Vrat · fast
Budhvar Vrat 2028: Date, Vrat Vidhi & Significance
Wednesday
Wednesday, 5 January 2028
Budhvar Vrat 2028 is on Wednesday, 5 January 2028, the Shukla Ashtami of Pausha. Budhvar Vrat is the weekday fast kept on Wednesday, associated with Budha (Mercury) and kept for clear intellect and speech, success in study, trade and negotiation, and steadiness of mind.
Send your own
Add your name and city. Your family gets the exact muhurat for that city, from you.
Muhurat for New Delhi
Parana: how to break the fast
Break after the day's worship with one saltless meal of green food.
The puja muhurat and the day's timings depend on your city's sunrise and sunset. Choose your city to see them.
What is Budhvar Vrat?
Wednesday, ruled by Mercury, is kept for Vishnu, and in Maharashtra for Vitthal. The fast is a single meal, green being the day's colour — green gram, green cloth, green vegetables given in dana. Vishnu or Krishna is worshipped with tulsi and the Vishnu Sahasranama; students and traders keep it for clarity and success in dealings.
History
Weekday vratas (varavrata) and the weekday-Pradosh combinations are set out in the Nibandha and vrata literature and elaborated in popular Vrat Katha collections; the planetary-remedy reading is from applied jyotish. The Santoshi Mata Friday vrat is a twentieth-century addition to the older set.
- Nibandha and Vrata-katha literature
How Budhvar Vrat is observed
- Kept for Ganesha and the planet Budha, for intellect, speech and business: Ganesha is offered durva grass, green moong and modak.
- Green clothes are worn, and the Budhvar vrat katha is read.
- Green moong or green cloth is given in daan.
The phala: reward of the vrat
Phala: Clear intellect and speech, success in study, trade and negotiation, and steadiness of mind; strengthening of a weak Budha.
Budhvar Vrat Vrat Katha
The Budhvar katha tells of a newly married man who set out with his bride from her parents' home on a Wednesday against all advice; robbers, a broken cart and a strange double of himself beset the journey until he vowed never again to travel on a Budhvar without first worshipping — after which the trouble lifted.
Source: Vrata-katha tradition (the Vrat Katha Sangrah and regional collections)
Budhvar Vrat Vidhi, step by step
- Sankalpa. Bathe, wear green, and take the sankalpa for the Wednesday fast.
- Ganesha puja. Offer durva, green moong and modak to Ganesha.
- Katha. Read the Budhvar vrat katha.
- Daan and meal. Give green moong in daan and take the single meal.
Samagri checklist
- Durva grass
- Green moong
- Modak
- Green cloth
- Lamp and incense
Budhvar Vrat Mantra
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
The deity's root mantra, repeated 108 times during the worship.
Niyam & who should not fast
- One saltless meal of green food
- Wear green
- Give green moong in daan
Who should not keep this fast: Those who are ill, pregnant, nursing, elderly or diabetic should keep phalahar or a fruit-and-milk fast rather than a saltless single meal, or do the puja and dana without fasting.
Regional variations
- Pan-Indian. Kept across North, West and Central India as a household vrat; strong for Vitthal in Maharashtra.
Festive foods
- Green food, saltless — The vrat meal follows the day: green ingredients where possible, no salt, and often a single grain (wheat, or chana dal on Thursday). Sour food is avoided on Friday.
Why this date
Budhvar Vrat falls on Wednesday, 5 January 2028. Wednesday fast for Vithal / Ganesha.
at sunrise
The astronomical basis
Budhvar Vrat is not tied to a tithi: it is kept on Wednesday itself, ruled in the planetary week by Budha (Mercury). A vow is usually taken for a fixed run — 16, 21 or 43 weeks — and closed with an udyapan. It recurs every seven days.
The date is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar and shifts against the Gregorian year.
Budhvar Vrat dates 2022–2037
| Year | Date | Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Wednesday, 5 January 2022 | Wed | — |
| 2023 | Wednesday, 4 January 2023 | Wed | — |
| 2024 | Wednesday, 3 January 2024 | Wed | — |
| 2025 | Wednesday, 1 January 2025 | Wed | — |
| 2026 | Wednesday, 7 January 2026 | Wed | — |
| 2027 | Wednesday, 6 January 2027 | Wed | — |
| 2028 | Wednesday, 5 January 2028 | Wed | — |
| 2029 | Wednesday, 3 January 2029 | Wed | — |
| 2030 | Wednesday, 2 January 2030 | Wed | — |
| 2031 | Wednesday, 1 January 2031 | Wed | — |
| 2032 | Wednesday, 7 January 2032 | Wed | — |
| 2033 | Wednesday, 5 January 2033 | Wed | — |
| 2034 | Wednesday, 4 January 2034 | Wed | — |
| 2035 | Wednesday, 3 January 2035 | Wed | — |
| 2036 | Wednesday, 2 January 2036 | Wed | — |
| 2037 | Wednesday, 7 January 2037 | Wed | — |
Dates for New Delhi; they can differ by a day elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
When is Budhvar Vrat 2028?
Budhvar Vrat 2028 is on Wednesday, 5 January 2028. Budhvar Vrat falls on Wednesday, 5 January 2028. Wednesday fast for Vithal / Ganesha.
What can be eaten on Budhvar Vrat?
A single meal, usually without salt, in the day's colour and grain — green ingredients, one grain such as wheat. Many keep phalahar. The meal is taken after the deity's worship.
How many Wednesdays should the vrat be kept?
By vow — commonly 16, 21 or 43 consecutive Wednesdays for a specific wish, ending with an udyapan (a concluding puja and feeding of Brahmins or children). Some keep it lifelong.
Related
More Vishnu observances
Associated graha
Written and checked by AstroTathya Editorial Team · Last checked 2026-09-08.
Date & panchang computed by the AstroTathya calculation engine, Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa; muhurat and timings are worked out for each city. How we calculate this → · Editorial policy
Sources & further reading
- Vrata-katha and Nibandha literature — the weekday vratas
- Wikipedia — Vrata