Jyeshtha Purnima
Jyeshtha Purnima is a very pious occasion celebrated across India. It is also widely known as Vat Purnima. Jyeshtha or Vat Purnima is mainly celebrated in Maharashtra, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the Jyeshtha month.
Significance of Jyeshtha Purnima
Jyeshtha Purnima’s story hails from the Mahabharata times. A King called Asvapati and his wife Malavi were childless, so they devoted prayers to deities and expressed desires for having a son. Lord Savitri was satisfied by their intense and dedicated devotion. She appeared and gave them a gift of a child; she blessed the couple with a daughter. King named the girl Savitri in honour of Goddess Savitri. Savitri was extraordinarily pretty, and the king had a fear that nobody would marry her, feeling deterred by her beauty. King asked her to find herself a groom. Then, Savitri found Satyavan, son of a blind king called Dyumatsena.
Satyavan was doomed to depart after a year when Savitri found her but still, she married him. Three days before the obligated death of Satyavan, Savitri meditated intensely and performed pujas and Abhishek. Yama appeared on the date and took Satyavan with him as he was dead. Savitri followed Yama and insisted on taking her also. Yama was impressed by the words and devotion of Savitri. He gave her the boon of having three wishes but kept the term of not asking for the life of Satyavan back. Later, Savitri asked to grant healthy eyes to his father in law and 100 children to her and Satyavan. Seeing the innocence of Savitri, Lord Yama returned her Satyavan too.
Rituals of Jyeshtha Purnima
Jyeshtha Purnima festivities take place by married women only. They conduct special puja in temples on this day. One of the main rituals followed in this temple is wrapping religious threads around the banyan tree. The banyan tree is majorly worshipped on Vat Purnima because it embodies three major Hindu deities- Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. They pray for the well-being and good health of their husband. Women keep a three-day-long fasti to mark the celebrations of Jyeshtha or Vat Purnima as the origin of Jyeshtha Purnima is based on the well-known story of Savitri, Satyavan and Yama. To illustrate their prominence, they are drawn on the floorings using rice and sandalwood mixture.
Women reach the temple wearing fine sarees and jewellery and present the invocations in the temple. They keep a strict fast without water and food. Those who maintain the fast with sincerity and honesty receive the bliss of excellent health and long life for their husbands. One of the most vital rituals linked with Jyeshtha Purnima is that women take a bath in the Ganges. They take a holy dip around or on Vat Purnima. The bath increases the sanctity of the entire festival to great folds. The legends say that doing Jyeshtha Purnima celebrations with outstanding commitment will attract the windfall of good health for their husbands for seven lives.
Boons of Jyeshtha Purnima
Jyeshtha Purnima plays an integral role in the lives of married women. Their husband lives a healthy and fruitful life when they observe the revelries of this auspicious festival. Savitri and Satyavan bless the couple on this day to live a life filled with fortune and prosperity. Women performing fasts and other rituals on the sacred occasion of Jyeshtha Purnima are blessed with great mental peace and tranquillity. Festivities of Vat Purnima helps the women in adding more stability and peace to their lives. These are some of the significant windfalls of celebrating Jyeshtha Purnima.
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