The day before the puja
The preparation is simple and is the same whether you attend in Ujjain or join online:
• Keep the food sattvic from the evening before — no meat, eggs, alcohol or tobacco.
• Have the name and gotra of everyone to be included in the sankalp ready. If you do not know your gotra, here is what tradition prescribes.
• Many devotees fast lightly until the puja is complete; this is a custom, not a requirement, and anyone with a health condition should eat normally.
• If attending in person, note the place and reporting time sent on WhatsApp with your booking, and plan to arrive a little early.
• Keep the food sattvic from the evening before — no meat, eggs, alcohol or tobacco.
• Have the name and gotra of everyone to be included in the sankalp ready. If you do not know your gotra, here is what tradition prescribes.
• Many devotees fast lightly until the puja is complete; this is a custom, not a requirement, and anyone with a health condition should eat normally.
• If attending in person, note the place and reporting time sent on WhatsApp with your booking, and plan to arrive a little early.
On the day — what to wear, bring, and expect
Wear clean, simple clothes in light colours; white or cream is traditional. Men often wear a dhoti-kurta and women a saree or suit, but nothing elaborate is expected. Avoid black.
Bring nothing for the ritual itself — the samagri, the nag murti and the Rahu-Ketu murtis are arranged by the pandits. Bring a photo ID if you are travelling, and water.
Expect about two to three hours: Ganapati and Matruka pujan, the sankalp, worship of the nag and Rahu-Ketu murtis, Navagraha puja, Shiva pujan, and the closing havan and aarti. If you are joining online, keep the video call on through the sankalp, when your name and gotra are spoken.
Bring nothing for the ritual itself — the samagri, the nag murti and the Rahu-Ketu murtis are arranged by the pandits. Bring a photo ID if you are travelling, and water.
Expect about two to three hours: Ganapati and Matruka pujan, the sankalp, worship of the nag and Rahu-Ketu murtis, Navagraha puja, Shiva pujan, and the closing havan and aarti. If you are joining online, keep the video call on through the sankalp, when your name and gotra are spoken.
Who can sit in the sankalp
The puja is performed for the person whose chart has the dosha, and their name and gotra lead the sankalp. A married couple can sit together, and a spouse or parent can have it performed on behalf of someone who cannot attend. A child's puja is performed with a parent taking the sankalp.
The person does not need to be physically present — the sankalp carries their name wherever they are — and there is no requirement that both spouses attend if only one has the dosha.
The person does not need to be physically present — the sankalp carries their name wherever they are — and there is no requirement that both spouses attend if only one has the dosha.
Kaal Sarp Puja ke baad kya kare — after the puja
Nothing elaborate is required, and no honest pandit will send you home with a list of fears. The traditional follow-through is:
• Chant "Om Namah Shivaya" or the Rahu beej mantra, "Om Bhram Bhreem Bhroum Sah Rahave Namah", one mala of 108 daily for 40 days.
• Offer water or milk to a Shivling on Mondays.
• On Saturdays, give to someone in need — black til, a blanket, or food.
• Never harm a snake, and offer milk to a Shivling on Nag Panchami each year.
If you attended in person, follow any instruction the pandit gives about bathing afterwards; local customs differ between places.
• Chant "Om Namah Shivaya" or the Rahu beej mantra, "Om Bhram Bhreem Bhroum Sah Rahave Namah", one mala of 108 daily for 40 days.
• Offer water or milk to a Shivling on Mondays.
• On Saturdays, give to someone in need — black til, a blanket, or food.
• Never harm a snake, and offer milk to a Shivling on Nag Panchami each year.
If you attended in person, follow any instruction the pandit gives about bathing afterwards; local customs differ between places.
What you do not need to worry about
• That it will "fail" if you break a small rule. A skipped day of chanting or an accidental meal does not undo the puja.
• Repeating it. Kaal Sarp Dosh Puja is performed once; you do not need to repeat it yearly unless a pandit reading your actual chart advises it for a specific reason.
• Buying gemstones or yantras you are pressed to buy afterwards. Our comparison of gemstones and puja as remedies explains why that is rarely needed.
• An immediate change. The puja is a remedy for a pattern, not a switch; there is no fixed timeline, and anyone who promises one is selling.
If you were told you have the dosha without seeing the reasoning, how over-diagnosis happens is worth reading before you book.
• Repeating it. Kaal Sarp Dosh Puja is performed once; you do not need to repeat it yearly unless a pandit reading your actual chart advises it for a specific reason.
• Buying gemstones or yantras you are pressed to buy afterwards. Our comparison of gemstones and puja as remedies explains why that is rarely needed.
• An immediate change. The puja is a remedy for a pattern, not a switch; there is no fixed timeline, and anyone who promises one is selling.
If you were told you have the dosha without seeing the reasoning, how over-diagnosis happens is worth reading before you book.
Booking the puja
Kaal Sarp Dosh Puja in Ujjain is ₹3,500 all-inclusive on our Kaal Sarp Dosh Puja page — pick a date, enter the name and gotra, and attend in person or join by live video. Auspicious dates for the coming months are listed in Kaal Sarp Dosh Puja muhurat 2026–27.