What Is Mahalaya?
- August 7, 2020
Mahalaya is the day that marks the end of Pitru Paksha and the beginning of Devi Paksha. It is believed that during Pitru Paksha, our ancestors come from Pitru Loka (a realm between heaven and earth) and stay with us. They are offered food and prayers, and their blessings are invoked by the present generation and their children. There is an interesting story associated with the Mahabharata that looks at the origins of this festival.
After Karna’s death in the Mahabharata war, when his soul reached heaven, he was offered gold and jewels as food. Surprised, Karna asked Indra why he was not being given real food to eat. Indra relied that this was because, during his lifetime, although Karna had donated a lot of wealth to other people, he had never offered food and water to his own ancestors. Karna justified his actions, saying that this was because he never knew who his ancestors were. Karna was then allowed to return to earth for a period of 15 days, during which he performed the shraadha of his ancestors and donated food and water in their memory. It is this period which we now know as pitru paksha.
To receive more such stories in your Inbox & WhatsApp, Please share your Email and Mobile number.
To receive more such stories in your Inbox & WhatsApp, Please share your Email and Mobile number.
Related Articles
Comic of The Month
The Sons of Rama
The story of Rama and Sita was first set down by the sage Valmiki in his epic poem 'Ramayana.' Rama was the eldest son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, who had three wives - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Rama was the son of Kaushalya, Bharata of Kaikeyi and Laxmana and Shatrughna of Sumitra. The four princes grew up to be brave and valiant. Rama won the hand of Sita, the daughter of King Janaka. Dasharatha wanted to crown Rama as the king but Kaikeyi objected. Using boons granted to her by Dasharatha earlier, she had Rama banished to the forest. Sita and Laxmana decided to follow Rama. While in the forest, a Rakshasi, Shoorpanakha, accosted Laxmana but had her nose cut off by him. In revenge, her brother Ravana, king of Lanka, carried Sita away. Rama and Laxmana set out to look for her and with the help of an army of monkeys, defeated Ravana. On returning Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, Rama banished Sita because of the suspicions of his subjects. In the ashrama of sage Valmiki, she gave birth to her twin sons, Luv and Kush.
20 Minute Read
