The day Sūrya enters a rāśi is known as saṅkrānti. Parāśara tells us that those born on saṅkrānti are likely to suffer from poverty, sorrow and other misfortunes. To avoid this, the grahas must be pacified by performing Navagraha Pūjā and the specific Saṅkrānti Doṣa puja as laid down by the great sage.
The names of the saṅkrānti according to the seven days of the week starting from Sunday to Saturday are as follows:
Vāra saṅkrānti
| 1 | Sunday | Ghorā |
| 2 | Monday | Dhvāṁkṣī |
| 3 | Tuesday | Mahodarī |
| 4 | Wednesday | Mandā |
| 5 | Thursday | Mandākinī |
| 6 | Friday | Miśrā |
| 7 | Saturday | Rākṣasī |
Choose the particular Dosha Puja depending on the day the person is born. For example, if the person is born on Thursday, then it is ‘Mandakini dosha’. The following are the rites for the puja which is done in addition to the worship of Shri Surya and recitation of Gayatri Mantra by the native
- A neat place in the eastern corner of the house must be cleaned.
- Three heaps of paddy, rice and sesame (til) must be placed separately. The rice must be half the weight of paddy and the til must be half the weight of rice.
- The figure of aṣṭadala padma (eight petal lotus) must be made on each heap by the priest.
- A pot without any holes must be placed on each of these three heaps.
- Fill these pots with water drawn from holy places along with Sapta Mṛittikā, Śatauṣadhī, pañca pallava and pañca gavya.
- Wrap the mouth of the pots with a cloth.
- Place a vessel (pātra) on each of the pot covered with a thin, fine cloth. This is the seat (āsana) of the deity.
- Install the idols of the adhi devatā of Sūrya and the pratyādi devatā of Chandra on these āsanas. They have to be placed on the either sides of the main idol of saṅkrānti.
- Before starting the worship, two sets of clothes must be offered to each of the idols.
- Perform worship as per the method prescribed for this ritual.
- The main idol of saṅkrānti is to be worshipped amid chanting of the mantra “Trayambakam…”. Sūrya pūjā must be done amid chants of the mantra “utsūrya…” and Chandra pūjā must be performed with the chanting of the mantra “Āpyāyasve…”. The worship should be done with ṣoḍaśapochāra or pañcopochāra process.
- Mṛtyuñjaya japa must be recited 1008 times touching the main idol.
- Homa has to be performed with the offering of sesame (til) seeds amid chanting of Mṛtyuñjaya Mantra.
- After the pūjā, the water from the three pots must be poured on the head of the native by the priest.
