Annapurna Puja
Goddess Annapurna
When it falls
The date shifts because it tracks the moon, not the Gregorian calendar.
Calculated for India (IST) using precise Panchang astronomy. Dates can shift by a day at locations far to the east or west.
The goddess who feeds the household
Annapurna is a form of Parvati (Gauri), worshipped specifically as the goddess of food and nourishment. Her name combines anna (food, grain) with purna (full or complete), so she is literally "the one who is full of food." She is usually shown holding a ladle and a vessel of rice, the simple emblems of a kitchen that never runs empty.
The best-known story behind her worship is set in Kashi (Varanasi). In it, Shiva calls the material world an illusion, and Parvati — to show that the body and the food that sustains it cannot simply be dismissed — withdraws nourishment from the world until everything begins to starve. She then takes the form of Annapurna and feeds all beings, with Shiva himself receiving alms from her hand. The point of the story is grounded rather than mystical: food is real, the work of feeding people is sacred, and the home that provides it deserves the goddess's grace.
Annapurna Puja is observed on Chaitra Shukla Ashtami, the eighth day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Chaitra, which usually falls in March or April. This is the same tithi as the spring Durga worship, so in Bengal it is closely tied to Basanti Puja and shares the broader Ashtami family with Durga Ashtami.
Rituals & observance
Annapurna Puja centres on food — cooking it well, offering it first to the goddess, and then sharing it. The observance is kept mainly in Bengali and eastern-Indian homes and temples, and the details vary by family and locality.
- The image or picture of Annapurna is bathed and dressed, and the puja is performed during the day while Ashtami tithi prevails after sunrise.
- A full meal is cooked and offered to the goddess as bhog — typically rice with several side dishes, since the offering of cooked food is the heart of this puja rather than a token.
- Devotees offer flowers, fruit, and naivedya (food offerings), and many families keep a fast until the puja is completed and the bhog is offered.
- After the offering, the consecrated food (prasad) is shared among family, neighbours, and visitors — feeding others is treated as part of the worship itself.
- Where Annapurna falls on the same day as the spring Durga worship, the two are often kept together, with the Annapurna rite folded into the Maha Ashtami observance.
Regional variations
How this date is determined
Observed on the Ashtami tithi of Chaitra (Shukla paksha), reckoned by sunrise (udaya tithi). Should the tithi fall across two days, tradition keeps the earlier day (purva-viddha).
Dates are computed to astronomical precision (NASA/JPL ephemeris), in line with traditional panchang.
