In the Ravi Pradosh katha as tradition tells it, a poor brahmin’s wife keeps the Pradosh vrat. Her son, on his way to bathe in the Ganga, first escapes some robbers, then the king’s men take him for a thief and arrest him. By the power of his mother’s vrat the king dreams that the boy is innocent; the king frees him and gives the family five villages.
Hindi in Roman letters: a reading aid, made by a program. The Devanagari text is the original.
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The next Ravi Pradosh dates
- Sunday, 22 November 2026Ravi Pradosh · Kartika Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 5:25–8:06 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Sunday, 6 December 2026Ravi Pradosh · Margashirsha Krishna TrayodashiPuja time 5:24–8:07 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Sunday, 4 April 2027Ravi Pradosh · Chaitra Krishna TrayodashiPuja time 6:41–8:58 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Sunday, 18 April 2027Ravi Pradosh · Chaitra Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 6:48–9:01 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 listA Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Sunday is called Ravi Pradosh (Drik Panchang). In the Pradosh booklets this is the first of the seven weekday kathas. At its start, in an assembly of sages on the bank of the Bhagirathi, Suta says that Lord Shankara told this vrat to Sati and that his own guru told it to him.
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 Drik Panchang and the booklets: bathe in the morning, keep the fast, meditate on Shiva and go to a Shiva temple for the puja.
- In the puja, bel leaves, incense, a lamp, unbroken rice and seasonal fruit are offered, the tripundra mark is put on the forehead, and "Om Namah Shivaya" is chanted on a rudraksha rosary.
- A brahmin is fed and given dakshina as one can afford. The rules given for the day are silence, truthful speech, sleeping on the ground and a single meal; the booklets say the vrat has special worth in the month of Shravan.
- 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.
Hindi in Roman letters: a reading aid, made by a program. The Devanagari text is the original.
The other language could not be loaded. Keep reading here, or try again.
The Ravi Pradosh katha: the brahmin woman’s son and the king’s dream
In a village lived a very poor brahmin. His wife walked the path of dharma and kept the Pradosh vrat. They had one son. One day the son set out to bathe in the Ganga. On the way robbers surrounded him and threatened to kill him unless he told them where his father’s hidden wealth was.
Frightened, the boy said they were very poor; where would they have wealth? The robbers asked what was tied in his bundle. He said simply that his mother had packed bread for the road. Then one robber told the others that the poor boy really had nothing and they should let him go. The robbers left him and went away.
Going on, the boy came near a town and, tired out, fell asleep in the shade of a banyan tree. The town’s soldiers were searching for the robbers. They took the sleeping boy for a thief too, seized him and brought him before the king. The king ordered him to be put in prison.
Meanwhile the boy’s mother was keeping the Pradosh vrat and praying to Shiva for her son’s safe return. That same night the king dreamed that the boy was no thief; he should free him at daybreak, or his kingdom and splendour would soon be lost.
In the morning the king asked the boy what had happened, and the boy told him everything, from the robbers to his arrest. The king sent soldiers to fetch his parents. They came in fear, and the king said, "Do not be afraid; your son is innocent." Seeing their poverty, the king gave them five villages. By Shiva’s grace the brahmin family lived happily from then on. The katha says that whoever keeps this vrat with faith finds the same happiness.
Other tellings
- Drik Panchang and both booklets tell the katha the same way. Sunday is not named anywhere in the story itself; the booklets give it under the heading "Sunday Trayodashi".
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 kathaFrequently asked questions
What is Ravi Pradosh?
A Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Sunday is called Ravi 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
- Drik Panchang, Ravi Pradosha Vrat Katha (drikpanchang.com/vrat-katha/pradosha/ravi-pradosha/ravi-pradosha-vrat-katha.html), read 10 October 2026
- "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)
- "Pradosh (Trayodashi) Vrat Katha, Puja Vidhi, Udyapan Vidhi", Manav Vikas Foundation, Mumbai (Acharya Akhilesh Dwivedi), 2021 (archive.org/details/mvf_20240803_20240803_1531)
- Drik Panchang, Pradosh list, puja times and the names by weekday (drikpanchang.com/vrats/pradoshdates.html)
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