Why Purattasi month is considered so sacred?

Each Tamil month is very special. Apart from important festivals, Purattasi month deserves very special compared to other months. An important celestial occurrence happens this month. Want to know what they were. Then this article will help you know. Read and enjoy it.

Purattasi special

The rituals in Tamil culture are purely based on the healthy living of human beings. The important celebrations in this month are Purattasi Saturdays, Maavilakku, Mahalaya Amavasya, and Durga Navarathri. Purattasi month is dedicated to Lord Venkatajalapathy. It is believed that Lord Venkatajalapathy came to earth this month. Special prayers are offered at Tirupathi hills.

Purattasi Saturdays
                                            
All Saturdays are considered very auspicious. In this whole Purattasi month, Lord Venkatachalapathy is worshipped with fasting on Saturdays as it is a favorite day for the lord. In Kottaimalai, near Vellore, there is a Vishnu temple called Padavedu Kottaimalai Sri Venugopalaswamy temple at the top of hills which is opened only on Saturdays from 9 AM to 4 PM. The miracle in that temple is that only on Purattasi Saturday, the sun rays fall exactly on the feet of the lord and raise to head in the early morning. Knowone knows on which Saturday this happens. This temple is around 200 km away from Chennai.

Worshiping Sani Bhagavan on Purattasi Saturdays is also considered an important one because during this time it is believed that Sani Bhagavan losses its malefic powers. So worshiping this month will fetch more benefits.

Purattasi Maavilakku
                                           
Maavilakku on Purattasi Saturdays is very important for Tamilians. The reason behind this ritual is that Lord Venkatajalapathy expects his devotees to be close to him in the hills. However, that is not possible for everyone due to myriad reasons. Those who could not travel to Tirupati hills can light Maavillakku in their homes and worship Lord Vishnu by chanting thy name 'Govinda'. Thy blesses them through rays of Maavillakku light. Scientifically the carbon emitted through the mixture of rice flour and cow's ghee will destroy all ill radiation from the home.

Mahalaya Amavasya

Every Tamil month has one Amavasya or New moon day and only on that day tharpanam or oblations are given to our ancestors. However Purattasi month Amavasya is considered an auspicious one. The reason behind that is, only on this month do our ancestors come to earth and stay here for the first 15 days before the New moon and the entire 15 days are auspicious for giving tharpanam or oblations for our ancestors. The waning period of the moon is called Krishna Paksha in Sanskrit. Purattasi month Amavasya is called Mahalaya Paksham. By performing these rituals we will be blessed twice by our ancestors.

Purattasi Navaratri
                                          
In Sanskrit Nava means nine and Rathri means night. Purattasi Navaratri is called as Durga Navaratri and most important among Navaratri's. This month marks the beginning of winter. The autumnal equinox occurs this month. An important celestial occurrence is that the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward in the northern hemisphere.

Some people fast during Navaratri days. The reason behind fasting is that to equip the body for the changing climate. Tamil culture rituals are based on the fact of “living harmony with nature". Navaratri Golu is one of the most important functions. Golu means deploying dolls of deities, saints, and human beings in an order. The first three days are for worshipping Devi Durga. Next three days for worshipping Devi Lakshmi. Last three days for worshipping Devi Saraswathi. On the tenth day, Saraswathi Pooja or Ayudha Pooja is celebrated. This is a good way of socializing too.

Among the Tamil months only on this Purattasi month, a fast of meat-eating is observed. As I said at the beginning of the article this is the special feature, Purattasi month deserves.

All varieties of Navaratri Puja, Golupadi, and dolls are available with GIRI.

Mahishasura Mardini Stotram with lyrics