Mahalakshmi Vrata

Mahalakshmi Vratha or Varalakshmi Vratam is a sacred day in Hinduism. The ceremony is performed by men or women (typically married Hindu ladies) on the Friday before the full moon in the month of Shravana in the Hindu calendar (corresponding to August/September in the western calendar). Those who cannot perform it on that day, can do it on any other Friday in that month. This is an important Vratha, meaning a vowed religious observance in Sanskrit. Varamahalakshmi Vratham is performed more commonly in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and also in parts of Maharashtra and Odisha. The 2017 dates were 17 August – 12 September.