Vidhi: Maharashtra (Vasu Baras)

Who Should Do This Vrat?

• Married Women: Married women (Saubhagyavati) keep this fast and worship the cow for the health and wellbeing of their children.
• Cattle-Keeping Families: Farmers and families who keep cattle observe it to show gratitude for their cattle (Gaudhan).

When Should This Be Performed?

• The Fast: Married women keep the fast through the day and take one meal in the evening.
• Puja Muhurat: The puja of the cow with her calf is done in the evening during Pradosh Kaal (the period after sunset), though some families do it in the morning. Check the puja muhurat for your city on this page.
• Breaking the Fast: In the evening, after the puja is complete, on Bajri Bhakri and Gavar Bhaji.

About the Festival

Vasu Baras is a much-loved Maharashtrian observance in which a cow with her calf is worshipped, and it is the first day of Diwali. Vasu means wealth and Baras means Dwadashi. It takes place on the Dwadashi (twelfth day) of the Krishna Paksha in the month of Ashwin.

The Vrat Katha (Story of the Calves Gavhali and Mugali)

Once upon a time, in the storybook city of Atpat Nagar, there lived an old Kunbi woman with her daughter-in-law. She kept cattle and buffaloes, and among them were two calves named Gavhali and Mugali. On the first Dwadashi of Ashwin, she set out for the fields and told her daughter-in-law to take out wheat and mung and cook gavhale-mugale (dishes of wheat and mung).

The daughter-in-law misunderstood her. She took the words to mean the two calves, killed Gavhali and Mugali, cut them up and cooked them. At noon, when the old woman sat down to eat, she saw red meat on her leaf. She learned what had happened and was filled with grief.

She sat down before God and made a vow: "Unless my calves are brought back to life, I shall give up my life by this evening."

In the evening the cows came home, lowing for their calves. God saw the old woman's firm resolve and pure heart, and He brought Gavhali and Mugali back to life, and they ran to their mothers to drink. The old woman then worshipped the cows and calves, offered cooked food, thanked God and ate. Since that day, wheat and mung are not eaten on this day, and the cow with her calf is worshipped.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the evening puja:

• Water & Tilak: Water to pour on the cow's feet, Haldi, Kunku, and Akshata (unbroken rice grains)
• Flowers & Garland: Flowers and a flower garland for the cow and her calf
• Lamps & Lights: A Niranjan (small lamp) with Ghee, and Diyas for the first lights of Diwali
• Food Offerings (Naivedya): Puranpoli and other dishes on a banana leaf, Udid Vade, rice and sweets, and a bundle of fresh grass
• Rangoli & Pat: Rangoli powder or rice for the courtyard and, if there is no cow, for drawing a cow and calf on a Pat (low wooden seat)
• For Breaking the Fast: Bajri (pearl millet) flour for Bhakri and Gavar (cluster bean) pods for the Bhaji

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Keeping the Fast and Preparing the Courtyard

1. Keep the fast through the day, with one meal in the evening.
2. On this day do not eat wheat or mung, milk or milk products, fried food, or anything cooked on a tava (griddle).
3. Draw Rangoli in the courtyard; the Rangoli of Diwali begins today.
4. Homes with cattle cook a Puran meal, with Puranpoli.

Step 2: Preparing the Cow and Calf (Evening)

1. Bathe the cow and her calf.
2. Keep the calf beside the cow, as the puja is of the cow together with her calf.
3. If there is no cow at home, draw a cow and calf with Rangoli or rice on a Pat (low wooden seat) and worship the drawing.

Step 3: Performing the Evening Rituals

1. Washing the Feet: Married women pour water on the cow's feet, and then on the calf's.
2. Applying Tilak: Offer Haldi, Kunku and Akshata to the cow and her calf.
3. Offering Flowers & Lamp: Offer flowers, put a flower garland round the cow's neck, and wave the lit Niranjan before the cow and calf, singing "Din din Diwali, gaayi mhashi owaali" (Diwali, day by day, we wave the lamp before cows and buffaloes). Touch the cow's body.
4. Offering Naivedya: Spread a banana leaf and place Puranpoli and the other dishes before the cow, and feed her.

Step 4: Prayer, Pradakshina and Aarti

1. Hold your hands together and say the prayer: "तत: सर्वमये देवी सर्वदेवैरलङ्कृते। मातर्ममाभिलषितं सफलं कुरू नन्दिनि॥" (O Mother Nandini, made of all the gods and adorned by them, fulfil my wish).
2. Walk round the cow and her calf in Pradakshina.
3. Perform the Kamdhenu Aarti, "आरती कामधेनु । तुमचा महिमा किती वर्णु । आरती मोक्षधेनु", with the lit Niranjan.

Step 5: Lighting the First Diyas of Diwali

1. Light Diyas before the Tulsi plant.
2. Light Diyas at the door.
3. Light Diyas around the house to begin Diwali.

Step 6: Breaking the Fast

1. After the puja, break your fast in the evening with Bajri Bhakri and Gavar Bhaji.
2. Keep wheat, mung, milk products, fried food and tava-cooked food out of your meal on this day.

Puja Vidhi: Gujarat (Vagh Baras)

Who Should Do This Vrat?

• Mothers: Mothers keep this vrat for the protection of their children.
• Women Desiring Children: Women who long for a child worship the cow on this day to seek the blessing of offspring (Santan Prapti).
• Traders and Students: Traders settle their old accounts and close their ledgers, and students worship their books, seeking the blessings of Goddess Saraswati.

When Should This Be Performed?

• The Fast: Women who keep the vrat eat only once during the day.
• Puja Muhurat: The cow and calf are worshipped in the evening, at dusk (Godhuli Vela) or during Pradosh Kaal (the period after sunset), which is considered best. Check the puja muhurat for your city on this page.

About the Festival

Vagh Baras is a much-loved Gujarati observance that marks the first day of Diwali, when the cow and calf are worshipped, traders close the old year's accounts, and Goddess Saraswati is honoured. It takes place on the Dwadashi (twelfth day) of the Krishna Paksha in the month of Ashwin.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the evening puja:

• Cow and Calf Images: Clay images of a cow and calf, if there is no cow nearby
• Water: Holy water to bathe the cow
• Tilak & Adornment: Sindoor, Kumkum, and Haldi, with a garland and a cloth for the cow
• Food for the Cow: Mung and wheat
• Lamp: A lamp for the Aarti
• Ledgers & Books: The account books (Chopda) of the trader and the books of the student

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Keeping the Vrat

1. If you keep the vrat, eat only once during the day, praying for the protection of your children.
2. While keeping the vrat, stay away from wheat and milk products.

Step 2: Settling Accounts

1. If you are a trader, settle your old debts on this day, for vagh is also understood to mean debt.
2. Close the books of the year, and begin the new accounts from the new year.

Step 3: Bathing and Adorning the Cow (Evening)

1. Bathe the cow with holy water.
2. Apply Sindoor on her forehead, and place a garland and a cloth on her.
3. If there is no cow nearby, make clay images of a cow and calf and offer them Kumkum and Haldi.

Step 4: Performing the Evening Puja

1. Feeding the Cow: Offer the cow mung and wheat.
2. Performing the Aarti: Perform the Aarti of the cow and calf with a lit lamp.
3. Worshipping Krishna: After the cow, offer your prayers to Lord Krishna.

Step 5: Saraswati, Books and the Threshold

1. Worship Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of speech, for this day is also known as Vak Baras.
2. Students should worship their books and the Chopda (account book).
3. Worship the threshold (Umbaro) of your home, which Gujarati families hold dear on this day.