Lakshmi Puja Holiday 2024

Lakshmi Puja is amongst the many auspicious festivals in India. Observed on the 15th day of Kartik month, the puja honours Goddess Lakshmi – the goddess  of wealth, luck and prosperity. This year, Sunday, Lakshmi Puja 2024, will be celebrated on November 12, 2024. Devotees clean their houses, adorn them with glowing diyas and prepare festive delicacies to welcome goddess Lakshmi to their houses and seek her blessings. Families also offer benevolent prayers to Lord Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati and Lord Kubera.

The festival is prominently celebrated in regions of Odisha, Assam, Tripura, West Bengal and some parts of Nepal. In most parts of the country, the Puja is celebrated on the day of Diwali itself. While in other parts, the puja is performed a few days after the Vijaya Dashami. The Bengali Lakshmi Puja, also known as Kojagari Puja, is the biggest celebration of the blessed day. 

Lakshmi Puja 2024 Date

The Lakshmi Puja 2024 is scheduled for November 12. The puja rituals will fill our homes with peace, benevolence and devotion on the festive Sunday.

Lakshmi Puja 2024 is performed two days after the Dhanteras. November 10, 2024, will mark Dhanteras celebrations across the country.

Lakshmi Puja Timings: 2024

The muhurta for Lakshmi Puja 2024 starts at 06:11 pm and ends at 08:15 pm. The timings for the puja are given below:- 

Lakshmi Puja Time & Duration
Shubh Muhrat	2 Hours 23 Minutes
Pradosh Kaal	Starts at 05:59 pm	Ends at 08:26 pm
Vrishabha Kaal	Starts from 06:11	Ends at 08:15 pm
Amavasya Tithi	Tithi starts at- 02:44 pm	Ends at 02:56 pm

Lakshmi Puja Dates from 2024 – 2029 

The Lakshmi Puja dates starting from the year 2024 up to 2029 are given below in the table:-

Month	Day
November 12, 2024,	Sunday
November 1, 2024,	Friday
October 20, 2025,	Monday
November 8, 2026,	Sunday
October 29, 2027,	Friday
October 17, 2028,	Tuesday
November 5, 2029,	Monday

What is the Festival of Lakshmi?

We all know that Lakshmi Puja 2024 is celebrated to get blessings from the Goddess of wealth. However, there is more to that. Lakshmi Pujan symbolises spiritual contentment and material growth. Goddess Lakshmi symbolises good luck, wealth and prosperity. In Sanskrit, Lakshmi means ‘aim’ or ‘goal’. The goddess is believed to visit Earth on this day, asking, “Ko Jagriti?” i.e. “Who is awake?”. The sincere and pure-hearted, ” awake ” worshippers get the almighty’s endless blessings. 

On the occasion of Lakshmi Puja, people observe a full-day fast, also known as ‘vrata’. It is believed that the goddess helps remove negativity from one’s life and ushers them to the path of prosperity. People offer prayers through mantras, hymns and rituals to the Goddess’s idols. 

The festival celebrations mark the beginning of something new. It can be anything – new ventures, new purchases and new investments. It is often said that Lakshmi Puja marks the end of malignant and the start of benevolent things.

Lakshmi Puja – Festive Activities

In honour of Goddess Lakshmi, all the family members get dressed up in new ethnic clothes on Lakshmi Puja. Before we move on to the various activities performed on the day, let’s look at the necessary idols.

Lakshmi Puja requires these deities altogether to perform the puja:-

1. Lord Ganesh, or Vighneshwara, is called upon whenever we start something auspicious.

2. The three incarnations of Goddess Lakshmi are worshipped to bless us with good luck and prosperity.

-Mahalakshmi or the Goddess of wealth.

-Saraswati, or the Goddess of learning.

-Mahakali or the Goddess of power, time, life and death

3. Lord Kubera, or the Lord of all treasures.

Dutifully cleaning every nook and corner of the house is the first and most important ritual. It is believed that the goddess visits the abodes of those devotees who’ve kept them dutifully and sincerely clean. The goddess is welcomed with beautiful rangoli designs and two manglik kalash with coconuts on the house’s entrance. The doors and windows are kept open to invite the goddess in. Family members then wear new attires to honour goddess Lakshmi through prayers at the blessed muhurat.

The Lakshmi Pujan begins in the evening during Pradosh Kaal. People place the idols over fresh red cloth. Singing the auspicious Lakshmi Aarti and performing other rituals, devotees light lamps and offer vermillion, rice, jalebis, panchamrita, batasha and flowers to goddess Lakshmi.

After the Puja, devotees light up the night of Amavasya with the gleams of diyas. Like the whole festival of Deepawali, diya is the symbol of ‘light’. Elders advise lighting lamps in all four directions to push away evil spirits and rinse your house of negative energies. Family members share the bhog prasad with their neighbours, the young take the blessings from their elders, and children rush out of the house to light up firecrackers. 

Finally, by the night’s end, the family consumes their meal and prasad. The temple diya remains lit throughout the night as everybody sleeps in Goddess Lakshmi’s safe refuge.

Things Required to Perform Lakshmi Puja

Whenever a Puja is performed, it is completed with some holy items. The main ingredients required for performing Lakshmi Puja 2024 are mentioned below:-

Lakshmi Puja starts by bringing new idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi to the house for their worship.

• A wooden stool to respectfully place the idols.
• A new red cloth to cover the stool on which the idols will be kept. 
• A yellow and red silk cloth to cover the idol of Goddess Lakshmi.
• Panchamrit is made of milk, curd, ghee, sugar and honey. 
• ‘Bahi-Khata’ or the Account Books.
• An inkpot with a pen.
• 5 big and 25 small diyas or earthen lamps.
• An earthen pot or kalash.
• Leaves of holy plants of Tulsi and Bilva.
• Fruits like apples, bananas and dried rice.
• three garlands which should be made of freshly harvested flowers.
• Durva grass.
• The twigs of peepal, bakul, palash, mango and banyan trees.
• Three betel quids, often known as ‘paan’.
• A tick made of pomegranate of the Bilva plant.
• Champak, daru haradi, musta, sunhi, kustha, bach, jatamasi, shaileya, haradi, and mura are the ten herbs needed for completing the puja rituals of Goddess Lakshmi.
• Mud from horse stable, cow shelter, royal palace, ant heaps, lowlands, elephant stable or a river confluence.  

People celebrate this festival with great joy and excitement as it brings them happiness and calmness with the hope of starting something new. 

Lakshmi Puja 2024 Do’s and Dont’s

One prays not with the rituals, but with the heart. As worshippers, we’re always worried about the right way of praying to the goddess on Lakshmi Puja. Here are the answers to all your queries.

Do’s

• Perform the pooja during the Pradosh Kaal.
• Place the idols on a new red cloth after cleaning the prayer altar. 
• Keep your house clean.
• Offer gold, silver and diamond items for good fortune.
• The prayer altar must be in the northeast, and the idols in the east corner of the house. 
• The devotees’ backs should be facing the north corners of the house.
• Coconuts in the two Kalash should be unpeeled. 
• Prefer clay and silver idols over others.
• The Navagrahas should be prepared on a white cloth. 
• Maintain peace and discipline while the puja is going on. 

Don’ts

• Keep the footwear away from the prayer altar.
• Avoid consuming non-vegetarian and liquor on Lakshmi Puja.
• Keep refilling the temple diya throughout the night so the flame doesn’t go out.
• The use of iron utensils is discouraged.