Magha Purnima - Mark This Speclal Day on Your Calenndar!
Magha Purnima - Mark This Speclal Day on Your Calenndar!
Welcome back readers! Do you know what is special about 3rd February this year? If you don’t then let me introduce you to a festival that remained unnoticed by you all these years. It is called Magha Purnima. This day holds special significance to the Hindus across India. Magha is one of the auspicious months of an year according to any traditional calendar. Although all days of this auspicious month are significant, Magha Purnima reserves its own specialty. It is believed that taking a bath in the holy water of the Triveni Sangamam where the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet, leads one to salvation. Now you could ask why this result is associated only with Magha Purnima, when the Triveni Sangamam remains sacred throughout the year.
The answer to this question lies in the belief that Lord Krishna resides in Goddess Ganga on this special day. There is another belief attached to this day. This is why lakhs of people flock to Allahabad on this day. Offering prayer to Lord Shiva they say, will shower you with blessings on this day. Since Magha Purnima gives great importance to a bath in holy water, it has come to be known as the bathing festivals. But what about those who can’t go to Goddess Ganga? Should they be deprived of a chance to attain salvation? Not necessarily! All they have to do is take a dip in any holy lake or river that is accessible to them, with faith and devotion. Some people also consider it meritorious to make a trip to the Kumbha Mela or Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. Mythology says that the great Vishwamitra also did the same.
Apart from bathing in the holy waters, there are other activities prescribed for this Magha Purnima. Doing charity to the poor, performing the Satyanarayana Vratham and fasting are a few of them. This day is also considered auspicious for students as Goddess Saraswati is said to be residing in books and pens on this day. So if you want the blessings of the Goddess of knowledge, spend some time with your books. Some people glorify the significance of Magha Purnima, by referring to astrology. It is stated in astrology that this particular day is the only time in the year when the Sun resides in Capricorn sign and the Moon resides in Cancer Sign. It will be interesting to know that Magha Purnima is also significant from the climatic perspective. This is the time when we see a change from autumn to winter.
With the diversity that exists in India, Magha Purnima is celebrated differently in different parts of the country. In Tamil Nadu for instance, the main deities of the Meenakshi Temple [Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundereshwara] are decorated beautifully and taken on a procession accompanied by music and devotional songs. The auspicious day of Magha Purnima also marks the birth of King Tirumala Nayak who built Meriamman Teppakulam Sarover - a sacred tank located at a distance of a few kilometers from Madhurai. If you this this day is sacred only to the Hindus, you are mistaken. The Buddhists too give a lot of importance to Magha Purnima. They believe that Gautham Buddha declared as the day for his impending death.
Now that we know the significance of Magha Purnima, lets spend the day doing the prescribed activities.
- Kruti Beesam