Bhakti List Archives

[sv-rituals] Deepavali date

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • Tue Nov 05 2002 - 15:35:36 PST 


Dear Friends,

There has been some confusion over the date on which Deepavali is
observed. One of our members asked me to articulate the rules to 
the best of my knowledge so that it may help all of us celebrate 
this festival in a timely manner year to year.

In Tamil Nadu and for much of Karnataka and the rest of the south,
Deepavali is celebrated on Naraka Chaturdasi. Naraka Chaturdasi
is observed on the lunar calendar in the month of Asvayuja, on
Krishna (waning phase) Chaturdasi. Specifically, the Naraka Chaturdasi
snAnam which begins the Deepavali celebration for most of us 
should be done on the day on which Chaturdasi is present, 
_after_ moonrise and _before_ sunrise.  This event commences Deepavali.

The next question concerns the new moon, or Amavasya, and when
to perform the monthly Amavasya tarpanam. This tarpanam is an obligatory
duty to honor one's departed parents.  Like other pitr karmas, 
the Amavasya tarpanam is an aparAhna-karma, that is, it should be
performed in the afternoon. Technically, if the daylight hours
on a given calendar day are equally divided into 5 parts, the 4th 
division is called the aparahna.  The tarpanam should be done in
this time on that day when Amavasya is prevalent in this period.

On some occasions Chaturdasi may end early on the Deepavali day and
Amavasya may begin and continue through the aparAhna, which means
that the tarpanam should be done on the same day as Deepavali,
even though the tithi is Chaturdasi. It can also happen that
Amavasya is only prevalent during the following day's aparAhna,
in which case the tarpanam should be done the day after 
Deepavali.

If Amavasya is present on both days' aparAhnas, that day with
more Amavasya in the aparAhna should be chosen for the tarpanam.

Though I am confident the above is correct, I may have some details
wrong, so please do correct me if you find anything in error.

In some other regions, a three-day period is considered Deepavali,
beginning with Naraka Chaturdasi and ending on the succeeding 
pratipat (prathama). The latter day is known as Bali Paadyami
and some, at least in Karnataka, give prominence to it and call
it Deepavali. In some parts of north India, the Amavasya is called 
Lakshmi Puja. It is celebrated as New Year's day in Gujarat.   

adiyen ramanuja dasan
Mani


-- SrImatE rAmAnujAya namaH --

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/