Full-moon fast of Kartika with Satyanarayan puja, deepdaan and moon arghya for merit and moksha

The Kartika Purnima Vrat is the fast kept on the full moon of Kartika. The Kartika Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana and Padma Purana describes Kartika as the most beloved month of Lord Vishnu, and its Purnima as the day when the merit of the whole month's austerities is sealed. Devotees who have been bathing at dawn, lighting lamps to the tulsi and to Vishnu, and eating once a day through Kartika complete their vows on this day, and those who could not keep the month are advised to fast at least on the Purnima. The vrat begins with a dawn bath, followed by the worship of Lord Satyanarayana — the form of Vishnu as the embodiment of truth — with the reading of the five chapters of the Satyanarayan katha and the offering of sheera (sapata) prasad. In the evening, lamps are floated on water and lit at temples, under the peepal and near the tulsi, and a lamp with 365 wicks is offered to gain the merit of a whole year of lamp worship. At moonrise the moon is offered arghya with milk and water, and the fast is broken. The vrat is believed to grant peace, prosperity, the fulfilment of wishes and, ultimately, liberation.

Fruit and milk through the day; the fast is broken after the moon arghya.