Puja guide · Vishnu as Satyanarayan (Lord of Truth)

Satyanarayan Puja Vidhi

The Satyanarayan puja and katha honour Vishnu as the Lord of Truth. Families perform it on Purnima (full moon), on Ekadashi, or to give thanks for a new home, a marriage, a birth or any success. Its heart is the katha — five short chapters, from the Skanda Purana tradition, about people whose lives changed when they kept, or neglected, their promise to the Lord.

When: Commonly on Purnima evening, on Ekadashi, Sankranti or any auspicious day — and after griha pravesh, weddings and other milestones.

Step-by-step puja vidhi

1. Prepare the mandap

   Set up the chowki with banana leaves or stems at the corners, place the kalash and the image of Satyanarayan, and draw a small rangoli.

2. Sankalpa

   After achamana, the host couple state their sankalpa — date, place, names and the purpose of the puja.

3. Ganesha and navagraha puja

   Worship Ganesha first, then the nine planets and the kalash, offering kumkum, rice and flowers.

   ॐ गं गणपतये नमः

   oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ

   Chant with the mantra counter →

4. Satyanarayan puja

   These steps follow the traditional shodashopachara — the sixteen offerings with which a deity is welcomed and honoured as a guest. Bathe the image with panchamrit and water, then offer cloth, sandal paste, tulsi, flowers, incense, the lamp and naivedya of sheera, fruit and panchamrit.

   ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

   oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

   Chant with the mantra counter →

5. The katha

   Everyone sits and listens to the five chapters of the Satyanarayan katha, read by the priest or an elder, holding a little rice or flowers in their hands and offering them at the end of each chapter.

6. Aarti

   Perform aarti — usually Om Jai Jagdish Hare — with camphor and a ghee lamp.

7. Prasad

   Distribute the sheera prasad and panchamrit to everyone present. The katha stresses that prasad must never be refused or left uneaten.