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Vrat katha

Budh Pradosh vrat katha

Next Budh Pradosh: Wednesday, 20 January 2027

Edited by the SanatanBodh editorial teamLast updated: 4 sourcesDrafted with AI, checked against sourcesReport a mistake
Aarti of a Shivling decked with bel leaves and dhatura in a stone temple, with Nandi facing it
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In short

In the Budh Pradosh katha as tradition tells it, a newly married man brings his wife home from her parents’ house on a Wednesday although everyone tells him not to. On the road another man with his very face joins his wife, and even she cannot tell which is her real husband. The man begs Shiva’s forgiveness, the other man vanishes, and from then on the couple keep the Budh Pradosh vrat.

Read the story in:

The next Budh Pradosh dates

  • Wednesday, 20 January 2027Budh Pradosh · Pausha Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 5:50–8:31 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
  • Wednesday, 3 February 2027Budh Pradosh · Magha Krishna TrayodashiPuja time 6:02–8:39 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
  • Wednesday, 2 June 2027Budh Pradosh · Jyeshtha Krishna TrayodashiPuja time 7:15–9:17 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
  • Wednesday, 16 June 2027Budh Pradosh · Jyeshtha Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 7:21–9:21 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time

The next Pradosh, on another weekday: Friday, 6 November 2026, Shukra Pradosh vrat katha

Pradosh Vrat 2026-27: full list

A Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Wednesday is called Budh Pradosh (Drik Panchang). In the story, not sending a daughter off to her husband’s home on a Wednesday comes up as a folk belief; it is part of the katha, and we have not checked it in any scripture.

This katha is told by tradition; we found no Purana chapter for it. In the printed Pradosh booklets, Suta tells the kathas of all seven weekdays to Shaunaka and the other sages. We checked this one event by event against Drik Panchang and two printed booklets and told it in our own words; any differences are given below.

How the vrat and katha are kept

  • By the booklets: in this vrat one eats only once in the day, and the use of green things is prescribed.
  • Shiva is worshipped with incense, bel leaves and the like.
  • The main time of the Shiva puja is Pradosh kaal after sunset, while the Trayodashi tithi also runs (Drik Panchang); the puja time of the next dates is above. The full rite is on the Pradosh vrat katha page.

The Budh Pradosh katha: the Wednesday departure

Long ago a man had just been married. Some days later he went to his in-laws’ house to fetch his wife and told his mother-in-law that he would take her back to his own town on Wednesday itself.

His parents-in-law and his wife’s brothers and sisters told him that taking a wife home on a Wednesday is not held auspicious. But he would not give up his stubbornness. In the end the parents sent their daughter and son-in-law off that very day, with heavy hearts.

The couple set off in a bullock cart. They had just left the town when the wife felt thirsty. The husband took a lota and went to fetch water. When he came back he saw his wife drinking from a lota another man had brought, laughing and chatting with him. He rushed in anger to fight the man, and was stunned: the man’s face was exactly like his own.

The two look-alikes went on fighting. A crowd of passers-by gathered, and a soldier came too. The soldier asked the woman which of the two was her husband. The poor woman did not know what to say, for the two were exactly alike.

Seeing his wife being taken from him in the middle of the road, the man’s eyes filled with tears. He prayed to Shiva in his heart: "Lord, protect me and my wife. I did great wrong in bringing my wife away on a Wednesday; I will never do so again." As soon as his prayer ended the other man vanished, and he reached home safely with his wife. From that day the couple kept the Budh Pradosh vrat regularly.

After the katha

After the katha the Shiva aarti is done; the Pradosh booklets give "Jai Shiv Omkara" for it. The full rite of the Pradosh vrat and the original katha of the Skanda Purana are on the Pradosh vrat katha page.

Pradosh Vrat 2026-27: full list Pradosh vrat katha

Frequently asked questions

What is Budh Pradosh?

A Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Wednesday is called Budh Pradosh (Drik Panchang). The vrat is kept on the day whose Pradosh kaal after sunset has the Trayodashi, so it sometimes falls on the Dwadashi day. The next dates and the puja time are at the top of this page; by the Pradosh booklets, this is the katha read and heard that day.

Sources

  1. Drik Panchang, Budha Pradosha Vrat Katha (drikpanchang.com/vrat-katha/pradosha/budha-pradosha/budha-pradosha-vrat-katha.html), read 10 October 2026
  2. "Pradosh (Trayodashi) Vrat Katha, with the separate kathas of all seven days", told by Pt. Jwala Prasad Chaturvedi, Randhir Prakashan, Haridwar (archive.org/details/PradoshVratKathaRandhirPrakashan)
  3. "Pradosh (Trayodashi) Vrat Katha, Puja Vidhi, Udyapan Vidhi", Manav Vikas Foundation, Mumbai (Acharya Akhilesh Dwivedi), 2021 (archive.org/details/mvf_20240803_20240803_1531)
  4. Drik Panchang, Pradosh list, puja times and the names by weekday (drikpanchang.com/vrats/pradoshdates.html)

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