Karthik Purnima in different parts of India

Karthik Purnima in different parts of India

V Sundaram | Sat, 24 Nov, 2007 , 03:58 PM . India is a land of cultural unity amidst diversity. Languages, dialects, customs, festivals, dress, codes, cuisine, conduct, religions, philosophy, art, craft, literature, politics—there is nothing that is the same and certainly nothing that can be held together by just singing a national anthem. There has to be something more, ‘something’ deeper than a national bird and national symbol. In ‘Atharva Veda’ there is a poem which describes this ‘something’. “Unified am I, quite undivided, Unified my soul Unified my sight, unified my hearing Unified my breathing—both in and out Unified is my continuous breath Unified, quite undivided am I The whole of me” Only temple dedicated to Lord Brahma at Pushkar That ‘something’ which unifies is what this country leans upon as a source of strength for the ages to come. Once upon a time long ago, the great Saints and Sages who lived on this sacred soil injected this sense of unity into our life-streams. Kartik Purnima at Varanasi Our festivals like Deepavali, Dashera and Karthik Purnima are not simply a show of lights. When we celebrate festivals like Karthik Purnima, we celebrate the Festival of Eternal Illumination, asking for light to dawn on our minds, in our hearts, letting its warm glow mix with our life and blood. On such festival days we celebrate the victory of good over evil, of virtue over vice, of immortal life over mortal death. Bathing ritual for elephants on Kartik Purnima at Sonepur in Bihar Milling crowds on banks of Gandhak river in Bihar on Kartik Purnima Day Sadhus bathing in the Ganges at Patna on Kartik Purnima Thiruvannamalai temple Jyoti Vilakku at Thiruvannamalai on Kathikai Deepam Kartik Purnima on the banks of River Ganges at Haridwar