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Anant Chaturdashi

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Published 2026-09-04 · region: pan-Hindu · Saath Wikifestival

Calendar timing

Sep (Lunar (Bhadrapada Shukla))

  • 2026 · 2026-09-24 (scholar-2026-06-23)

Stories & history

Fourteen knotspan-Hindu

The thread tied on this day carries fourteen knots, and the vrat is classically kept for fourteen years — a thread a year, the old one replaced and the count going up. That length is the substance of the observance: it is not a day's undertaking but a commitment made on a day, which is why families who keep it can tell you which year they are in.

Ananta, who has no endwidely told

The vrat is addressed to Vishnu as Ananta — the endless — and the story usually told with it is of a couple who prospered while they kept the thread and lost everything when it was thrown away, then recovered it. It is told plainly as a story about keeping to something, and the thread is the thing kept.

Symbolism & meaning

Core symbolism
The Ananta vrat — a fourteen-knotted thread tied to Vishnu the endless, classically renewed for fourteen years.
Meaning
The fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada. A thread of fourteen knots, dyed with turmeric, is consecrated in the day's puja and tied on the arm, replacing the previous year's. The vrat is addressed to Vishnu as Ananta and is classically kept for fourteen consecutive years. A fast is held until the puja is done, fourteen of each offering are made in most traditions, and the narrative is read. The same date carries the Ganesh immersion in western India, which is a different occasion with its own entry, and in Maharashtra it eclipses this one entirely.

Procedure

  1. Bath and sankalpa. The household bathes early and states the intention, naming which year of the vrat is being kept.
  2. Preparing the thread. A cotton thread is dyed with turmeric and fourteen knots are tied in it.
  3. The puja. Vishnu as Ananta is worshipped, with fourteen of each offering made in most traditions, and the thread consecrated before him.
  4. The narrative. The story of the vrat is read or heard, which is required in most traditions for the observance to count.
  5. Tying the thread. The thread is tied on the arm, the previous year's removed, and the fast is broken.

Materials needed

  • Cotton thread and turmeric for dyeing it
  • An image or picture of Vishnu
  • Fourteen each of the offerings the tradition prescribes — flowers, fruit, sweets
  • Tulsi leaves and sandal paste
  • A lamp and incense
  • The text of the vrat narrative

Family participation

  • Keeps the vrat, performs the puja and ties the thread — Head of the household
  • Reads the vrat narrative — Purohit, or an elder of the household

Keep reading

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