Padwa or Varshapratipada
It is the fourth day that marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya, initiating Vikram-Samvat from this Padwa day.
Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran the people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honor of Lord Indira, worshiping him after the end of every monsoon season. However, one particular year the young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indira. This angered Lord Indira, who responded by submerging Gokul underwater. Krishna saved Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan Mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella. To commemorate this day, people of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar build cow dung hillocks, decorate them with flowers and then worship them.
On this day in the temples of Mathura and Nathadwara, the deities are given milk bath, dressed in shining attires with ornaments of dazzling diamonds, pearls, rubies and other precious stones. After the prayers are offered, the innumerable varieties of delicious sweets are ceremoniously raised in the form of a mountain (known as Annakoot) before the deities as bhog. Only after this offering, devotees take prasad from the bhog.
Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in every Hindu household and her blessings sought for success and happiness. This day is looked upon as the most auspicious day to start any new venture. In many Hindu homes it is a custom for the wife to put the red tilak on the forehead of her husband, garland him and do his aarthi with a prayer for his long life. In appreciation of all the tender care that the wife showers on him, the husband gives her a costly gift. This Gudi Padwa is symbolic of love and devotion between the wife and husband. On this day newly-married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals and given presents. In olden days brothers went to fetch their sisters from their in-laws home for this important day.
It is the fourth day that marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya, initiating Vikram-Samvat from this Padwa day.
Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran the people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honor of Lord Indira, worshiping him after the end of every monsoon season. However, one particular year the young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indira. This angered Lord Indira, who responded by submerging Gokul underwater. Krishna saved Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan Mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella. To commemorate this day, people of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar build cow dung hillocks, decorate them with flowers and then worship them.
On this day in the temples of Mathura and Nathadwara, the deities are given milk bath, dressed in shining attires with ornaments of dazzling diamonds, pearls, rubies and other precious stones. After the prayers are offered, the innumerable varieties of delicious sweets are ceremoniously raised in the form of a mountain (known as Annakoot) before the deities as bhog. Only after this offering, devotees take prasad from the bhog.
Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in every Hindu household and her blessings sought for success and happiness. This day is looked upon as the most auspicious day to start any new venture. In many Hindu homes it is a custom for the wife to put the red tilak on the forehead of her husband, garland him and do his aarthi with a prayer for his long life. In appreciation of all the tender care that the wife showers on him, the husband gives her a costly gift. This Gudi Padwa is symbolic of love and devotion between the wife and husband. On this day newly-married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals and given presents. In olden days brothers went to fetch their sisters from their in-laws home for this important day.
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