Pradosh Vrat: Dates, What, Why, How

What it is

Pradosh Vrat is a fast for Shiva kept twice a month, on the thirteenth tithi (Trayodashi) of each half of the moon, with the worship at pradosh, the twilight after sunset. Devotees fast through the day and worship Shiva in the evening, at home or in the temple, and then eat.

In Tamil Nadu and across South India it is called Pradosham, and Shiva temples hold a special evening worship: Nandi, Shiva's bull, is bathed and decorated, and devotees see Shiva between Nandi's horns. Each Pradosh takes the name of its weekday: on a Monday it is Soma Pradosh, on a Tuesday Bhauma Pradosh, and on a Saturday Shani Pradosh, and many devotees hold the Monday and Saturday ones in special regard.

Why it is kept

Shiva and the poison. Temple tradition, above all in South India, links Pradosh with the churning of the ocean. When a deadly poison rose from the ocean and threatened the worlds, Shiva drank it to protect them, and his throat turned blue. Tradition says that the gods, relieved and grateful, praised him at twilight on a Trayodashi, and that Shiva danced in joy between the horns of Nandi. The Bhagavata Purana (book 8, chapter 7) tells how Shiva drank the poison; the link to this twilight is the tradition's own telling.

The twilight of Shiva. Many families say that at pradosh, the meeting of day and night, Shiva dances in Kailash and all the gods gather to worship him, so that prayer at this hour is especially dear to him. That is the tradition's own word, told here as tradition. The Skanda Purana (1.17) describes the worship of Shiva at pradosh on a Trayodashi that falls on a Saturday, and the digests on vows describe a Shani Pradosh vow kept for a year, with food taken only after sunset.

A vow for every fortnight. Because it comes twice a month, Pradosh is one of the most kept of all Shiva vows: a regular evening of fasting, quiet and prayer.

The texts behind the story

• A Prose English Translation of Srimadbhagavatam, Books VII–XII bound in one, edited and published by Manmatha Nath Dutt (Calcutta: Elysium Press, 1895–96) (Book VIII, chapter VII (the poison rises first; Shiva drinks it, and it turns his neck blue))
• Pradosh worship in the digests: the Skanda Purana (1.17.59–91) on the worship of Shiva at pradosh on a Trayodashi falling on a Saturday, with a hundred names of Shiva; and the Shani Pradosh vow, on a Shukla Trayodashi falling on a Saturday, kept for a year with Shiva's worship and food taken after sunset (Smrtikaustubha, Vratarka). Read in P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra, vol. 5, part 1 (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1958), list of vratas. Kane died 1972: cited, not quoted. (vol. 5, part 1, pp. 399–400, 427–428)
• The link of Pradosh with the poison and Shiva's twilight dance between Nandi's horns: temple tradition. Summarised in our own words.

When it is kept

Pradosh is kept on the Trayodashi that is present during pradosh, the first fifth of the night after sunset at your location, when the worship is done. There are two each month: the bright-half Pradosh and the dark-half Pradosh, each with the same rule. If Trayodashi holds pradosh on both days, the first is taken; if on neither, the day whose sunrise has Trayodashi. Pujadeep names each Pradosh by its weekday and shows the pradosh window for your city.

What the words mean: Pradosh (pradosha kala)

Traditions and regional customs

• Trayodashi in pradosh, twice a month
• Tamil and South Indian temples: Pradosham, with the worship of Nandi
• Named by weekday: Soma (Monday), Bhauma (Tuesday), Shani (Saturday) and the rest

Why the day can differ

Pradosh is your own evening, so the day can differ between cities, and a city abroad can keep it a day before or after India. Temples hold their Pradosham worship by their own calendar. The dark-half Pradosh of Magha (amanta; Phalguna in the purnimanta calendar) usually comes the day before Maha Shivaratri, and in some years on the same day.

How to keep it at home

1. In the morning, bathe and make a sankalpa to keep the fast. Keep the day simple and calm.
2. Before sunset, bathe again if you can. Within the pradosh window Pujadeep gives for your city, worship Shiva: bathe a Shiva linga or a picture's base with water and milk, and offer bilva leaves, white flowers, sandalwood paste, a lamp and incense. Families who visit a temple join the Pradosham worship of Nandi and Shiva.
3. Say the prayers your family knows: "Om Namah Shivaya", the Shiva Panchakshara Stotram, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, the Shiv Chalisa or the Lingashtakam, and read the Pradosh vrat katha if your family uses one.
4. After the evening worship, do the aarti and break the fast with prasad and a simple meal.

Fasting

Many devotees fast from sunrise until the evening worship, some with only water and some with fruit and milk, and then eat a simple meal, often without grains or salt by family custom. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first. A twice-monthly vow is kept by choice.

Food

The fast is broken with simple prasad: fruit, milk sweets, or in South Indian temples sundal and sweet pongal. Fasting dishes such as sabudana khichdi, makhana and fruit are common during the day.

Prayers read at this time

• Om Namah Shivaya
• Shiva Panchakshara Stotram
• Mahamrityunjaya Mantra
• Shiv Chalisa
• Lingashtakam

For children

Long ago, when the gods and their rivals, the asuras, stirred the ocean, a dark and harmful poison came up first. Everyone was frightened, so Shiva drank it all to keep the world safe, and his throat turned blue. The gods were so thankful that they sang to him in the evening light, and Shiva danced with joy. Twice a month, at sunset, families light a lamp and thank Shiva for his kindness.

Something to do together

Find today's sunset time in Pujadeep's panchang for your city, and at that time sit together, light a lamp and say "Om Namah Shivaya" slowly, three times.

Festivals and holy days, told for children

Sources

• Pujadeep calendar rules pradosh-shukla and pradosh-krishna, with the sources each lists and their weekday names.
• A Prose English Translation of Srimadbhagavatam, Books VII–XII bound in one, edited and published by Manmatha Nath Dutt (Calcutta: Elysium Press, 1895–96) (Book VIII, chapter VII)
• P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra, vol. 5, part 1 (Poona, 1958), pp. 399–400 and 427–428 (Shiva's worship at pradosh; the Shani Pradosh vow). Cited, not quoted.

Related guides

• Maha Shivaratri
• Masik Shivaratri (Monthly Shivaratri)
• Sankashti Chaturthi