| Kartika Purnima | |
|---|---|
 Kartika Purnima: 28 November 2012 | |
| Also called | Kartika Pournami, Tripuri Purnima, Tripurari Purnima, Deva-Diwali, Deva-Deepawali |
| Observed by | Hindus,Sikhs, andJains |
| Type | Religious |
| Observances | Prayers and religious rituals honoringBrahma atPushkar Lake,puja toVishnu andHarihara, Bathing atPushkar Lake and puja toBrahma |
| Date | Kartik Purnima |
| 2024 date | 15 November |
| Related to | Vaikuntha Chaturdashi |
Kartika Purnima (Sanskrit:कार्त्तिकपूर्णिमा,romanized: Kārttikapūrṇimā), also known asKartika Pournami, is aHindu,Sikh, andJain cultural festival that is celebrated onpurnima (full moon day), the 15th day of the lunar monthKartika. It falls on November or December of theGregorian calendar and is also known asTripurari Purnima orDeva-Deepavali, the gods's festival of lights.Karthika Deepam is a related festival that is celebrated inSouth India andSri Lanka on a different date. It followsDiwali by about 15 days.
InVaishnavite tradition, this day is considered significant and special for the worship of bothRadha andKrishna. It is believed that on this day,Radha-Krishna performedrasalila with theirgopis. AtJagannath Temple, Puri and all other Radha-Krishna temples, a sacred vow is observed throughoutKartika month, and performances of raaslila are organized on the day of Kartika Purnima. According toBrahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna worshipped Radha on this day.[1]
'Tripuri Purnima' or 'Tripurari Purnima' derives its name from Tripurari – the foe of the demonTripurasura. In some legends of Kartika Purnima, the term is used to denote the three demon sons ofTārakāsura. Tripurari is an epithet of the godShiva. Shiva, in his form asTripurantaka (lit. 'Killer of Tripurasura'), killed Tripurasura on this day. Tripurasura had conquered the whole world and defeated the gods and also created three cities in space, together called "Tripura". The killing of the demon(s) and destruction of his/their cities with a single arrow by Shiva overjoyed the gods, and they declared the day as a festival of illuminations. This day is also called "Deva-Diwali"—theDiwali of the gods.[2]
Kartika Purnima is also celebrated as the manifestation day ofMatsya, the godVishnu's fish incarnation (avatar) and Vrinda, the personification of thetulasi.[3] In theBrahma Vaivarta Purana, Tulasi is a gopi cursed to be born on earth as a princess and marry Shankacuda, an asura. She remained a devotee of Vishnu and strongly wished to marry the deity. When Shankacuda threatens the existing order with his conquests, invincible owing to the chastity of his wife, Vishnu assumes his form and tricks her into hugging him, causing her to lose her chastity and allowing Shiva to triumph in his battle over the asura. Vishnu then revealed his true form and married her. Tulasi cursed that Vishnu would take the form of ashaligrama stone for his trickery, and to appease her, the deity stated that her essence would become the tulasi plant and theGandaki river. Her divine form ascended to Vaikuntha to be with him.[4]
In Southern India, Kartika Purnima is also celebrated as the birthday ofKartikeya, the god of war and elder son of Shiva.[1] This day is also dedicated to thepitrs, dead ancestors.[1]
Underhill believes that the origins of this festival may lie in ancient times, when a sacrifice calledShakamedhah was performed to attain victory over enemies.[5]
The festival has even more significance when the day falls in thenakshatra (lunar mansion) ofKrittika and is then calledMaha Kartika. If the nakshatra isBharani, the results are stated to be special. If it isRohini, then the fruitful results are even more. Any philanthropic act on this day is supposed to bring benefits and blessings equal to the performing of tenyajnas.[6]
Kartika Purnima is closely associated withPrabodhini Ekadashi, which marks the end of thechaturmasya, a four-month period when Vishnu is believed to sleep. Prabodhini Ekadashi signifies the awakening of the god. Many fairs that begin on Prabodhini Ekadashi end on Kartika Purnima, Kartika Purnima usually being the most important day of the fair. Fairs that conclude on this day include Prabodhini Ekadashi celebrations atPandharpur andPushkar Fair. Kartika Purnima is also the last day to perform theTulasi Vivaha ceremony, which can be performed from Prabodhini Ekadashi.[7]
Also, it is believed that on this day, Vishnu returns to his abode after completing his stay with kingMahabali, another reason why the day is known as Deva-Diwali.[8]
InPushkar, Rajasthan, the Pushkar Fair orPushkar mela commences on Prabodhini Ekadashi and continues till Kartika Purnima, the latter being the most important. This fair is held in honour of the godBrahma, whosetemple stands at Pushkar. A ritual bath on Kartika Purnima in thePushkar Lake is considered to lead one to salvation. It is believed circling the three Pushkars on Kartika Purnima is highly meritorious.Sadhus gather here and stay from Ekadashi to full moon day in caves. About 200,000 people and 25,000 camels assemble in Pushkar for the fair, which is Asia's largest camel fair.[9][10][11][12]
Aritual bath at atirtha (asacred water body like a lake or river) at a pilgrimage centre is prescribed on Kartika Purnima. This holy bath is known as "Kartika snana".[13] A holy bath at Pushkar or in theGanges river, especially atVaranasi is deemed as most auspicious. Kartika Purnima is the most popular day for bathing in the Ganges at Varanasi.[3] The devotees also take a bath in the evening during moonrise and offer worship by way of six prayers such as Shiva sambuti, Satait and so forth.[6]
Annakuta, an offering of food to the deities, is held in temples.[citation needed] People who have taken vows onAshvin Purnima end them on Kartika Purnima. Vishnu is also worshipped on this day. Any form of violence (himsa) is prohibited on this day. This includes shaving, hair-cutting, cutting of trees, plucking of fruits and flowers, cutting of crops and even sexual intercourse.[13] Charity especially donation of cows, feeding ofBrahmins, fasting are religious activities prescribed for Kartika Purnima.[3] Giving gift of gold is said to fulfill all the desires of people.[6]
Tripuri Purnima is only next toMaha Shivaratri amongst festivals dedicated to Shiva worship.[5] To commemorate the killing of Tripurasura, images of Shiva are carried in procession. Temple complexes in southern India are lit up throughout the night.Deepmalas or towers of lights are illuminated in temples. People place 360 or 720 wicks in temples, to secure escape fromhell after death.[citation needed] The 720 wicks symbolize the 360 days and nights of the Hindu calendar.[3] In Varanasi, the ghats come alive with thousands ofdiyas (brightly lit earthen lamps).[3] People gift lamps to priests. The lamps are kept throughout the night in houses and Shiva temples. This day is also known as "Kartika Diparatna" - the jewel of lamps in Kartika.[5] Lights are also floated in miniature boats in rivers. Lights are placed under tulasi,sacred fig, andamla trees. The lights in the water and under trees are believed to help fishes, insects and birds who saw the light to attain salvation.[13]
In Telugu households ofAndhra Pradesh andTelangana, Karthika Maasamu (month) is considered very auspicious. The Kartika month starts on the day after Deepavali according to the (amanta tradition). From that day till the end of the month, oil lamps are lit every day. On Karthika Purnima, oil lamps with 365 wicks prepared at home are lit in Shiva temples. Apart from that, Kartika Puranam is read, and fasting is observed till sunset, every day for the whole month. TheSwaminarayan Sampradaya also celebrates this day with faith and fervor.[8]
InOdisha, on Kartika Purnima, people celebrateBoita Bandana (Odia: ବୋଇତ ବନ୍ଦାଣ boita bandāṇa), in memory of ancient maritime trades via Kalinga[14] by heading for the nearest water body to set afloat miniature boats, originally made out of banana stem and coconut stick, lit withDeepak (lamps), fabric, betel leaves.Boita stands for boat or ship. The festival is a mass commemoration of the state's glorious maritime history when it was known asKalinga and tradesmen and mariners known assadhabas traveled onboitas to trade with distant island nations that share borders with theBay of Bengal likeIndonesia,Java,Sumatra andBali.
During Kartika month, the entire Hindu population ofOdisha becomes strictly vegetarian. They observe the month with auspicious customs, continuing till the traditional ceremony of Panchuka which falls on the last five days of the month.[15] The Kartika month ends on Kartika Purnima. The day after Kartika Purnima is called Chhada Khai when the non-vegetarian people can again start their normal diet. By the way, the most fascinating part of Kartika Purnima in Odisha is the celebration of historic Boita Bandana to commemorate the Bali Jatra commenced by ancient Kalinga merchants and associated fleet to do trade in far South East Asia like Bali, Indonesia etc.
InTamil Nadu,Karthika Deepam is celebrated where the Purnima corresponds to the Krittika nakshatra. People light rows of lamps on their balconies. InTiruvannamalai, a ten-day annual festival is held to celebrate Karthika Deepam.
Kartika Purnima is an important religious day forJains who celebrate it by visitingPalitana, a Jain pilgrimage centre.[16] Thousands of Jain pilgrims flock to the foothills ofShatrunjay hills of Palitana taluka on the day of Kartika Purnima to undertake the auspicious yatra (journey). Also known as the Shri Shantrunjay Teerth Yatra, this walk is an important religious event in the life of a Jain devotee, who covers 216 km of rough mountainous terrain on foot to worship at the Adinath temple atop the hill.[2] The day of Kartika Purnima is very significant in Jainism.Jains believe that Adinath, the firsttirthankara, sanctified the hills by visiting it to deliver his first sermon. According toJain texts, millions of sadhus and Sadhvis have attained salvation on these hills.[16]
Although, Kartika Purnima is nowadays celebrated asGurupurab or Prakash Parva ofGuru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs, however this is controversial and historically invalid as per some Sikh scholars.[17]
Sikh contemporary sources rather mention Vaisakh (Mid April) as birth month of Guru Nanak. It is said that the birth celebrations of Guru Nanak were changed to Kartik month during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the instance of Bhai Sant Singh.[18] This was done to prevent Sikhs from joining Kartik Purnima fair at Hindu pilgrimageRam Tirath Mandir in Amritsar.[19]
There has been a controversy about the date of birth of Guru Nanak. Traditionally it is believed that Guru Nanak was born in the month of Katik (October-November) on the pooranmashi (full moon) night in 1469 and hence Sikhs all over the world celebrate Guru Nanak's birthday in Katik(October-November). Modern scholars, however, do not accept this date. Their research reveals that he was born in the month of Baisakh (April) in 1469.
the anniversary fair of Guru Nanak's birth was celebrated in the month of Vaisakh (April) at Nankana Sahib. The date of celebration was shifted to Katik (November) in the time of Ranjit Singh, at the instance of Bhai Sant Singh
