Narak Chaturdashi on Saturday, November 14, 2020
Abhyang Snan Muhurat
- 04:56 AM to 06:14 AM
Duration
- 01 Hour 18 Mins
Moonrise at Abhyang Snan
- 04:56 AM
Abhyang Snan during Moonrise and
Chaturdashi
Chaturdashi Tithi Begins
- 05:59 PM on Nov 13, 2020
Chaturdashi Tithi Ends
- 02:17 PM on Nov 14, 2020
Narak
Chaturdashi is a festival celebrated in the month of Kartik, on the 14th day of
the waning moon. It is also known as Narak Chaudas, Roop Chaudas or even Kali
Chaudas. As per the ancient Indian mythology, people revere the Lord of death
‘Yamraj’ with utmost devotion and adoration. As it is celebrated a day
before Diwali, it is also known as Choti Diwali. On this day,
people light up diyas at their homes after dusk. By lionising the god of death,
people make sure that they are absolved from the clutches of untimely death as
well as pray for a better health. Along with this, it is also considered very
auspicious if, on this day, prior to the break of dawn, you apply sesame oil
all over your body and bath with the water infused with Apamarga leaves. This
shall lead you on your way of becoming fearless and would help you a great deal
in your pursuit of going to heaven.
Narak Chaturdashi as per the
Scriptures
As
per traditions and beliefs, Narak Chaturdashi is celebrated on the 14th day of
the waning moon of the Krishna paksha of the Kartik month.
1. On
the Kartik Krishna paksha of the 14th day of the waning moon, just before the
moon rise or the time before dawn (The time before the sun rises; for a
duration of 1 hour and 36 minutes), we celebrate Narak Chaturdashi. Usually,
going by the trend, the time before dawn is considered to be of more
importance.
2. If both the Narak Chaturdashi dates are in touching distance of
Moon rise and the time before the break of the dawn, then we celebrate Narak
Chaturdashi on the first day itself. If that is not the case, i.e. the dates do
not coincide with either the Moon rise or the time before dawn, even then we
celebrate Narak Chaturdashi on the first day itself.
3. On Narak chaturdashi, it is an age old tradition to apply oil all
over the body, before Moon rise or the time before dawn and worship the god of
death ‘Yamraj’.
Narak Chaturdashi Puja vidhi
1. On
this day, taking a bath before sunrise is considered very auspicious. During
the bath, you have to apply sesame oil all over your body. After its done, you
are to circle Apamarga leaves over your head 3 times.
2. Before Narak Chaturdashi, fill a vessel up to the brim on ahoi
ashtami, during the month of Kartik on a dark lunar fortnight. Then on the day
of Narak Chaturdashi, mix the water from the vessel with your bathing water. It
is believed that by doing this you charge the water and fight off your fear of
damnation.
3. After you are done with your bath, pray diligently to the god of
death, Yamraj with both hands joined and facing southwards. By doing this you
are absolved from all your past sins.
4. On this day, light a properly oiled diya right outside your main
door in the honor of Lord Yamraj.
5. In the evening of Narak Chaturdashi, all the gods are worshipped
before lighting up an oiled diya, which is then kept at the both sides of the
entrance area or the main door of either your house or the place where you
work. It is thoroughly believed that by doing this you are inviting the goddess
of wealth, Lakshmi to make herself at home and bring with her, her affluence in
abundance.
6. We have many names for Narak Chaturdashi- namely Roop
Chaturdashi, Roop Chaudas and this is an instrumental reason why we laud Lord
Krishna on this day as it leads to beautification of our body (our roop).
7. On this day, there is a specific time period known as Nisheeth
kaal, where it is advised to throw away all our useless stuff out of the house.
This tradition is also known as removal of poverty. It is firmly believed on
the next day of Narak Chaturdashi, which is on Diwali, the goddess of wealth Lakshmi
enters your home, and with her enters her aura of prosperity and wealth in
galore. This is the reason why you cleanse your house of all the impurities and
dirt.
Significance of Chaturdashi and
the Legendary tales about it
On
the day of Narak Chaturdashi, the lighting of Diya holds great emphasis as well
as mythological significance. On this day towards the evening, the light from
the diya clears away the darkness from our lives for good. Due to this reason,
we also call Narak Chaturdashi as Choti Diwali. There are many other theories
as well behind lighting up the diyas on Narak Chaturdashi.
1. The
Killing of the Devil named, Narakasura : There once lived an evil
named Narkasura, who with his supernatural abilities made it impossible for all
the priests and saints to live in peace. His antics rose to such a level that
it became almost impossible to keep him under check. Things took a turn for the
worse when he took 16 thousand of the gods wives as hostage. Bearing every
possible torture that the malicious Narakasura could throw at them, the saints
and the priests went to Lord Krishna for help. Lord Krishna assured all the
troubled saints and priests that justice would be served to the guilty party.
Narkasura was cursed that he would die off the hands of a woman. So, very
cleverly, Lord Krishna took aide of his wife and in the month of Kartik, on a
Krishna paksha of the 14th day of the waning Moon, Lord Krishna finally brought
upon justice by putting Narakasura to the sword. Once the Devil was dead, the
16 thousand hostage were freed. These 16 thousand hostage then came to be known
as Patraniya.
After the death of Narakasura, on the new Moon of the month of Kartik, people
light up diyas to celebrate Narak Chaturdashi and Diwali.
2. The Tale of Datyaraj Bali : This folklore clearly
illustrates about the boon given to Datyaraj bali by Lord Krishna. In this,
Lord Krishna took an incarnation of a dwarf and between the 13th day and new Moon,
he measured/covered the entire kingdom of Datyaraj Bali in three steps. Seeing
this, the kindhearted King Datyaraj Bali gave his entire kingdom to the dwarf
king. After this, the dwarf king asked King Bali for a boon. Having asked for a
boon, King Bali replied dear lord the time slot between the 13th day & the
full moon, my kingdom should stand the test of time and shall always remain for
these 3 days, also anyone who celebrates Diwali in my kingdom
shall be blessed with wealth and galore. Also, on Chaturdashi, anyone who
lights a diya shall not have their ancestors in hell or otherwise. They would
be exempted the trip to hell and the god of death Yamraj shall do them no harm.
Having
heard the wish of King Bali, Lord Krishna was left impressed and he complied to
his wishes by turning them into reality. From that day onwards, the ritual of
observing a fast on Narak Chaturdashi and doing Puja as well as the lighting of
diyas became an actual thing.
We
at the 2nd Online Travel Varanasi wish you a very Happy Narak
Chaturdashi & Chhoti Diwali.
Ramesh
Verma – Cmd – The 2nd Online Travel Aktha , Varanasi
Narak
Chaturdashi / Chhoti Diwali 2020 – Varanasi Holy Tourism, Aktha
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