Navagraha Shanti Puja (Online)

About this puja

Navagraha Shanti is a puja for the nine grahas of Indian astrology: Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Budh, Guru, Shukra, Shani, and the two shadow planets Rahu and Ketu. Families ask for it when a horoscope shows a difficult dasha (planetary period), during Sade Sati or a Shani dhaiya, before a wedding, a new house, a new business or a long journey, or when a run of illness, delay or quarrel makes them want to settle things at the root. It is a gentle, constructive puja: each graha is invoked, its mantra is recited, offerings are made into the fire and daan is given in the graha’s name, asking for the planets to be favourable rather than harsh.

Kashi is one of the most trusted places for shanti rituals. Pandits from Varanasi have taught Jyotish and performed graha shanti for generations, and the tradition holds that a ritual done on the banks of the Ganga in Shiva’s city carries special weight. Our priests perform the puja at a ghat-side mandap or at their own puja hall in the old city, with the Ganga close by for the opening snan sankalp.

How the online puja works: you send the name, gotra and, where possible, the birth details of the person the puja is for. The priest takes sankalp in that name, performs the Navagraha puja and havan, and offers the nine grains and cloths. You receive a short video of the sankalp and the main havan, or a live link if you want to be present on your phone. Afterwards the prasad, the raksha sutra and your sankalp sheet are couriered to your Indian address.

Who performs it

The puja is done by Varanasi pandits whom we know personally and have worked with over many yatras. They are local, temple-associated priests from the city’s ghats and old mohallas; they are not employees of any temple trust, and this service is not run by or on behalf of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple or any other temple.

Good to know before you book

• A general Navagraha Shanti covers all nine grahas. If your astrologer has prescribed a specific remedy (for example Shani shanti or Rahu-Ketu shanti with a fixed jaap count), tell us; the priest will shape the puja around that prescription and the price and time change accordingly.
• Birth date, time and place are helpful because they let the priest word the sankalp for your chart. If you do not have them, the puja is still done in your name and gotra.
• The havan is done outdoors or in the priest’s puja hall. During the monsoon (roughly July to September) the Ganga rises and some ghats are under water, so the venue may shift a little; the ritual does not.
• A full Navagraha puja with havan usually takes a few hours. Larger jaap counts prescribed by an astrologer can run over more than one day.
• The nine-grain and nine-cloth daan is given locally to Brahmins and the needy on your behalf; it is included in the samagri and does not come to you.
• Prasad is couriered within India. For addresses abroad we can send only items accepted by customs, at extra cost.