Kartik Purnima Holy Festival of Hindu Sikh Jain

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Kartik Purnima  on the Purnima day or the fifteenth lunar day of Kartik month which falls on  Monday. It is also known as Tripuri Purnima and Tripurari Purnima. It is sometimes called Deva-Diwali or Deva-Deepawali, the festival of lights of the Gods.

This year due to lockdown the festival was celebrated on a very subdued scale as most temples had to follow the government norms like entry restrictions, wearing a mask and keeping safe distances. Temples in Matunga, in addition to normal restrictions, did not allow devotees to carry peacock feather inside the temples to be kept on the foot of the Lord Kartik. They were allowed to take only darshan of the Lord.

All temples allowed entry  from the evening of Sunday and  on Monday morning as the Purnima Tithi began at 12.47 pm on November 29 and ended on the next day afternoon at 2.59 p.m.

Tamilians and Keralites celebrate it as Kartikai Deepam when they light rows of lamps both in houses and temples. The day of Kartigai Deepam is fixed based on Tamil Solar Calendar. It falls in the month of Kartikai when Kartiga Nakshatra prevails and it  coincides with Pournami, the full moon day. The name of the festival born from the name of the Lord Karthikeya who is also called as Muruga and Subramanya, who was believed to have been born on this day to  Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi.

This festival is also celebrated to commemorate the bonding between brothers and sisters, analogous to Bhaiya-Dhuj and Raakhi. Sisters pray for the prosperity and success of their brothers and light lamps to mark the occasion.

 

On this day the Maharashtrians ladies, all over,  make it a point to visit any Karthik temple with a Peacock feather to get the Lord’s blessings. They believe that having darshan on the day will help in having a long and prosperous married life. Darshan on any other day they believe will bring calamity in the family.

Jains visit religious places and worship Lord Mahavira. Devotees visit Palitana- famous Jain pilgrimage which is thrown open for the devotees on this day after being closed for public during the four months of monsoon. It is also a special day for Sikh devotees as Guru Nanak ji was born on  Karthik Purnima day in 1469 AD.  

There are many legends associated with Kartik Purnima, some believe it marks the birth anniversary of Lord Kartik,  while some say it is the day when Lord Vishnu took his first avatar 'Matsya' and also  Lord Shiva defeated the mighty demon Tripurasura on this day,

Not many are aware that this is one of the oldest festivals celebrated by South Indians

perhaps even before they started celebrating Diwali and Navaratri.     (Sangam age 200 B.C. to 300 A.D).

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