Vrat | Upwas | Upvas | Fasting

Derived from Sanskrit 'Vrat' means resolve, devotion, or vow. It ideally involves refraining from eating food. Vrat is famous amongst Indian women. Women perform vrata for their children, or husband, or other loved ones. The vrata is temporary or permanent sometimes. Temporary vrata includes recovery of her child or success of husband or betterment of a family for traveling safe and many more. Whereas the permanent vrata includes avoiding eating non-veg for a lifetime or avoiding onion and garlic for a lifetime and so on.

This vrats are practiced by prayers, chanting of mantras, or bhajan - kirtan with family members. Vrat is also practiced on festivals like Navratri ( Vrat for 9 nights 10 days), MahaShivratri, Karva Chauth (Vrat for husband's long life), Ekadashi, or Agyaras, Jaya Parvathi or Sankasth Chaturthi. It ideally involves fasting for a particular period of time, typically an entire day, with either eating no food at all or consuming one meal a day or eating just fruits and consuming milk. Nirjala Vrat refers to fasting without drinking water.

Vrat is often interpreted with Upwas or Upvas or Fasting. Fasting is mostly related to physiological and metabolic changes. The other difference is that fasting is done willingly by a person at any point in time or any day he feels the need to do it. It has a dietary benefit. It is moreover related to medical and health benefits. Fasting is also performed to lose weight, where a person is involved in intermittent fasting16 hrs. Fasting also benefits your digestive system.

Foods that are allowed to consume during Vrats are.

1) Water Chestnut flour (Singhada)
2) Amaranth Flour (Rajgira)
3) Sabudana or Tapioca
4) Barnyard Millet (Sama)
5) Fox Nuts (Makhana)
6) Fresh Fruits
7) Vegetables like Potatoes, Colocasia, Bottle Guard, Raw Papaya, Raw Banana
8) All kinds of dry fruits
9) Rock salt or sendha namak

Following are few recipes that you can try during Vrat | Upawas | Fasting

1) Sabudana Cheela

2) Sabudana Khichdi

3) Sabudana Vada

4) Samo Khichdi

5) Samo Vada