The sight of a full moon beaming down the courtyard has its own charm. In Kartika Masam, the splendour gets pronounced as most communities celebrate the auspicious day with gaiety and fervour.
As this year, Kartika Pournami is falling on Thursday; devotees across the city are getting ready to celebrate Kartika Pournami on a grand scale. Along with earthen diyas, exclusive puja accessories and assorted flowers, what gains popularity during the month is gooseberry (amla) as people light ghee lamps by scooping out some portion of its pulp.
Since ‘amla’ has therapeutic values, Telugu people believe that by lighting lamps made out of it helps in maintaining one’s health. “We also worship Tulasi plant during the masam. On Kartika Pournami, a-365-wick, rolled into one, is lit using cow ghee. This ritual is followed to worship Moon God and seek his blessings for all the 365 days of the year. On Mondays, special prayers are offered to Lord Shiva by lighting both amla and earthen lamps,” says Maheshwari Devi, retired Botany professor of Andhra University.
The entire Kartika month is considered as auspicious for Tamilians as well. “Apart from earthen lamps, ‘copper deepam’ gains prominence during the month as the heat generated out of these lamps help boost our body metabolism. On Kartika Pournami, the entire house is decorated with lamps. Sweets made of ‘nel pori’ and ‘avul pori’ (varieties of puffed rice) are prepared,” explains S. Sundari, a 62-year-old Tamilian.
Raas PurnimaFor Bengalis, Kartika Pournami is also known as ‘Raas Purnima’. “Since Lord Krishna spends time dancing and making merry with his Gopikas during the month, it is termed as ‘Raas Purnima’. This apart, in Kolkata, a ritual of lighting ‘akashdeep’ for the entire Kartik month is observed to seek the blessings of our ancestors,” says Mithu Chakrabarti, a Bengali residing in VSP Township.
The day is equally important for the Sikhs who celebrate it as the birth anniversary of their first Guru Guru Nanak Devji.