According to Hindu tradition and culture, each day of the week is dedicated to one or the other Grahas or Planet. On that particular day of the week, devotees worship the specific God, keep fast and perform all the rituals that are sure to please the respective God.
Importance of BrihaspatiBrihaspativar or Thursday is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Guru Brihaspati or Planet Jupiter. Thursday is popularly known as Guruvar as it is dedicated to the Guru of Devas, Brihaspati. Brihaspati, in general, is a very benevolent God. It is considered as a helpful, generous, auspicious and most importantly beneficent of all the Planets. It represents wisdom, benevolence and sacred scripture. It hardly happens that position of Brihaspati is wrong in the horoscope, but sometimes it happens so. During such a situation, the person has to do follow certain rituals to pacify the wrath of Guru Brihaspati, the biggest of all Planets.
To pacify the wrath, one has to worship Guru Brihaspati and Lord Vishnu on Thursday as it is the favourite day of Jupiter. To perform the Puja, one has to observe fast the entire day and must have food only once and that too after sunset. Most of the religious and mythological stories related to the fast or Upvaas may vary from region to region, but ends with the same moral. They suggest that if you perform the Guruvar Puja along with fasts and other rituals, you are sure to be blessed with happiness, wisdom and wealth.
Thursday fast generally starts on the first Thursday of ShuklaPakshaof any month and should be observed for sixteen continuous Thursdays. It is recommended to wake up before Sunrise and after bathing, one should wear yellow coloured clothes. The person who is performing the puja along with the fast should not wash the head while taking bath on that particular day. One should listen or read the fast Katha on Thursday after observing fast.
Yellow ColourThe devotees are supposed to wear yellow colour dresses and also offer yellow fruits, yellow flowers, yellow sweet, besan, turmeric and yellow rice. Even after observing fast, one must eat yellow coloured food like Chana Dal and ghee. Yellow is the most preferred colour of Lord Brihaspati and so in the evening yellow clothes are donated.
Observing all the rituals is sure to bring luck and prosperity in the life of the devotee.