🤰 Godh Bharai · गोद भराई
Also called Seemantham · Simantonnayana · Baby shower pooja · सीमंतोन्नयन
Godh Bharai — literally the filling of the lap — is the ceremony held for an expectant mother in the later months of pregnancy. The women of both families bless her and fill her lap with fruit, sweets and gifts, and prayers are offered for her safety and the child's. It corresponds to Simantonnayana, one of the sixteen sanskaras, and is known as Seemantham in the south and Dohale Jevan in Maharashtra.
Pick a date and time and pay — our team assigns a verified pandit who specialises in this ritual.
When Godh Bharai is held
The seventh month is the most common choice, and some families hold it in the eighth or ninth. Communities differ on this and on whether the ceremony is held at the husband's home or the mother's, so the family's own custom decides. The pandit fixes a muhurat within the month you choose.
It is traditionally a celebration led by women. The puja with the pandit comes first, and the singing, the gifts and the meal follow it.
What happens during the Godh Bharai puja
The pandit begins with Ganesh puja and takes the sankalp with the couple seated together. Kalash sthapana follows, and prayers are offered to the family's deity for the protection of mother and child and an easy delivery. Where the family wants it, a short havan is performed.
The mother-to-be is then seated, a tilak is applied, and the elder women fill her lap — the pallu of her sari held out — with fruit, a coconut, sweets, dry fruit and gifts, each giving her blessing in turn. Aarti closes the puja.
Arranging a Godh Bharai puja
You will need a kalash, coconut, flowers, fruit, sweets, a new sari or dupatta for the mother, and the items for the lap. Your pandit sends the full list ahead of the day.
Plan the ceremony around her comfort: a chair rather than the floor if she prefers, a shorter sitting, and a well-aired room if a havan is included. Tell the pandit in advance and he will shape the ritual accordingly — nothing in the rite requires her to be uncomfortable.
Godh Bharai · गोद भराई — common questions
In which month is Godh Bharai done?
Most often the seventh month of pregnancy; some families hold it in the eighth or ninth. Follow your family's custom and the pandit will fix a muhurat within that month.
Is a pandit needed for Godh Bharai?
The gifts and the celebration are the family's own. A pandit is called for the puja that precedes them — the sankalp, the prayers for mother and child and, if wanted, the havan.
How long does the Godh Bharai puja take?
About two hours with the puja and havan. It can be kept shorter for the mother's comfort.
Ready to book your Godh Bharai?
Choose your date and time and pay online. We arrange the pandit and confirm your booking.
Book this pooja →Choosing a date
See the tithi, nakshatra and Rahu Kaal for any day in today's panchang and the Hindu calendar for the month. The muhurat for your own ceremony is calculated by the pandit from your family's details once you book.
Book Godh Bharai in your city
Pandits travel across Delhi NCR for this ritual: Godh Bharai pandit in Delhi · Godh Bharai pandit in Noida · Godh Bharai pandit in Greater Noida · Godh Bharai pandit in Ghaziabad · Godh Bharai pandit in Gurugram · Godh Bharai pandit in Faridabad · Godh Bharai pandit in Meerut.
Pandits who perform Godh Bharai
Dinesh Mishra (Delhi) · Pandit Aacharya Anand Chandra Pandey (Ghaziabad) · Pandit Acharya Ashok Shukla (Ghaziabad, Delhi, Noida) · Pandit Acharya Rajan Prasad Tripathi Ji (Delhi) · Pandit Pt Yogiraj Sastri (Delhi) · Pandit Shambhu Dutt Shastri (Delhi) · Prakash Chandra Joshi (Delhi) · Saurabh Pokhriyal (Delhi).
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Other poojas
Often booked alongside Godh Bharai: Namkaran Sanskar · नामकरण संस्कार · Satyanarayan Katha · सत्यनारायण कथा · Annaprashan Sanskar · अन्नप्राशन संस्कार.
Griha Pravesh Pooja · Navagraha Shanti Pooja · Rudrabhishek Pooja · Vivah Sanskar · Ganesh Puja · Mahamrityunjaya Jaap · Bhoomi Pujan · Vastu Shanti Pooja · Mundan Sanskar · Manglik Dosh Nivaran Pooja · Lakshmi Puja · Karwa Chauth Puja · Kuber Lakshmi Puja · Durga Puja · Navchandi Path · Hanuman Puja · Janmashtami Katha · Saraswati Puja · Shiv Puja · Upanayana Sanskar · Sagai Ceremony · Vahan Puja · Shop & Office Opening Pooja · Ayushya Havan · Antim Sanskar & Shraddh · Sundarkand Path · Akhand Ramayan Path · Shrimad Bhagwat Katha · Bhagavad Gita Path · Vishnu Sahasranama Path · Gayatri Havan · Kaal Sarp Dosh Nivaran · Pitra Dosh Shanti
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