Kuan Pujan invitation: card matter in Hindi and English, WhatsApp messages and the card format

What Kuan Pujan is, and its other names

Kuan means a well, and pujan is worship. The ritual thanks the source of the family's drinking water and asks for the well-being of the mother and the newborn. Drik Panchang notes that the muhurta texts call it Jala Puja, water worship, and that it can be done at a river, a water tank, a tap or with a big pitcher of water. That is how many families in towns and cities hold it now, at a tap or a hand pump.

You will see it written as Kuan Pujan, Kuan Poojan, Kua Pujan or Kuan Puja. In Rajasthan the same outing is the Jalwa or Panghat Pujan, and in Hindi it is कुआं पूजन or जलवा पूजन. Families across Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh keep it, each with its own songs and small differences.

Traditionally it was held when a son was born. That has been changing for years. Villages in Haryana's Jind district held it for newborn girls in 2015 and 2016, and in March 2025, as The Tribune reported, mothers in 12 villages of Kaithal district walked to the village wells with a kalash on their heads to celebrate their daughters. Every line of wording on this page works for a boy or a girl.

What happens on the day

Every family has its own order, and the elders will know yours. A common shape for the day:

1. The women gather at homeRelatives and neighbours come to the house. The new mother is dressed in new clothes, and the puja thali is made ready with roli, rice, turmeric, a red kalava thread, flowers and sweets.
2. The walk to the waterShe carries a kalash on her head, and the women walk with her to the well, the hand pump or the tap, singing as they go. For many mothers this is the first time out of the house since the birth.
3. The pujaShe worships the water with the roli, rice, turmeric and thread, offers the sweets, and prays for the baby and the household.
4. Blessings at homeBack at the house, the elders bless the mother and the baby, and relatives give their gifts for the baby: clothes, silver, a toy or an envelope.
5. The dinnerA pritibhoj for everyone invited, and in some families a bhajan sandhya, an evening of devotional songs.

When it is held

There is no single fixed day. In many families Kuan Pujan marks the end of the sutak, the days of seclusion after a birth. Rajasthani accounts put the Jalwa just after the mother's first full bath, on the sixth or seventh day, or a few days after the naming on the twelfth. Other families wait weeks or months for a good muhurat.

The pandit fixes the date from the panchang. Drik Panchang's rules, for example, avoid the months of Chaitra and Pausha and prefer a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday. The puja is often held in the evening, with dinner after it.

Who invites whom, and when to send it

• The baby's family invites. The puja is usually held at the home of the baby's father, and the card often goes out in the grandparents' names, with the parents named as the baby's parents.
• The women of the family and the neighbourhood walk to the water with the new mother, so invite them for the time the walk starts, not the time of dinner.
• The nanihal, the new mother's own family, hears first, by phone. After a birth they send gifts for her and the baby, called the Chhuchhak in parts of Haryana and Rajasthan. If they are bringing it on the day, give them a line on the card.
• Everyone else is invited for the puja and the dinner: relatives, family friends, neighbours and colleagues.

Because the date depends on the birth and the muhurat, the invitation usually goes out only a week or two ahead. Call the elders and the nanihal first, then send the card or the link, and send a short reminder the day before with the time the women gather and the map.

What to put on a Kuan Pujan card

• An invocation at the top, usually ॥ श्री गणेशाय नमः ॥, or your family deity's name.
• The good news in one line: the birth of a son or a daughter, with the parents' names. Add the baby's name only if the naming is already done.
• The ceremony's name as your family says it: Kuan Pujan, Kuan Poojan or Jalwa Pujan.
• The day and the date, with the time the women gather or the puja starts.
• The pritibhoj, the dinner, with its own start time, so guests know they are expected to eat.
• The address with a map pin, for the house, and for the well or temple if the puja happens there.
• The hosts' names under निवेदक or विनीत, and the family members under दर्शनाभिलाषी or स्वागतकर्ता.
• One or two phone numbers for anyone who needs directions.

The card format, top to bottom

Hindi function cards follow an order that elders recognise, and a Kuan Pujan card keeps it. The same order works for a WhatsApp message or an invitation link:

1. The invocation॥ श्री गणेशाय नमः ॥ at the top, or the family deity's name.
2. The headingसादर आमंत्रण, a respectful invitation, or शुभ समाचार, good news.
3. The newsWho has been blessed with a son or a daughter, with the parents' names and the honorifics your family uses, such as चि. and सौ.
4. The invitationOne line inviting guests with their family (सपरिवार) to the Kuan Pujan and the pritibhoj.
5. The programmeThe date, the day, the time of the puja and the time of the dinner, one under the other.
6. The placeThe full address, with a map pin when it goes out on WhatsApp or as a link.
7. The namesनिवेदक or विनीत above the hosts, then दर्शनाभिलाषी above the family who look forward to seeing you.
8. The children's lineMany Hindi cards end with a बाल मनुहार, a playful request in the voice of the family's children. There is one in the wording below.

Sending it on WhatsApp

• Call first, then send. Elders and the nanihal expect a phone call, and the message follows it.
• Put the details in the text, not only in a picture or a video. A guest who searches the chat for the time or the address cannot search inside an image.
• Send the location as a map pin of the house gate, not the middle of the colony.
• Send it personally to close family, and once to the family group for everyone else.
• Send a reminder the evening before with the time the women gather and the map.

The WhatsApp guide covers broadcast lists, groups and timing in more detail. It is written for weddings, and the same rules hold for a Kuan Pujan.

A card, a video or a link

Many families send a Kuan Pujan video: twenty or thirty seconds of a baby illustration, a folk song and the date in Hindi, made to forward on WhatsApp. A video is a lovely way to share the news. It is a poor way to carry the details, because a guest cannot tap it for the map, and a changed time means making the video again. If you send one, put the time and the address as text under it. A screen-by-screen script is in the wording below.

A link holds the details: the programme in order, the address under a map button, and a reply form so you know how many are coming to dinner. Kanha, our design painted with baby Krishna, is made for the ceremonies around a new baby, and the Kuan Pujan and the dinner can sit on it as cards of their own, in Hindi or English. Invifest makes invitations and guest management for weddings and every big moment, and a baby's first puja is one of them.

Before the birth, the Godh Bharai, or the Seemantham in South Indian homes, has wording of its own, and so do the Namkaran, the Annaprashan and the Mundan that follow.

Kuan Pujan wording you can copy

Hindi first, then Hinglish and English. Change the names, dates, times and address in [brackets], and choose the son or daughter line that fits.

Want these words on a real invitation? See the designs.

Baby shower invitation designs

2 designs you can personalise. Open any one to see it full size, with a live demo.

KilkariBaby Shower KanhaBaby Shower