Occult October

The skies of October has opened with a lot of festivity and frolic. This month is very busy month in the Hindu calender with Solar and Lunar eclipse, festival of dolls, and Jupiter transiting into Libra. There is lot of change happening in the milky way, planets are moving around and so is Sun and Moon. Life is never the same!

The movement of Sun, Moon and Earth around each other creates an atmosphere were either of the three gets sandwiched between earth and one of the other. On October 3rd a partial solar eclipse occurs in India. The eclipse starts at 1.00 pm and the peak eclipse happens at around 4.15pm and ends at 6.15 pm. Here in India we have a set of rules that we follow during eclipse and science has also supported all of the religious claims and fasts observed during this time. We don't go out during the eclipse time, we stay indoors and worship God, chant hymns. During the eclipse we observe fast , this is beacuse certain rays affect affect our mind and body and slows are digestive system and immune system. Carrying mothers, elderly folks and kids are advised to stay indoors during this time. We break the fast once the eclipse is over by showering, offering prayers and then have food.

We have Lunar eclipse happening on the 17th October, not far away. Well in India eclipse is beleived to bring bad luck, trouble in the government, bloodshed, natural disaster, passing away for some important people. This time we have both the eclipse happening back to back and I am a little worried about the aftermath. Well let us pray for a peaceful earth.

Other important aspect is the movement of Jupiter. Jupiter transit into Libra happened earlier last month, while he moves from one zodiac sign to another his rays fall on one of the 12 sacred rivers in India. This makes the river even more sacred and it is considered very auspicious to take a dip in the river.

Pushkaram is a festival in India which occurs in any particular year with respect to one of twelve important rivers; the river for each year's festival is based on which zodiacal sign Jupiter is in at that time. The table to the right shows the association of rivers and signs.

River Sign
Ganges Aries
Reva Taurus
Saraswathi Gemini
Yamuna Cancer
Godavari Leo
Krishna Virgo
Cauvery Libra
Bheemanadhi Scorpio
Radhya Saga Sagittarius
Tungabhadra Capricorn
Indus Aquarius
Pranahitha Pisces

The Pushkaram for each river come once every twelve years and lasts so long as the Jupiter remains in the corresponding Zodiac sign (generally, for one year). The first twelve days of pushkaram are known as Adi Pushkaram, and the last twelve days are called Anthya Pushkaram. It is believed that during the above period of twenty-four days, "Pushkar" the person, who is imbued with the power to make any river holy, will travel with Jupiter as Jupiter moves from one Zodiac house to another.

Thousands throng to take a holy dip in the river in these 12 days. Cauvery is flwoing to the brim this year, thanks to the rain god. I am planning to make a trip for the holy dip in Cauvery next weekend. Come back to have a look at the pictures taken during the festival.

I will continue about the Doll Festival in my next blog..........