Karthik Poornima!!

Karthika poornima as is popularly known or Karthigai Deepam as is better known to South Indians is a very important festival,specially in Tamil Nadu.Kaarthigai Deepam is a festival of lights, celebrated in the Tamil month of Kaarthigai. It is celebrated on the full moon day(Pournami or poornima) of the Kaarthigai month which coincides with Krithikai star.
As a child I enjoyed helping amma light the lovely brass lamps of different shapes,patterns and sizes and also the Ahal vilakku's.Amma was extremely good at drawing maa kolams and they used to look beautiful indeed.Their beauty was enhanced by the lamps placed all around the kolams in front of our vasal.Then naivedyam of pori, appam and milagu adai was done and a shloka for the welfare and happiness of brothers was chanted,followed by Karpoora arati and then arrange the lamps in our verandah and all around the house.I used to love to watch the row of lights which looked ever so beautiful and filled my heart with joy and cheer.Amma always made sure I had a new pavadai for Karthigai every year.We would also save some crackers from the Diwali stock for Karthigai day and enjoy the sparklers for sure.I remember the joy and enthusiasm that small little activities and events brought forth.There was thrill in showing off the pavadai to friends and to all around.Those are stuff I sure do miss now and not to forget that it sure does bring a smile when we go back down memory lane. Every year a couple of new ahal vilakkus will sure be added and two of them we would take to the nearby Siva temple and light there.
Well now to the most important point and purpose of this blog.Well, I must admit that beyond what I have written above I hardly knew anything about the significance of Karthigai Deepam and the stories attached.Legend has it that ..Vishnu and Brahma where arguing over which of them was the most powerful. Shiva challenged them to find his head and feet. He said that whoever found the end or beginning first, would win and be considered winner. Neither was able to win because Shiva takes a gigantic form.Lord Shiva humbled both by rising as a huge tower of fire. The two quarreling Gods could not scale Lord Shiva’s manifestation, both realized that the pillar of fire was Lord Shiva himself, who is in fact infinite.
In Tiruvannamalai Karthigai is celebrated as a 10 day festival and on Pournami(Poornima)a huge cauldron is lit atop the maginificient Arunachala Hills.This lamp I was told last year lasts for 10 days and every evening for the next 10 days one can see the shining light atop Arunachala.Last December I had the good fortune of witnessing this wonderful sight.This is also popularly known as Anna malai Deepam and it is believed that Lord Shiva's Jothi will be visible on this day.

Tiruvannamali is also one of the Pancha Maha Bootha Kshetrams and this is the agni kshetram.

There is yet another story related to karthigai and that is......

Lord karthikeya took the form of six babies in a lake called "Saravana Poigai". On this day, all his six forms were united by Parvathi(his mother) and this way, he had six faces. Special poojas are performed to Lord Karthikeya.

There is also another story related to this festival of lights and lamps.Karthigai lamps are found in various shapes and patterns and the most popular among them is the 'AANAI VILAKKU'.This I suppose is there in some families may be.My mother had these AAnai Vilakku which I have now and they have a truly majestic and royal look about them.It is after all these years that I came across a story behind these lamps.
Why we light Elephant lamp on Karthigai ?
Once upon a time there lived a King and he had only one daughter. She loved an elephant which grew with her and she considered the elephant as her own brother. After her marriage she missed her brother elephant very much. So for every Thirukarthigai/Karthigai deepam occasion, she will light elephant lamp(Gajalakshmi vilaku) and she will prepare tender coconut, elephant leg size milagu Milagu Adai, Pori,Appm,Vella adai(in some houses vella adai is offered too) and keep them as neivedhyam for this festival.

So we on this auspicious occassion all devotees should chant the following lines
'Keetha Pathanga:Masakasha Vruttha,
Jale Sthayeye Visharanthi Jeeva,
Drushtav Pradeepam Na cha Janma Baghina:
bhavanthi Nityam shav basha hi vipra'.
கீட: பதங்கா மசகாஸ்ச வ்ருதா
ஜலே ஸ்த்யேயே விசரந்தி ஜீவா
தருஷ்டவா ப்ரதீபம் ந ச ஜன்ம பாகிந:
பவந்தி நித்யம் சவ பசா ஹி விப்ரா
and also
Yaanai Vaazha (long live the elephant)
Arasan Vaazha (long live the King)
Penn Vaazha(long live the woman)
Piranthagam Vaazha(Long live the house you were born into)
and put one piece of pori in the lamp and perform the pooja along with neivedhyam.


May the light of enlightenment dispel the dark ignorance of the mind.

I missed caturing my kolam with the lamps,so have posted a picture which I took from the net.

Jai Gurudev.