Varalakshmi Vratham is a puja done where we worship the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is celebrated on the Second Friday or the Friday before full moon day Poornima in the Shravana Masam. There are primarily 8 Goddesses we worship. It is believed that worshiping the Goddess on this one day is same as worshiping the eight Goddesses, The Ashtalakshmi.
· Adi Lakshmi – The main goddess
· Dhanya Lakshmi – Granary wealth
· Dhairya Lakshmi – Wealth of courage
· Gaja Lakshmi – Elephants, symbols of wealth
· Santana Lakshmi – Wealth of progeny
· Vijaya Lakshmi – Wealth of victory
· Vidya Lakshmi – Wealth of knowledge
· Dhana Lakshmi – Monetary wealth
Here is the story behing this Puja
In a small town of Kundina, there lived a simple and kind Brahmin woman named Charumathi. She loved her husband and family very much. Impressed by her sincere devotion towards her family, Laxmi Devi came into her dreams one night. She asked her to perform the Vara Laxmi pooja explaining her every simple thing about the puja. Apart from the details, the goddess also told that she has to perform this puja on the Friday just before the Shravana Purnima. Charumati woke up and told about the dream to her family, who encouraged her to proceed with the pooja. Charumati told about the pooja to her friends and neighborhood and the word spread out in the town. Thus on that year, all the women from the town worshiped varalakshmi devi with their sincere dedication. They all chanted
Narayana priyadevi supreethaa bhava sarvada”