Margashira Month
Worship the Gods while enjoying soothing weather.
Margashirsha is the ninth lunar month in the Hindu calendar.
Margashira month is named after the star Mrigasira. This month comes when (purnima ) Full Moon Day coincides with Mrigasira constellation. People say that during this month Mrigasira Nakshatra or star comes around purnima day. It marks the beginning of a new season called Hemanta Ritu that generally occurs during the English calendar months of November and December.
Hemanta Ritu is referred to as ‘pre winter’ in Odisha.
In this month people worship Lord Vishnu and Goddess Maha Laxmi.
As per Puranas, once Goddess Laxmi visited Shriya, a scavenger low caste woman, for which Lord Balaram, the elder brother of Lord Jagannath got angry with Goddess Laxmi, and she was turned out from Jagannath Temple, Puri. Goddess Laxmi leaves the temple and when the brothers realise her importance and plead with her, she agrees to return after some years. Goddess Laxmi agrees on one condition that there will be no caste discrimination on Earth thereafter.
The Puranas raises voice against the evil practices of untouchability in society. It also stresses importance on feminism and empowers the female power to resist male hegemony. As per this Laxmi Purana, puja is performed for Goddess Laxmi.
In Odisha, people worship Goddess Maha Laxmi every Thursday (Guruvar) during this month. In local language it is known as Manabasa Guruvar. It is believed by the people that the Goddess Mahalaxmi herself comes to every household and gets rid of pain and sorrow.
This occasion is correlated with cultivation and harvesting.
‘Mana’ is a pot made from bamboo (nowadays replaced by brass vessels) used in the olden days for measuring paddy.
Farmers, who had worked very hard in the fields for the past few months, fill their harvested paddy in the pot(Mana) to worship Goddess Laxmi. They consider it as the grace and blessing of Goddess Laxmi and worship Mana filled with freshly harvested paddy as her icon.
The entire countryside celebrates ‘Manabasa’ by worshipping Goddess Laxmi.
It is believed that Goddess Laxmi loves a clean house . On the eve of Gurubaras, the ladies of the household clean the house and decorate the walls and floors with artistic chitas or jhotis made using rice paste or solution. The women draw Jhotis in different shapes like flowers( mainly Lotus flower) and the feet of Goddess Laxmi .
The following day, they get up early in the morning and after purification bath wear new sarees in the combination of white and red for the puja. They put alata (red dye) on their feet and sindura (vermilion)on their foreheads.
Manda pitha, a steamed pancake , is prepared as prasad.
They spread the newly harvested paddy grains on a low table and fill the Mana with the new grains and place on the table. All women read the Maha Laxmi Purana written by ancient poet Balaram Das while performing the puja.
They keep upavas (fast). Towards the midday, they worship Goddess Laxmi and break the upavas.
The year 2020 started in a cloudy manner, Covid spreading through nations like wildfire, bringing the whole world to a standstill. People isolated themselves inside their homes and have lived in anxiety and uncertainty for the longest time.
Writing a blog on small things relating to our culture and heritage not only gives more clarity on the topic to the author, but also a sense of happiness that his/her work is reaching like minded people.😍🌹.
Thank you for appreciating this small effort by reading this. This motivates me to write.✨♥️
Stay safe.
