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Significance of the month of Kaarthigai

 

The solar month of Kaarthigai is going to be over in a few hours.

As a kind of farewell,

let us see some facets of this month  in cosmological terms.

 

Kaarthigai comes with lighting lamps.

Lighting lamps during twilight hours on all days of

the solar month of Kaarthigai  is an age-old practice.

The special occasion is the full moon day in Kaarthigai

when all houses and temples will be decorated with oil lamps after sunset.

 

According to the astrological text, Kalaprakasika,

kaarthgai deepam is celebrated on the Full moon day of the solar month of kaarthgai.

The Full moon is the fundamental signifactor.

The star  krittika may or may not be present.

But the deepam must be lighted on the  Full moon.

If the full moon continues in the next evening, the deepam must be lit then.

Even if there is a lunar eclipse, the deepam must be lit.

This festival ensures prosperity and good rains to the country.

 

The lighting time must coincide with exact sun set or just before sunset or at twilight.

The twilight is defined as the time when sun will be within 18 degrees below the horizon.

It takes 4 minutes to cross a degree.

That means twilight stretches for 1 hour and 12 minutes after sunset.

It is within this time the Kaarthigai deepam is lit.

The details of how this festival is to be celebrated

is given in this link from Kalaprakasika.

 

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=e_8MaBfTncgC&pg=PP7&lpg=PP7&dq=kalaprakasika+translation&source=web&ots=7096Yp5mnG&sig=_pN0EIEn38u-y2pjz277r4gtheM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA240,M1

 

 

Why the month Kaarthigai?

 

Lighting lamps is an everyday practice as a part of worship.

But why this month of Kaarthigai has been specifically chosen is a question.

If we look into the details connected with this month,

we will know the cosmological and historical significance of this month.

 

This month lies opposite to Vaikasi when the summer is at its peak

in the northern hemisphere.

Kaarthigai is the time of peak summer in the southern hemisphere.

 

What we call as Agni nakshathra  days in the North

is experienced in the south during this month.

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/05/some-thoughts-on-agni-nakshathra.html

 

The agni nakshathra days are too hot for conducting mundane affairs.

But this Kaarthigai month is cold – devoid of solar strength.

So generate heat at that time.

A gentle but a steady and pleasant heating is done during this month.

 

Kaarthigai is the month when the lunar strength is also at his lowest.

It is the month when the moon reaches its debility.

The moon with the sun in this month (in the constellation of Scorpio)

is a low-spirited time for the lunar power.

 

 

Kaarthigai deepam as  Vishnu Deepam.

 

Kaarthigai deepam is known as the Vishnu deepam and

it is an  important occasion at Vaishnavite houses and temples.

It is because the Full moon of Kaarthigai denotes Vishnu paadam!

If the Vishnu-paadam in the North signifying Vishu corresponds to the  Vernal equinox, 

the Vishnu deepam corresponds to the Autumnal equinox in the South (hemisphere).

Autumnal equinoctial point is Lord Thrivikrama's sthithi (where he stood)

and also the third foot on Bali pressing him down to the underworld.

 

This can be understood from the explanation found in Surya siddhantha.

Surya Siddhantha explains the sojourn of the sun

through the two ayanas as Vamana avathara.

The sign of Capricorn (Makar) at the start of Uttarayana denotes

the first step of Lord Thrivikrama –him measuring the bhoo-loka.

 

The second step is the loftiest one pointing to Heavens at Vernal equinox (vishuvat).

The third step must be brought down to his sthithi,

but placed on Bali pressing him down to underworld

which is the plane below the southern equinoctial location.

In vedic parlance North / uttar is about the plane above our plane of existence.

South  / Dakshin means the plane below our plane of existence.

The directions as such are understood in this way only.

 

The first step at Uttarayana.

The second step at Vishuvat – Vernal equinox.

The third step at Autumnal equinox!

With that the asura (Mahabali) is vanquished.


This is remembered as 'Sokka –p-paanai' or bonfire

lit on the Kaarthigai deepam day in the Vishnu temples.

 

 

Vishnu Deepam as a Tamil festival!

 

There is a clue  that Kaarthigai deepam was an important cosmological event

in earlier time periods when Tamils were living in the south of the equator.

 

The third foot of Lord Thrivikrama must have been the first event

in the year of people of the southern hemisphere.

From ancient astrological texts, we come to know that

there was a time when the year started not on Chaithra

but on Kaarthigai -

not on the day after Amavasya (Shukla paksha) as we compute now,

but on the day after Pournami (Krishna paksha).

This is a matter of debate among scholars in astrology

who are in a fix as to how to reconcile these recorded events.

But if we look at life as it could have existed in the Southern hemisphere,

we can relate this to the reversal of events.

What is Vishuvat (Vernal equinox) in the Northern hemisphere

is Vikrama paadam in the Southern hemisphere (Autumnal equinox).

 

A supportive evidence is found in the rules of the now defunct Vikrama Era.

The year in Vikrama era started from the day after

 

the Full moon of Kaarthika (lunar month)

 

-indicating that this calendar in fact was originally followed in the South

 

rather than in the Northern parts.

 

 

To explain this better,

 

we know that among the various calendars that are (were) in use,

 

Vikrama calendar and Salivahana calendar were the most popular ones.

 

 

There is no authentic proof for why and how these two calendars were formed.

 

Most historians following the history written by the invading Britishers think

 

that Vikrama Era was initiated by King Vikramadhithya and

 

it was later replaced by Salivahanas.

 

 

 

But the unique difference between these two calendars

 

indicates that the origins may lie elsewhere.

 

It is that the Vikrama calendar follows the Southern pattern –

 

the new year starts with the month of Kaarthika

 

whereas the salivahana calendar starts with Chaithra –

 

following the Northern pattern.

 

The North – south I mention here is about the hemispheres.

 

 

 

The Vikrama  calendar is the calendar of the Southern hemisphere

 

starting from the dark phase – from the day after the Full moon in  Kaarthika.

 

The salivahana calendar is the calendar of the Northern hemisphere

 

starting from the day after the New moon in Chaithra.

 

Naturally Salivahana seemed to be realistic to the people about 2000 years ago

 

living in the north of the equator,

 

as they thought it fit to replace the calendar of the south

 

and started the Salivahana Era.

 

 

This is how the transition could have come.

 

The Vikrama calendar which started on 56 BC

 

(coinciding with zero ayanamsa at Aries)

 

must have been  an adaptation of a previously used Southern Calendar

 

which was based on Vikrama's third step from Vernal  to Autumnal

 

(just the opposite in the south) equinox!

 

 

 

Such a calendar would obviously begin in the Krishna Paksha –

 

because South is about darkness.

 

South is about starting the year some time in Libra or Sagittarius.

 

 

 

This is how the Kaarthigai deepam could have come to be associated with Tamils

 

who were originally located in Kumari kandam (Lemuria)

 

ruled by the Pandyans who moved to the present Tamilnadu

 

after seeing  two deluges in the last 10,000 years.

 

The latest one was part of Yuga-pralaya

 

when the Kaliyuga began with the global inundations

 

in which Dwaraka too was sub-merged.

 

The Tamils, though they started to follow the calendar of the North,

 

however did not give up the old memory of Vikrama's third step

 

which they celebrated long long ago.

 

 

Finally why the name Kaarthigai

when then Kaarthigai star is not there in that constellation?

 

It is because the naming of the months was done based on the star

in which  Full moon happens in that month.

All the lunar months have been named in that way.

The solar months were names based on the Rasi (constellation)

such as Mesha maasam, Vrishanbha maasam etc.

The Tamils used the solar way only.

This can be substantiated from the astrological texts and Naadi readings

wherein solar names and their equivalents only were used.

But lunar naming is connected with vrathas or spiritual uses.

It seems that  in course of time the lunar names had been adopted

which could have undergone variations such as aani, aadi etc.

In this connection, let us see the use of different ways of computing time.

 

There had been in vogue solar time, (saura mana)

Lunar time (chandra mana)

Civil time (savanna mana)

and star time (nakshathra mana).

All these are used in day to day life.

 

Solar time is about the duration covered by one rotation of the earth on its axis.

Lunar time is about the duration between one New moon to another New moon.

Savanna time is about the duration from one sunrise to another sunrise.

Star time is about the rotation of the earth with reference to a fixed star.

It is time taken to come back to the same star in the course of rotation of the earth.

 

The solar time is used in the case of events.

That is why we say the year starts when the sun is in zero degree Aries,

For, that is the basis for computing events for the year.

The yearly prediction depends on Sun's sojourn

from its beginning point which was zero degree Aries when this Kalpa started.

 

The Lunar time is used for spiritual and religious purposes.

That is why the injunction on Thithi (Full moon for deepam festival)

 

The savanna mana is for festivals and mundane activities.

For example, Deepavali is indeed at the break of dawn on the New moon day.

But any auspicious festival requires one to take oil bath.

Since New moon after dawn is a thithi for pithru kaaryam,

oil bath can not be taken after sunrise on New moon.

That is why the injunction on oil bath before sunrise on Deepavali.

 

The nakshathra mana  is purely for keeping track of time with reference to space.

This has relevance in locating lagna and planets at any given time.

This has vast application in astrology.

 

As for the current topic,

the solar month is the signifactor of the event in cosmos and earthen hemisphere.

The Lunar connection is for worship purpose.

The combination of these two is earmarked for a grand worship

by lighting oil-wick lamps when Full moon appears in the Solar month of Kaarthigai.

 

Here a  clarification on the difference between

lighting lamps on Deepavali (as it is done in most of India barring Tamilnadu)

and lighting lamps on Kaarthigai pournami.

The obvious  difference is that Deepavali coincides with New / no moon day

whereas Kaarthigai deepam coincides with Full moon day.

But the intricate difference is that, lighting lamps on Deepavali

is to celebrate a historical event of the death of Narakasura

while that of the Kaarthigai is a kind of worship on a cosmically important day.

 

(to be continued)

 


__._,_.___

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org




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