Vivah Panchami 2026
14 December 2026

Vivah Panchami is kept on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami as the day of the wedding of Shri Rama and Sita. The Valmiki Ramayana tells how the wedding took place at Mithila, in the court of King Janaka; the date itself comes from tradition. Temples of Rama and Sita mark it as a wedding, with the images dressed as bride and groom, a barat procession, and wedding songs sung as they would be at a family wedding.

The day is loved most where the story lives: Janakpur in Nepal, Sita’s home, and Ayodhya, Rama’s. Devotees read the wedding episode from the Bal Kand of the Ramcharitmanas, and many families pray before Ram and Sita for harmony in their own marriages, or for a good match for a son or daughter. It is a day of joy in the Ram tradition, kept with bhajans and the retelling of the story more than with strict rules.

• Images or a picture of Rama and Sita
• Yellow or red cloth for the seat
• Two flower garlands
• Red chunri and suhag items for Sita ji (bangles, bindi, sindoor)
• Roli, haldi and akshat
• Tulsi leaves
• Flowers
• Fruit and sweets for the bhog
• Ghee diya and incense
• Ramcharitmanas

Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bal Kand; the date is kept by tradition

After Rama and Lakshmana had guarded his yajna, the sage Vishwamitra brought them to Mithila, where King Janaka was holding a great yajna. Janaka had in his keeping the mighty bow of Shiva. He had found Sita in the earth as he ploughed a field, and he had resolved that she would be given only to the one who could string that bow. Many kings had tried and failed.

At Vishwamitra’s word the bow was brought out in its great chest. Rama lifted it with ease and drew the string, and the bow broke in the middle with a sound like thunder. Janaka declared that his vow was fulfilled, and sent messengers to Ayodhya to invite King Dasharatha.

Dasharatha came with his family and his priests, Vasishtha among them. Before the sacred fire Janaka gave Sita to Rama, and in the same ceremony Urmila was wed to Lakshmana, and Mandavi and Shrutakirti, daughters of Janaka’s brother Kushadhvaja, to Bharata and Shatrughna.

What to do

• Read or listen to the wedding episode unhurriedly, so the day is spent with the story it celebrates.
• Offer Sita ji the shringar of a bride, since the day is kept as her wedding.
• Pray for harmony in your home, as many couples do on this day before Rama and Sita.
• If you can, join the temple celebration or the barat, as the festival is meant to be kept together.

What to avoid

• Many families in Mithila and in parts of Braj avoid fixing weddings on Vivah Panchami. The belief is that Sita’s married life brought her great hardship, and parents do not wish that for their daughters. Not every family holds this, so follow your own family’s custom.
• Avoid quarrels at home on this day, since it is kept in remembrance of a marriage.

Because it falls in the bright half of the month, Vivah Panchami has the same month name in both calendars: Margashirsha Shukla Panchami, called Agahan in the Hindi belt. It is Vivah Panchami in North India and in Nepal. Janakpur keeps it as one of its greatest festivals, with the wedding enacted at the Janaki temple over several days, and Ayodhya keeps it with barat processions and wedding celebrations at its temples.

The day follows the Panchami tithi, generally the day on which it holds at sunrise. Since sunrise comes at different times in different places, when the Panchami begins or ends close to sunrise the date can differ by a day between cities, or between India and Nepal.