Vat Purnima Vrat 2026 falls on Monday, 29 June 2026 for married women in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and most of South India, where the vow is kept on Jyeshtha Shukla Purnima. In North India the same vrat is observed on Jyeshtha Amavasya as Vat Savitri Vrat, which already fell on Saturday, 16 May 2026. The Purnima tithi begins at 03:06 AM on 29 June and ends at 05:26 AM on 30 June (IST), so the puja is done through the morning of the 29th. Devotees in the US and Canada may observe it a day earlier, on 28 June, because the same tithi falls on that evening in Western time zones.
This guide gives you the verified 2026 dates and tithi timings, why the date differs between North and West India, the step-by-step puja vidhi, the katha of Savitri and Satyavan, and what to do if you are keeping the vrat from a city or from abroad.
When is Vat Purnima Vrat in 2026?
| Detail | When (IST) |
|---|---|
| Vat Purnima Vrat (Maharashtra, Gujarat, South) | Monday, 29 June 2026 |
| Vat Savitri Vrat / Amavasya (North India) | Saturday, 16 May 2026 (already observed) |
| Purnima tithi begins | 03:06 AM, 29 June 2026 |
| Purnima tithi ends | 05:26 AM, 30 June 2026 |
| Best puja window | Morning after sunrise on 29 June |
| Overseas (US / Canada) | Sunday, 28 June 2026 — confirm with local panchang |
The vrat follows the day whose sunrise is held within the Purnima tithi — that is 29 June in India this year. The same astronomical tithi enters the afternoon of 28 June in North-American time zones, which is why panchangs set to US cities list Vat Purnima on 28 June. The tithi itself is one moment in the sky; only the local clock differs.
Why is Vat Purnima on a different day in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the South?
It comes down to two ways of drawing the Hindu lunar month. North Indian states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana — follow the Purnimanta calendar, in which the month ends on the full moon. There, the Savitri vrat is kept on Jyeshtha Amavasya, the new moon, which in 2026 coincided with Shani Jayanti on 16 May.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and the southern states follow the Amanta calendar, in which the month ends on the new moon. There the very same vow is kept fifteen days later, on Jyeshtha Purnima, the full moon — and is called Vat Purnima Vrat. The story, the banyan-tree worship and the purpose are identical in both; only the tithi changes. So a family with roots in Pune or Ahmedabad keeps it on 29 June, while a family in Lucknow kept it on 16 May.
Full Vat Savitri & Vat Purnima 2026 details, with live timings for your city:
Vat Savitri 2026 festival page →What is Vat Purnima Vrat and why do married women keep it?
The name says it plainly: vat means the banyan tree and purnima means the full moon. Vat Purnima is the full-moon day on which married women (suhagan) fast and worship the banyan for the long life, health and prosperity of their husbands. The banyan is chosen for a reason — it is long-lived, ever-spreading and evergreen, and is held to shelter the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh in its roots, trunk and branches. Tying a thread around it and circling it is a prayer for a bond that endures, like the tree.
Behind the ritual stands one of the most beloved stories in the tradition — the tale of Savitri, who argued her husband back from death itself.
Vat Purnima Vrat Katha: the story of Savitri and Satyavan
Savitri, daughter of King Ashwapati, chose as her husband Satyavan, a noble but exiled prince living in the forest with his blind father. The sage Narada warned her that Satyavan was destined to die exactly one year from that day. Savitri married him anyway, and said nothing of the prophecy.
On the appointed day, Satyavan went into the forest to cut wood, grew faint, and lay his head in Savitri's lap beneath a banyan tree. There Yamraj, the lord of death, came to take his soul. Savitri followed Yama as he carried Satyavan away, and would not turn back. Moved by her devotion and the wisdom of her words, Yama offered her boons — anything except her husband's life. Savitri asked for her father-in-law's sight and kingdom restored, and for sons of her own. Yama granted them — and Savitri gently pointed out that she could not bear sons without her husband. Caught by his own word, Yama returned Satyavan's life.