Govardhan: a tradition kept alive

Govardhan pooja is a tradition not known to many especially in metro cities. The day after Diwali is mostly considered as an additional holiday. But not for us, for our family Diwali is a three day celebration.

My maternal family is extraordinarily large, considering today’s norms.  It’s a pack of 6 brothers and their two sisters, their spouses, their kids, their wives and then their kids. It’s in all four generations together. The eldest one my nana  and nani being 92 years old and the youngest being 10 months old. Each year on the night of Diwali, after doing pooja at their respective units everyone gathers at one person’s house (which keeps rotating from one family to another.) and then begins the two days  of complete fun and frolic.

The next day of Diwali is celebrated as Govardhan Pooja. “ Govardhan “ as the name suggests  is the worship of  gowardhan parvat.The preparation for the pooja begins by 4 pm. The fresh cowdung is called for and the govardhan is made.

In the late evening , everyone gathers for the pooja.  As prasad in the evening annakoot ( mix vegetable) poori , and kadi rice are made.The pooja is precided by my 92 years old Nana. Everyone comes in pair, with kids and offers the prasad of annakoot to the govardhan. Once its done. Nanaji tells the story of the Govardhan and why is it celebrated. This is done so that the younger generation knows about the relevance of the  festival.

The parikrama of govardhan is done. Previously only themale member of the hpuse were the part of the parikrama but later my Nana insisted that woman of the family should also be the part of the parikrama

As they do that parikraam in a circle the place is filled with fun, laughter and the chants of “ govardhan maharaj ki jai, Poonchi ke lota ki jai”. After almost the seven rounds the younger ones touch the feet of the elders. The aarti is done and everyone settles down for the dinner, which is nothing but the Prasad of annakot, poori , kadi and rice and a sweetdish.

I would like to end my article with a few lines by my uncle.

रात को पूरा परिवार गोवर्धन पूजा में सम्मिलित हुआ। गोवर्धन पूजा बृज का महत्वपूर्ण त्यौहार है। बृजवासी इस दिन भगवान् कृष्ण के साथ ही गोवर्धन पर्वत की पूजा करते हैं। यह प्रकृति और प्रर्यावरण के प्रति हमारे तादात्म्य का प्रतीक है।गोबर के बने गोवर्धन, गायों और गवालों की पूजा फिर उसकी परिकम्मा (परिक्रमा) सबने की। 

उसके बाद अन्नकूट, कढ़ी-चावल का प्रसाद सबने पाया।

Written by

Ms Shruti Chabra

Somvati Amavasya

When no moon day(Amavasya) fall on Monday(somvaar) then the day is called 'Somvati Amavasya'. The most important ritual associated with this day is bathing in sacred rivers.Its importance is told by Bhishma to Yudhishter that one who baths in sacred rivers,that will be  relieved from disease. It is also  called "Rog Mukti snan".Also the Amavasya is ruled by our ancestors  and its signification increased many times when it coincides with Monday.  'Tarpan' performed on this day is considered very auspicious to get the blessings from the deceased souls.Charity done on this day is equivalent to donating thousands cows. Parikrama(revolve) around Peepal tree for 108 times is one of the important ritual. "Om Namo Bhagwatey Vasudevay" is the mantra which could be chanted while doing parikrama in a clockwise direction. Peepal tree is considered as the manifistation of "Tridev",the Brahma,Vishnu and Mahesh. Somvati Amavasya is equivalent to 100 eclipse which shows the importance of this day.This day is excellent for fasting for the longevity of happy married life.

Govardhan Parvat and Lord Rama

The Govardhan Parvat(hill) is one of the most sacred manifestation of Lord Krishna worshipped by his followers. This sacred hill has a close linkage with Lord Rama also due to involvement of boon given by him to this hill. It is believe that when Lord Rama ordered to built bridge across ocean to Lanka, Hanuman too went to Himalaya mountain ranges to fetch some rocks necessary for building bridge. Hanuman was flying back to Rama after taking one hill,called Govardhan then he came to know that he was too late as the bridge was already built during that time and no more rocks or mountains were needed. This was very disappointing for the Govardhan Hill as he was too eager to have glimpse and divine touch of holy feet of lord Rama. When Lord Rama came to know about this incident, he blessed Govardhan hill that, in Dwapar Yug, he himself would hold Govardhan in his hand and people will worship him.The blessings given by Lord Rama proved true in Dwapar Yug  when he himself incrnated as Lord Krishna and held Govardhan on his little finger for 7 days and nights.

Parikrama

In a famous story Lord Ganesha performed Parikrama around his parents which was considered equivalent to the journey around the universe. Parikrama means circumambulation or moving around in a circle. It is also known as Pradaskshina.The word “Pradakshina” means “towards right”. In religious context this journey is performed around temple,holy tree,holy hill and river. This is done in a clockwise direction. Only during inauspicious occasion like death ceremony,parikrama is performed anticlockwise .The circular journey around the deity can be understood with an example that in geometry we need a center to draw a circle and from the centre all the points on the circle are equidistant. It indicates we are equally close to God. Symbolically this ritual indicate touching the feet of deity. In another variation, at the end of the puja , it is a custom to do parikrama around ourselves three times. This is called “ Atma Pradakshinam”. This is to invoke the god in itself and to express the gratitude to HIM. We all are the part(ansh) of supreme soul. Generally odd number of parikrama is considerd auspicious. For Example , 1 parikrama around Lord Ganesha, Half parikrama around Shivlingam,3 parikrama around Lord Vishnu, 5 parikrama around Lord Kaartikay and 7 parikrama around peepal tree is considered auspicious. Many classics considered 21,27 or 108 numbers as auspicious to perform parkirama. While performing parikrama, an invisible link is established between a person and deity. The mantras pronounced during the circumambulation holds the key of transferring the energies from the god to a person. Always make sure that parikrama should be performed slowly while chanting mantras.