On the following day, usually coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival in North and Central India, the Gayatri Mantra is recited 1,008 times.
On the full-moon day of the month of Shravana, Vishnu (as Hayagriva) is said to have restored the Vedas stolen from Brahma by the daityas Madhu-Kaitabha.
Madhu and Kaitabha were born from these drops, whereupon they started to worship Mahadevi, acquiring the boon of dying only when they desired.
Even as they expanded in size, Vishnu caught them, placing them upon his thighs and decapitating them with his celestial discus, the Sudarshana Chakra.
For the observance of Avani Avittam, a Brahmin is prescribed his usual morning rites, which include the following: prayer before bathing, the donning of clean clothes, ritually sipping water thrice in the name of Vishnu, the rite of sandhyavandanam, which comprises meditating on the sun god Surya and reciting the Gayatri Mantra.
On this occasion, the kamokarshit prayer is recited 108 times, which affirms that any deviation from prescribed ritual practices originated from passion rather than from one's soul, which remains pure.