Manabasa Gurubara (Thursdays of Margashira — for Mahalakshmi)
Goddess Mahalakshmi
Jagannath / OdiaGet a reminder before the next Manabasa Gurubara (Thursdays of Margashira — for Mahalakshmi)
At 7pm the evening before, each time it comes around. Turn it off anytime.
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Manabasa Gurubara — every Thursday of the Odia Margashira month. The most important Mahalakshmi vrat for Odia women, observed at home with Lakshmi-jhoti, fresh harvest rice in a mana basket, and reading of Balarama Dasa's Lakshmi Purana.
Dates 2026–2027
Mantra
ॐ महालक्ष्म्यै नमः।
Om Mahalakshmyai namah
Salutations to Mahalakshmi — invited into every clean and prosperous home.
How to recite
On every Thursday of the Odia month of Margashira (Margasira), the home is meticulously cleaned from before sunrise and a beautiful jhoti (rice-paste decoration) is drawn at the entrance, on the kitchen, and around a basket of new harvest rice (mana). Mahalakshmi is invoked into the mana basket; fresh pitha, fruits and coconut sweets are offered; the Lakshmi Purana of Balarama Dasa is read aloud. The story tells of Mahalakshmi visiting Sriya (a chandala woman), being expelled from Jagannath's temple in protest, and finally returning when Jagannath and Balabhadra repent — making Lakshmi-seva the central duty of every Odia home.
Benefits
Manabasa Gurubara is the heart of Odia women's religious life. Reading the Lakshmi Purana on every Margasira Thursday teaches that Mahalakshmi resides in cleanliness, hard work, and the rejection of caste/social discrimination — the central social teaching of Jagannath bhakti.
✦ Special Note
Per Odia panchang. Margashira Thursdays — 2026: Nov 26, Dec 3, 10, 17. 2027: Nov 18, 25, Dec 2, 9, 16. The Lakshmi Purana of Balarama Dasa (15th c.) is the central text — its anti-caste message is foundational to Jagannath bhakti.
Foods Allowed
Foods to Avoid
Meal Idea
Fresh Manabasa rice with pitha (kakara, manda), coconut sweets, fruits, dahi — shared with the whole household after Lakshmi is invoked into the mana basket.
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Get a reminder before the next Manabasa Gurubara (Thursdays of Margashira — for Mahalakshmi)
At 7pm the evening before, each time it comes around. Turn it off anytime.
Remind meDates shown for India (default). Enable JavaScript to set a reminder for your location.
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