Guru Purnima

The day the teacher is honoured — kept for Veda Vyasa, who arranged the Vedas, and for whoever taught you.

The full moon is taken as the image of the teacher — light received from elsewhere and passed on without being its source. The date also opens chaturmasa, the monsoon months when wandering ascetics stayed in one place and taught, so the festival sits at the start of the traditional study season.

• Anyone who wishes to honour Vyasa, and one's own teacher may observe it; there is no requirement of initiation or priesthood for the home version.
• No fast is required, so the whole household can take part, including children and elders.
• In many families the observance passes down through the women of the house or through a family tradition tied to Vyasa, and one's own teacher; follow your family's custom where it differs from the general description here.

1. 1Bathe, wear clean clothes and clear a small space for the deity.
2. 2Light a lamp and an incense stick, and offer water, flowers and a simple sweet from the samagri list below.
3. 3Say Vyasa, and one's own teacher's name or the mantra on this page eleven times, with your intention for the day.
4. 4Read the short katha on this page aloud, offer the bhog, and share the prasad.
5. 5Share the food of the day with family or neighbours before eating yourself.

No fast. Many keep the day satvik and in silence for part of it.

• ×Fixing the puja by the clock instead of the tithi. Purnima can begin or end part-way through the day in your city, so check your Panchang the evening before.
• ×Gathering samagri on the morning itself. Items such as fresh flowers and fruit for the teacher's seat and a cloth, and something given by hand are often unavailable at the last minute.
• ×Treating the feasting as the whole observance and skipping the offering and the story that give the day its meaning.
• ×Taking one region's practice as the only correct one. Buddhists keep it as Asalha Puja; Jains as the day Mahavira took his first disciple; Nath, Vaishnava and Advaita lineages each honour their own parampara; in Nepal it is also kept as a schoolteachers' day.
• ×Rushing the steps without knowing why each one is done, which makes the observance hard to repeat next year.

Buddhists keep it as Asalha Puja; Jains as the day Mahavira took his first disciple; Nath, Vaishnava and Advaita lineages each honour their own parampara; in Nepal it is also kept as a schoolteachers' day.

Regional scope

Pan-Indian practice, with regional notes given above

Last reviewed

September 2026

Reviewed by

DharmaPath editorial team, from traditional texts and household practice

Explanations here are written in our own words from traditional sources; timings, muhurta and local custom should be confirmed with your Panchang or family priest.