Marriage Remedies for a Girl, and the Steps That Go with Them

The marriage remedies families most often follow for a girl are the Katyayani mantra, the Mangala Gauri vrat on Tuesdays in Shravan, the Solah Somvar fast for Shiva, and a Thursday fast for Jupiter. Many mothers also keep a vow or a fast for their daughter.

These are matters of faith. None comes with a guarantee, and they work best for a family alongside a good biodata and a wide search.

This page is for parents, usually a mother, who have been told "do something for her marriage" and want to know what is traditional and what is sensible.

Why Parents Look for Remedies

When a daughter is 27 or 28 and proposals are slow, relatives start giving advice at every function. A pandit may say Jupiter is weak in her chart, or that she is manglik. A neighbour suggests a temple.

Remedies give a worried family something to do. That is not a small thing. The only rule we suggest: keep them simple, keep them within the family's budget, and never let them replace the practical steps at the end of this page.

The Katyayani Mantra and Vrat

The Katyayani mantra is the best-known marriage prayer for girls. It comes from the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, Chapter 22, verse 4. There, the unmarried girls of Vrindavan worship the goddess Katyayani for a month and pray for Krishna as their husband. The verse and its translation are on Vedabase.

In Roman letters the verse is:

"katyayani maha-maye maha-yoginy adhishvari, nanda-gopa-sutam devi patim me kuru te namah"

In plain words: "O goddess Katyayani, great power and ruler of all, please make Nanda's son my husband. I bow to you." Many girls chant it with "a good husband" in mind, not literally Nanda's son.

How families usually do it:

Mangala Gauri and Solah Somvar Vrat

Mangala Gauri vrat is kept on the Tuesdays of the Shravan month, for Goddess Gauri (Parvati). It is mainly kept by newly married women, but in many North Indian and Maharashtrian homes unmarried girls keep it too. The puja includes 16 items, such as 16 bangles or 16 kinds of flowers, and the story is read each week.

Solah Somvar vrat is a fast on 16 Mondays in a row for Shiva, with the Solah Somvar katha read each week. The story itself is about a wish being granted after the 16 Mondays, which is why girls take it up for marriage. It is common in North and Central India.

Hartalika Teej, in Bhadrapada, is another fast that married women and unmarried girls keep for Shiva and Parvati. Many girls keep it without water, which is hard. A lighter version is fine.

Thursday (Guruvar) and Jupiter Remedies

In a woman's chart, astrologers read Jupiter (Guru, Brihaspati) as the planet of the husband. So when they find Jupiter weak, the usual advice is a Thursday remedy.

What families do on Thursdays:

• keep a fast, or eat one meal without salt
• wear yellow
• offer chana dal, turmeric, bananas or yellow sweets at a temple
• worship Vishnu or Brihaspati, or visit a Guru (Dakshinamurthy) shrine in South India
• give yellow items to a priest or someone in need

These cost very little. That is a good sign for any remedy.

Remedies Parents Can Do

Many families believe a parent's prayer counts for the child. Some common ones:

1. A mother keeps a Monday or Thursday fast for her daughter.
2. Parents make a vow (mannat or prarthanai) at the family temple or kuladeivam shrine, to be fulfilled after the wedding.
3. Parents do the Gauri puja or a Parvati-Shiva puja at home on a set day each week.
4. Parents take part in Tulsi Vivah in Kartik, which some families see as a blessing for a daughter's marriage.
5. Parents visit a temple known for marriage prayers, with the daughter's horoscope and biodata.

Our post on temples for delay in marriage lists well-known temples state by state.

Gemstones, Caution Before Buying

Astrologers often suggest a yellow sapphire (pukhraj) for Jupiter or a diamond or white sapphire for Venus. These stones can cost tens of thousands of rupees or more.

Before you buy:

• Get the advice from a second astrologer, independently.
• Ask why this stone, and why not a mantra or fast instead.
• Buy only with a lab certificate, from a jeweller you know.
• Set a budget first, and do not go above it because someone says a bigger stone works faster.

If an astrologer pushes a costly stone and a costly puja together, slow down. There is no gemstone that guarantees a marriage.

Practical Steps for a Daughter's Proposals

Faith and effort go together. Most delays have practical causes the family can change this month.

The biodata. Use a recent daylight photo, not a studio shot from four years ago. Write her education with the college name and her job with the company and city. Add the time and place of birth for horoscope matching. Our page on biodata for a girl has a filled example.

Her career plans. Write them honestly. "Working in Bengaluru, open to relocating for the right match" gets more replies than leaving it blank. If she wants to keep working after marriage, say so. The right family will want to know.

Her preferences. Ask her what she wants, in private, without relatives listening. A mismatch between what the parents search for and what the girl wants is a common hidden cause of delay.

Safety. On matrimony sites, share her phone number only after the first family call. Meet in a public place for the first time. Never send money to anyone met online, and report fraud to the national cyber crime helpline, 1930.

Reach. Send the biodata to more relatives, community groups and one or two matrimony sites. Reply to every proposal within a week.

When you are ready, you can make her biodata here and share it as a PDF or JPG. For the full list of reasons proposals slow down, read our guide on delay in marriage. For the general list of remedies, with more on scams, see remedies for delay in marriage.