Chitra Pournami
Vritham on 29-4-2018
Compiled by
P.R.Ramachander
Chithra Guptha is
the book keeper of Yama the God of
death who keeps tag of the sins and
good deeds committed by
each individual being on earth .It is based on his accounting that God of death sends one to hell or heaven.
There are few great stories
about his origin .
1.Yama the God of
death was the son of Sun God
and one day he rushed to Kailasa, the
abode of Lord Shiva. He was
obviously worried and when
Lord Shiva asked him, what he
wanted, Lord Yama told him, “God too
many beings are there in the earth and
I am finding it extremely difficult to
keep track of the sins and good
deeds done by them, so that I can
punish them or honour them. So please
help me by giving a helper who is pious
, judicious , wise , skilled
and can write quickly ..” AS soon
as as he heard this request Lord Shiva instructed Lord Brahma to do the needful. Lord Brahma made
God of love enter the mind of Lord Sun.
That day he was watching his rays
reflected in the ocean and splitting in to seven colours and Sun wished to have
a lady as pretty as that and suddenly a rain bow was formed and Lord Sun made her in to a lady and called her Nila Devi and Sun God started living with her and a son was born to her on the full moon
day of the Chithre month ( April –may)and
he was named as Chithra Puthran.At birth the boy had a writing stylus and dried palm leaf. He was given to Lord Yama
as book keeper .Since all that he
maintains should be secret he was later named as Chithra Guptha (Guptha means
secret).He later got married to three
ladies Prabhavathi, Neelavathi and Karniki.(some references say two wives) It
seems he had eight sons.
2.There is another
version of the story given in
Wikipedia. Lord Brahma, determined to solve this problem for Yama, sat in meditation
for many thousands of years. Finally he opened his eyes, and a man stood before
him with a pen and paper. As Chitragupta was born of Brahma's body or kaya in
Sanskrit, Brahma declared that his children would forever be known as Kayastha*(
a major caste in North India)
.
3.Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction was discussing with
his wife Parvathi about maintaining Dharma amidst all human
beings in earth and maintaining good account of their deeds. He felt that he
wanted to have someone to have a close watch on the people to prevent them from
indulging in crime and involving themselves in good deeds. Shiva drew a picture
in a gold plate - Parvathi was impressed and wanted Shiva to detail it. The
picture turned into a deity by the divine grace of Shiva and Parvathi. Shiva
entrusted the duty of maintaining the account of deeds of all human beings in
earth. He came to be known as Chitraguptha as he was derived from
a Chitra (piture) and Gupta (accountant). He was set as the
accountant of Yama, who is the deity of death..
4.Brihaspati, the Guru of planetary deities had a
disagreement with Indra the king of
celestial deities. On account of the confrontation, Brihaspati discontinued his
advocacy to Indra. At a later point, Indra realized his mistakes and patched up
with his Guru. To expiate himself from the sins created, he started on a
pilgrimage and reached the place to find a Linga. He constructed a temple
in the place and golden lotuses started appearing in the nearby temple tank.
The day was Chitra Pournami.
5.Indra prayed to Shiva to have a child, but as per
the divine wish, his wife Indrani was not supposed have any progeny.
Shiva directed Kamadhenu , the holy cow to give birth to a child. Shiva
later entrusted the child to Indra and Indrani, who later brought him up as
Chitragupta.
Chithra pournami
festival which xcomes this year on 30-4-2018 is considered as birthday of Chithraguptha
In olden days people
alone or in groups observe
Vratham(Penance) on Chithra
pournami and go to the temple and
read the story of Chithra Guptha
in Tamil. They believed that Chithra Guptha would come to
earth and visit every being and the effect of sins done knowingly or unknowingly
would get reduced by reading his story. They also believed that
by reading or hearing the story they and their family would be healthy and prosperous.
There is also a
story regarding why penance on Chithra
pournami was being undertaken.
This is the summary of the story that they used to read
There was country
in olden times called Mukthi
puri and there was a young girl there called
Kalavathi. Once she went in side the forest and saw a
pretty small temple there. Some deva
maidens were doing pooja there, They were reading the story of Chithra guptha. When
they came out Kalavathi asked them, what they were doing and what story they were reading,. They told her that it was God Chithra Guptha’s story and all
those who observe penance on his birthday(Chithra pournami) and read the story would become prosperous, get good
husnands , sweet children and succeed
in all that they do Kalavathi
requested them to teach her that story
.She became the queen of that country.Being a great devotee , she spread
the procedure of the penance and the story throughout the country.
Preparation for
the penance and pooja on the previous
day
On the previous night of Chitra Pournami, please
wash the lamps, keep turmeric, kumkum dots, put thread
and keep it ready for the next day.
Sweep the house and keep it clean.
Usually we make sweet pidi kozhukattai using homemade
rice flour. So we prepare the homemade rice flour in advance and keep it ready
for next day’s use. (Some people offer
Jaggery payasam)
Draw maakolam in the entrance and in front of pooja room.
Usually we draw kolam in the entrance and pooja
room(see image) .
Foot of Chitra
gupta along with an umbrella, hand fan, stick,foot of bull, foot of horse and
flag should also be drawn. Refer picture attached
Should draw it from entrance till pooja room feet just
the way you put Lord Krishna feet for Gokulashtami/Krishna jayanthi. It is
believed that Chitra Gupta is entering our house on this day. Refer image
Wash the muram and divide into 9 parts by drawing
segments using maakolam.
Keep 9 types of grains/ Navadhaniyam in them as shown in
the image. Keep a fresh bunch of neem flower if you have. I have kept some
dried flowers.You should also keep a coconut, raw mango and palm hand fan(visari)
nearby the muram.
. In a white paper, write “Chithiranaar Puthiranaar
Sivanadiyaar Perungkanakkar” ( "சித்திர
புத்திரனார் சிவனடியார் பெருங்கணக்கர் ") and keep
a Pen nearby. Place a raw mango & coconut in the muram. In olden days
they used to keep "Kothoda manga kulaioda thengai"
(Bunch of mangop and coconuts
.
Keep this muram ready the previous night itself.
On the Festival
Day
Fasting Rules:
We should avoid taking milk and milk-products on that day
since he came out from Kamadhenu. (It is preferable to take buffalo milk if
available). Then after finishing usual pooja and
naivedhya, we have to donate rice, vegetables, dhal and dakshina in a
“MURAM” to Brahmins. It is a customary to eat curd rice without salt
on this day and to fast without eating anything else. In any case avoiding salt
in food items throughout the day is recommended on this day, if possible
On that day early morning ( around 6 am), we take head
bath and start to make dishes for neivedyam.
We make sweet Pidi kozhukattai by mixing the 1 cup of
homemade rice flour in jaggery syrup ( 1 cup grated jaggery & 1.25 cups of
water) adding 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder & 2 tbsp of grated coconut. Make
shapes using fingers and steam it in an idli pot. In the mean time, wash and
pressure cook 1/2 cup of raw rice adding 2.5 cups of water.Cook for 2 whistle
in very low flame. Remove and mash the rice.Transfer to a bowl. Make a dent in
the center. Keep a small piece of banana, jaggery and add a tsp of ghee. (some
people do not make these kozhukattais
but only offer Chakarai pongal) If you wish you can make a no onion no garlic
sambar as well. Then make Panagam by mixing water, jaggery, a pinch of edible
camphor, crushed cloves, cardamom. Make neer mor and temper it. Keep all the
neivedyam dishes in mud pots and plates if you haveIn an auspicious time of the
day, light the lamp and keep the neivedyam in front of God.
Avoid Rahu Kalam
and Yama kandam.Place the muram ( winnowing basket) with 9 grains, hand written
paper & pen. In a plate, keep betel leaves, nuts, banana and a coconut.
Keep the panakam, neer mor in bowls.Sweet pidi kozhukattai and white
pongal in a plate. Show the deep, dhoop and mangala harathi.Finish the pooja.
If you wish, you can read the story of Chitra Gupta and chant some slokhas as
well.
This is one famous sloka
Chita guptham mahaa praagyam lEkanee pathra dhaarinam
Chitra rathnaambaratharam madhyastham sarva dEhinaam.
Chithra guptha , the very wise one, who
carries the pen and palm leaves,
Who wore gems of various colours, and who is the witness of all beings
This is how we celebrate Chitra Pournami festival in one house.
There may be slight variations in the celebration procedures based on your
tradition. Consult the elders in your home and do the changes accordingly. Some
people also make Vada, Payasam for lunch.
If you wish, you can offer food to the poor & needy on this night to get
the blessings of Almighty and remove the bad karma on you. I hope this post
would help you to get some idea of Chitra Pournami
