Significance Of Chitra Pournami
Chitra Pournami (Poornima) is traditionally observed during the Full Moon (Pournami) Day in the month of Chithirai (Chitra), the first Full Moon Day in the Vedic New Year and is considered as an auspicious day to appease CHITRA GUPTA and to seek his blessings.
Chitra Pournami (Poornima) is celebrated when the Sun is exalted in the sign Aries and the Moon is in the bright star named Chitra in the constellation of Libra. The exalted Sun in Aries can revitalizes one’s soul and empowers one to make better karmic choices which can help resurrect the destiny of one’s current life and also the life ahead. On this day, participating in special rituals and in charity activities such Anna Dhanam (Food Feeding) to the poor and needy can help you rewrite your destiny.
A full moon in the Tamil month of Chitra (April and May) and an exalted Sun in the sign Aries marks the day of Chitra Pournami. In 2018, the full moon occurs on Sunday & Monday, 29th & 30th April 2018. Again, the full moon is aligned in the most brightly shining Chitra star in the Libra constellation. This magnifies Moon’s brilliance on the day.
The full moon in Chitra: A full moon is considered auspicious in many religions because of its effects on the perspective of people. Full moon is said to promote creativity and positive feelings. Sentiments are said to ride on higher levels of consciousness leading to abundance of positive energy and higher levels of consciousness.
An exalted Sun in Aries: The solar calendar begins with an exalted Sun in Aries, a favorable position in the sky that can provide the most benefic results to Earth. So it is a mighty Sun, fully empowered to bring about its good effects.
About Chitra Gupta
The legend has it that Chitra Gupta was born to Goddess Parvathi in the form of a Chitram (Painting) and later believed to have entered the womb of Kamadhenu (the sacred COW) who gave him birth on the day of Chitra Pournami.
As per the Hindu traditions, Chitra gupta is the assistant of Lord Yama, the lord of death. He is the record keeper of both good and bad deeds or karmas of human beings on earth.
It is believed that when a person dies, Chitra gupta immediately makes a thorough check list of one’s virtues or deeds be it bad and good karmas of the person and passes the message to Lord Yama for final decision on the soul of the person.
The name Chitra gupta also signifies the Hidden (Gupta) Pictures (Chitra) of deeds of every human on earth. On this day, when the Sun and Moon create powerful energy around earth plane, the effect on humans are said to be profound.
The concept of Chitragupta being vigilant on the activities of humans is to tell humans on Earth not to commit any sin, especially on such an auspicious day. This will help in preserving purity of mind and goodwill in the hearts of people by urging them to commit only good actions.
Another legend has it that, once the king of Gods, Lord Indra, disobeyed his guru Brihaspati and after that Brihaspathi restrained from advising Indra between the good and bad deeds. In his absence of Indra continued doing wrong deeds. On coming to know of this, Brihaspathi resumed his duty due to compassion and then Indra was anguished for all his doings.
Indra realized his mistakes and requested Brihaspathi what he should do to redeem the wrongs he had done in his absence. Brihaspati asked Indra to undertake a pilgrimage. While Indra was on pilgrimage, he suddenly felt the load of sins taken off his shoulders at a particular place and discovered a Shiva Lingam there.
He accredited the miracle to this Lingam and wanted to build a temple for it and has constructed so immediately. As he wished to perform a ritual to the Lingam, the Lord Himself made golden lotuses to appear in a nearby pond. Indra was greatly pleased and blessed. The day on which Lord Indra thus worshipped the Lord Shiva was celebrated as Chitra Pournami.
What the significance of this story teaches us is…
Those who have intense faith…
Those who feel with a repentant heart that one has committed sins on account of ignorance
Those who pray with faith and devotion to the Lord to forgive sins committed
Those who resolve never to commit them in the future
Those who resolve to be obedient to one’s Guru and never to flout his counsel
One has to remember these things on worshipping the Lord on this Chitra Pournami day. By doing so all your sins will be forgiven and one would be blessed with a Pleasant, Prosperous, Healthy, Wealthy and a Harmonious life style with the divine grace of the almighty on this very auspicious day.
Worshipping Chitragupta
Special puja is arranged in temples on this day such as the Chitragupta temple in Kanchipuram, Airavateshwarar temple in Darasuram, Chandra Mouliswar temple in Thiruvakkarai and others.
When you pray to God for the purpose of dissolving your past sins with sincerity and devotion, your prayers will be answered. With your prayer to the higher energy, you also resolve not to commit acts which are considered as sins in our society. Thus your urge and willingness to cleanse your Karmas which stand as obstruction in your way for fulfillment of your desires take you closer to God, to seek blessings for being forgiven.
Dissolve your karma: The essence of worship on this day is the sincere effort to liberate yourself from the clutches of negative energies.
On this day, you can meditate on the story of Indra and his Guru Brihaspati.
Worship Lord Shiva or Chitragupta with incense, camphor, flowers.
Feed the Poor and the Needy.
Meditate on this story on Chitra Pournami day. The Hindu scriptures prescribe elaborate worship of the Chitra Guptas on this day. The Deity is invoked in an image or a kalasa (Vessel filled with water) and then worshipped with all the rituals and formalities of the worship offered to God's image.
Participating in Abhishekam rituals and contributing towards charity deeds such as Anna Dhanam (Food feeding) for the Poor and the Needy to the needy can help you resurrect your destiny. The easiest way to access God’s grace is to feed a person who is starving. Donating food is considered to be the greatest charity of all the charities. According to scriptures, feeding the poor and needy is the highest of all charities.
Donating food on a Full Moon is considered to be an important ritual for attaining merit. Donating food to people can free you from problems and provide success in all walks of life. As you participate in food feeding services to people, you can attract positive energy and peace of mind.
