Budha Pradoṣam is the Pradoṣam that falls on a Wednesday, the weekday of Budha (Mercury). In Purāṇic genealogy Budha is the son of Candra, and he is the graha of buddhi, governing discernment, speech, calculation and trade. The day is therefore held favourable for general wish-fulfilment and for prayers for students before examinations, for clear speech and for the fortunes of a business. It carries the least distinct lore of the seven weekday Pradoṣams, and the Samudra Manthan remains its only story. How the day is fixed: The pañcāṅga marks Pradoṣam on the day Trayodaśī prevails at local sunset. When that day is a Wednesday, it is Budha Pradoṣam. Keep in mind: What matters is the tithi at sunset where you live. A Trayodaśī that holds at dusk on Wednesday in one city may hold on Tuesday or Thursday evening in another, so read your local pañcāṅga. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Fast: The day is kept with a fast or phalāhāra. The fast is broken the same evening once the Pradoṣa pūjā is over. Dusk abhiṣeka: Liṅga abhiṣeka and darśana are attended in the Pradoṣa Kāla around sunset. Elders often take students and those starting a new business along to the temple on this evening. Worth remembering: No separate kathā or extra rite is recorded for the Wednesday. Unlike Bhauma Pradoṣam on a Tuesday or Śani Pradoṣam on a Saturday, it is kept exactly as an ordinary Pradoṣam with only Budha's blessing in mind. Trading families in particular remember the Wednesday Pradoṣam, while others simply keep it as one more Pradoṣam. How strict the fast is and which hymns are sung vary from house to house. The right way is the one the elders of one's own home have followed.
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