How to do the Vasu Baras / Govatsa Dwadashi puja at home

After the bath: the sankalp of the vrat, the cow and her calf bathed and adorned, the first rangoli, and the naivedya cooked.

1. The morning

   The bath

   1. Bathe early and put on clean clothes.
   2. Sweep the courtyard and the doorway, and sprinkle them with water.
   

2. The morning

   The sankalp of the vrat

   1. Before the house's mandir, take a little water in the right hand.
   2. Say your name and your gotra, and that today, on Govatsa Dwadashi, you keep the vrat and the puja of the cow and her calf for the children of the house.
   3. Let the water flow to the ground.

   The vrat is the women's, kept for their children; it is opened after the evening puja.

   

3. The morning

   The cow and her calf bathed

   1. Bathe the cow and her calf with clean water.
   2. Rub a little haldi on their bodies, and lay a new cloth over the cow's back.
   3. Tie them where the evening puja will be, on clean ground.

   Where there is no cow at home, draw a cow and her calf with rangoli or rice on a wooden pat, shape them of clay, or set a picture of them; or keep the puja at a gaushala.

   
5. 4. The first rangoli
   5. Puranpoli for the cow

   These 2 steps, with their drawings and mantras, are in the app

At dusk, as the cows come home, into the pradosh: the cow and her calf honoured, the arghya and the prayer, the kahani, the first diyas of Diwali, and the vrat opened.

1. 1. The diya first
   2. Achaman
   3. Ganesh ji first
   4. The cow and her calf before you
   5. Water on their feet
   6. The arghya at her forefeet
   7. Haldi-kunku
   8. Akshata and flowers
   9. The garlands
   10. Dhoop
   11. The niranjan waved
   12. Puranpoli on a banana leaf
   13. The prayer to Nandini
   14. The prayer to the cows
   15. Pradakshina
   16. The kahani
   17. The first diyas of Diwali
   18. The vrat opened

   These 18 steps, with their drawings and mantras, are in the app