Vivah Panchami 2026विवाह पंचमी

When is Vivah Panchami?

Observed on Shukla Panchami, Margashirsha month. Dates follow the Panchang for New Delhi and can differ by a day in other places — check the Panchang for your city.

What Vivah Panchami means

Vivah Panchami, the fifth day of the bright half of Margashirsha, celebrates the wedding of Shri Rama and Sita. Temples across North India and Nepal re-enact the divine wedding with music, processions and the reading of Tulsidas's Bal Kand, where the swayamvara and marriage are described in some of the most loved verses of the Ramcharitmanas.

The celebrations are grandest at Janakpur in Nepal, Sita's home in Mithila, and in Ayodhya, where Rama's wedding procession (barat) is taken out with great pomp. For devotees the marriage of Sita and Rama is the ideal of married life — love joined with dharma.

An old custom in Mithila holds that families avoid fixing their daughters' weddings on Vivah Panchami, remembering the sorrows Sita later bore; elsewhere it is considered auspicious.

The story of Vivah Panchami

King Janaka of Mithila found Sita as a baby in a furrow while ploughing. When she grew up, he declared that she would marry whoever could lift and string the mighty bow of Shiva (Pinaka), which no king had been able to move.

The sage Vishvamitra brought Rama and Lakshmana to the swayamvara. Kings and princes failed one after another. Rama, at his teacher's word, lifted the bow lightly; as he drew it, it snapped with a sound like thunder. Sita came forward and placed the garland of victory on him.

King Dasharatha came from Ayodhya with a grand wedding procession, and Rama and Sita were married, along with his brothers Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna to Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakirti. Tulsidas describes the wedding at length in the Bal Kand.

Vivah Panchami puja vidhi, step by step

How Vivah Panchami is kept at home and in temples.

What you need

• An image of Sita-Rama or the Ram Darbar
• New clothes, garlands, sindoor and wedding finery for the images
• Flowers, tulsi, a ghee diya and incense
• Sweets, fruit and kheer for naivedya
• The Ramcharitmanas (Bal Kand)

When to do the puja

In 2026 Vivah Panchami falls on Monday, 14 December; in 2027, on Friday, 3 December (Margashirsha Shukla Panchami). Check the Panchang for your city. See the Panchang for your city.

Steps

1. Morning. Bathe and take a sankalp; decorate the shrine as for a wedding.
2. Read. Read the Sita swayamvara and wedding from the Bal Kand of the Ramcharitmanas.
3. Wedding puja. Dress Sita and Rama in new clothes, exchange garlands between the images and offer sindoor to Sita.
4. Aarti and bhog. Offer sweets and do the aarti with "Shri Ramchandra Kripalu".
5. Share. Distribute prasad and bless married couples.

Offerings & food: Sweets, fruits, kheer, garlands and wedding finery for Sita and Rama

Mantras for Vivah Panchami

Vivah Panchami across India

Janakpur Dham (Nepal) and Sitamarhi in Mithila; Ayodhya; Ram temples across North India

Janakpur Dham (Nepal)

A week-long festival at the Janaki Mandir with the re-enactment of the swayamvara, the bow-breaking and the wedding, drawing pilgrims from India and Nepal.

Ayodhya

Rama's wedding procession (barat) is taken out from temples, and the Ram Janmabhoomi and Kanak Bhawan celebrate the divine wedding.

Mithila (Bihar)

Sitamarhi and Punaura Dham, linked with Sita's birth, hold celebrations with Maithili wedding songs.

Prayers to recite

Do’s and don’ts

Temples to visit for Vivah Panchami

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi MandirAyodhya, Uttar Pradesh

Frequently asked questions