Hindu observances · पूर्णिमा व्रत

Purnima Vrat
what is eaten, and how to hold it

Almanac entry

पूर्णिमा व्रतPurnima Vrat

Hindu observances · Moderate · dates announced locally

Every full-moon day, so once a lunar month.

The struck span is the part of the day held without food, from sunrise to moonrise, as commonly observed. Households differ, and where they differ the difference is the practice, not an error.

SOURCE·Published accounts of Purnima Vrat as commonly observed·customs differ by family, region and sampradaya·REVIEWED JUL 2026

How long Purnima Vrat runs

920–1,120kcal

One serving of each food listed below, ±10% for the hand that cooks it. A scale check, not a target. The full-moon fast, monthly. Usually a single-meal day or a phalahar day, broken after moonrise or after the evening puja.

As the dataset states it: Sunrise to moonrise or evening, depending on custom.

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·Purnima Vrat entry·REVIEWED JUL 2026

What Purnima Vrat is

Purnima vrat is one of the two monthly lunar fasts most commonly kept, alongside Amavasya. It is generally lighter than the festival fasts — most people keep a single meal or a phalahar day rather than going without entirely.

Sharad Purnima has its own custom of kheer left out overnight in the moonlight and eaten the next morning, which is worth noting for anyone counting: a katori of kheer is around 220 kcal.

Customs vary. Purnima is observed with very different degrees of strictness — from a full phalahar day to simply eating satvik food. Guru Purnima, Kartik Purnima and Sharad Purnima each carry their own regional customs.

How this entry is drawn, and how the food is counted

The observance is read from published accounts of Purnima Vrat and written as commonly observed — never as required, never as correct. Where households differ, the entry says they differ.
The arc above places the observed span between named stations of the day — sunrise, midday, sunset, moonrise — and never between times. Sehri, iftar, moonrise and sunset are local and religiously significant, and this site publishes none of them.
The length is taken from the range the dataset itself states, as a range. Where the length turns on latitude and season, no duration is printed at all.
Food energy is per the serving each item is really eaten in, from IFCT 2017 (ICMR–NIN) where the table has the food, and from a named alternative where it does not.
Every food is reconciled against Atwater factors on each build, and a page that fails to reconcile does not ship.

serving kcal  =  per-100 g kcal × (serving g ÷ 100)
energy check  =  4·protein + 4·carbohydrate + 9·fat   (±15%, ±20% high-fibre)
day shape     =  observed span, station → station   (no clock times, ever)

Data & method in full →

What is customarily eaten, and what is set aside

Described as commonly observed. Your own family's practice is the one that applies.

Commonly eaten

Fruit, milk and curd
One satvik meal in the single-meal version, without grains in stricter observances
Kheer, on Sharad Purnima particularly

Customarily set aside

Grains and pulses in stricter observances; in lighter ones only meat, onion and garlic are set aside
Table salt, in phalahar versions

SOURCE·Published accounts of Purnima Vrat·reported, not prescribed; regional practice varies and the variation is the practice·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The food, with the numbers

Foods commonly associated with Purnima Vrat, at the serving each is really eaten in. Every one has its own page with the full breakdown.

Commonly eaten during Purnima Vrat — calories and macros per real serving. IFCT 2017 · JUL 2026
Food	One serving is	Calories	Protein	Carbs
പശുവിൻ പാൽ (ഫുൾ ക്രീം)	1 glass · 200 g	124 kcal	6.4 g	9.0 g
Curd (Dahi)	1 katori · 150 g	90 kcal	4.7 g	4.5 g
Banana	1 medium banana · 100 g	105 kcal	1.3 g	24.0 g
Samak Kheer	1 katori · 150 g	167 kcal	4.8 g	27.2 g
Makhana Kheer	1 katori · 150 g	185 kcal	5.9 g	27.2 g
Fruit Chaat	1 plate · 200 g	114 kcal	1.6 g	25.4 g
Boiled Sweet Potato (Shakarkandi)	1 medium · 150 g	164 kcal	2.0 g	36.5 g
Almonds (Badam)	10 almonds · 12 g	72 kcal	2.5 g	1.3 g

One serving of each of these 8 items would come to about 1,020 kcal — a scale check, not a menu. Purnima Vrat is not a calorie target and this table is not a plan.

What the vrat foods cost, counted per serving rather than per 100 g.

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·per stated serving weight·REVIEWED JUL 2026

How to hold it without wrecking the week

This is the part nobody publishes well. None of it asks you to change the observance — training, sleep and meal timing are the variables you control, and the fast is not.

Training

A single-meal day is easy to train through, provided that meal carries enough protein. Where the meal is grain-free and dairy-free, protein for the day will be low and a hard session will recover poorly.

Sleep

Rarely an issue unless the meal is very late.

Blood sugar

A once-monthly single-meal day is a smaller change than most fasts on this site, but for anyone on insulin the timing shift still matters.

Hydration

Normal. Water is permitted in most versions.

The specific risk with Purnima Vrat

Low, for most healthy adults. The standing caution about medication timing on any single-meal day still applies.

ആരൊക്കെ വ്രതം എടുക്കരുത് · വ്രതവും രക്തത്തിലെ പഞ്ചസാരയും · വ്രതത്തിനിടയിലെ ജലാംശം · Sources

Questions asked about Purnima Vrat

Is Purnima vrat kept without water?

Rarely. Most observances permit water, and many permit fruit and milk through the day with one meal in the evening. Nirjala versions exist but are not the norm.

Related observances

Sharad NavratriNine days, the longest vrat most people keep Chaitra NavratriSpring Navratri, ending at Ram Navami EkadashiTwice a month, the most frequently kept vrat of all Nirjala EkadashiWithout water — the most demanding fast in the Hindu year Karva ChauthSunrise to moonrise, kept without water in its full form Maha ShivratriA day fast followed by a night of jagran Paryushan ParvaEight or ten days of the most structured fasting in India Ayambil OliNine days of a single bland meal Ramzan (Ramadan) RozaA month of daily fasting from dawn to sunset

Guides that apply here

ആരൊക്കെ വ്രതം എടുക്കരുത്വ്രതത്തിനിടയിലെ ജലാംശം Training while fasting Breaking a fast വ്രതവും രക്തത്തിലെ പഞ്ചസാരയും Fasting and sleep Protein during a vrat Lighter vrat food, same rules

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·observance accounts and food composition·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Practices are described as commonly observed; customs differ by family, region, community and sampradaya, and this site is not an authority on any of them. Food values come from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR–NIN), the older ICMR–NIN tables, USDA FoodData Central, named composition studies and the shared ThaliFacts dataset, reconciled against Atwater factors on every build. Which source applies to which food is listed per food, and every source carries the date it was last checked. General information only — not medical or religious guidance. Fasting is not safe for everyone, particularly during pregnancy or with diabetes or other conditions. Speak to a doctor first.

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