The month of Sravana is also the time when women perform the famous Mangalagouri Vratam on all Tuesdays and also Fridays. Varalakshmi Vratam is part of this bigger ritual and the most important of festivals as worshipping goddess Lakshmi is believed to bestow health, wealth and prosperity for all.

Varalakshmi Vratam is celebrated normally on the second Friday of Sravana, the Friday before the Pournami or Full Moon Day. Varam means boon and Varalakshmi is the goddess who showers boons on the devotees. Those who miss the Vratam or the special puja to invoke the blessings of the goddess on that day prefer to do it on any subsequent Friday of the month. This year, there are only four Fridays in the month of Sravana as Ashada Amavasya fell on a Friday.

Women meticulously plan for the big occasion. Some of those who perform the puja observe fast on the eve of Varalakshmi Vratam. On the day of the puja, they would get up at least a couple of hours before dawn and take bath. The household is thoroughly cleaned and the entrances smeared with turmeric paste, followed by application of the kum kum marks for the festival. A small mandapam or puja place is set up by drawing a rangoli. Rice is spread on the rangoli and a kalasa is placed on the rice.

The kalasa comprises a small pot on which is placed a coconut. Atop the cononut, a small piece of cloth, preferably some 100 cm of blouse piece, is placed like a cap.

The features of the goddess are also drawn on the coconut to make Her image to facilitate worship. There are Ashtalakshmi pots made of silver or copper readily available in the market, which are used by some. Devotees also place a mirror behind the kalasam.

After the puja is over, women from the neighbourhood are invited for perantam and offered thambulam.

According to legend, a Brahmin woman by name Charumathi of Kundina city in Magadha kingdom was a devout housewife, serving her in-laws and husband dutifully. One night, she had a dream in which goddess Mahalakshmi appeared and asked her to perform puja to Varalakshmi, the goddess of boons.

Accordingly she performed the puja and invited her relatives and friends to it. Immediately after the puja, not only Charumathi, but also all others who attended it rolled in wealth and prosperity.

Varalaskhmi Vratam is one ritual performed by all, irrespective of caste or creed, and is very popular in Andhra Pradesh. Women flock the market places on the eve of the vratam, buying gold and clothes besides articles for the puja. A booklet on Varalakshmi Vratakalpam informing the puja procedure is also available in the market to help those who are not able to find a priest for the puja.

Many temples in the city, particularly the Sri Kanakamahalakshmi temple, is organising the Sravanalakshmi and Varalakshmi puja on a grand scale every year. This year, Sri Guruvayoorappan temple or Krishna Mandir in Seethammadhara North Extension Layout is organising Sri Vaibhavalakshmi Vratam on the same lines on the four Fridays as also on the first Friday of the month of Bhadrapada which follows Sravana.

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