Chhath Puja

Chhath (literally means sixth) is celebrated on the sixth day of the month of Kartik from the Hindu calendar. It is also the sixth day after Diwali. This is a very important festival for the people of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and is also considered to be one of the few major festivals in the honour of Sun god.

During the Vedic times, Surya, the Sun god was one of the main deities in the pantheon of gods. Thus this festival seems to have its continuity and significance from the Vedic times. Before we venture into the myths surrounding this festival, it is pertinent to mention that this worship has similarity with a number of other cultures like Egypt, Greece and the Japanese who were the worshippers of Sun God. Egyptian god Ra, or Helios of the Greeks, or Shamash of the Sumerians, or the Japanese worshiping a Sun Goddess (only reference of Sun Goddess), were all major solar deities of reckoning.

Sun worship goes back to the Vedic age, with numerous hymns dedicated to Lord Surya in Rig Veda. The earliest reference of Chhath is found in Mahabharata which is credited to Karna, who was the son of Surya and Kunti and was also known as Surya Putra. Karna was made the King of Anga Pradesh, by Duryodhan, which is supposed to be the present day Bhagalpur in Bihar, and thus the prominence of the festival in and around the region.

Mahabharat also refers to Draupadi’s worshiping of Surya when the Pandavas were going through their share of trouble. Though Draupadi did not get any immediate results out of the worship, but they did regain their rights and their kingdom at the end of it. Thus began the practice of worshiping Surya for achieving something or some desire.

The unique thing about Chhath puja is that it is probably the only festival, where the Sun is worshipped in both the forms, i.e. both the rising as well as the setting. Since the river Ganga is the lifeline of the states mentioned above, as it flows throughout the region, the worship takes place at the banks of the river Ganga. Needless to say that Ganga has its own significance both in Mahabharat as well as in the Hindu religion. The practice of this worship has its yogic connections. It is said that in the Vedic times there were sages who would fast for unbelievable periods, and that the ability came from their gaining solar energy directly from the Sun. It is said that the rituals followed during the worship are quite similar to what the yogis of yore followed then.

As part of the ritual, people (especially women) observe fast and end up spending the whole day (sunrise to sunset) at the banks of the river. In this lies the significance of the festival. This whole day is used in a ritualistic detoxification of the body. The fasting followed by the sun rays especially during sunrise and sunset, gives an extra impetus on the different parts of the body and the much needed energy from the sun. As per the Yogis of the yore, sun helps in rejuvenating the skin and its rays at different times of the day, helps in improving the functions of different glands and their secretions.

Such festivals not only get people to spend time together, but also lead to some physical well-being. It is different matter that some sections of the society have misused such festivals for political positioning, but then what is a community if it doesn’t have its own share of both good and bad?

Rainbows

Something as beautiful and colourful as a rainbow couldn’t have escaped the imaginations of our early thinkers, could it? It is not that people then sought answers only for scary things, they were curious of such beautiful things too. So how does mythology see Rainbows?

Some of the mythologies have the rainbow associated with the destructive flood myth. As per the Biblical myth, a Rainbow is a sign of the Covenant (promise) made by God to Noah that there would be no such deluge again -           

·         Seven Noahide laws that emerged out of this covenant came to be symbolically represented by the seven colours of the rainbow.

·         The Noahide laws are considered basic principles of living righteously in a civilised society and a path to achieving salvation.

As per the Sumeiran Epic of Gilgamesh, the Rainbow is “jeweled necklace of Mother Goddess Ishtar” that she lifts on the sky, never to forget the flood that destroyed her children. An Australian Aboriginal myth says that after the floods, the Rainbow was used by the Supreme Being to ‘tie’ the rain-clouds and thus to hold back the rains.

However, not all myths are not associated with the Flood. Let’s see some of them.

·         As per the Greek myths, the Rainbow was considered to be a path made by Iris, the messenger, between Earth and Heaven.

·         As per the Hindu myth, Rainbow or the Indradhanush is the bow of Indra, the god of lightning and thunder.

·         According to Chinese mythology, the Rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by the Goddess Nuwa using stones of five different colour

·         In Nordic Mythology, a rainbow called the Bifröst Bridge connects the homes of the gods and humans. The Germans believe that the rainbow was a bowl that God used to colour the world during creation.

·         Sometimes, a rainbow is considered a bridge, which is formed when St. Peter opens the gates of Heaven to let in some souls. The colours of the rainbow are supposed to give a glimpse of the magnificence of the heavens.

The Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer. When walking towards the end of a rainbow, it will move further away.

Birthday Celebrations

What is it about Birthdays that need celebrations? Why do we ‘celebrate’ a birthday? My search takes me to the land of mythology (and occasionally History too) and this is what I find – two stories:

The Pharaohs of Egypt were supposed to be the descendants of the god Horus, who was considered to the first image of all the Pharaohs, though Ra the Sun god was considered to be the first Pharaoh. In those days, birthdays of the Pharaoh was celebrated with great pomp and show as it was the day to be honoured as the embodiment of god had graced the earth and mankind. It was during one such celebration, that the Pharaoh was celebrating his birthday, that he hanged the chief Baker.

Another story from the Bible says that Herod Antipas was celebrating his birthday and his daughter entertained him by dancing in front of him. This impressed Herod so much, that he granted her a wish. Herod’s daughter was coached on this by her mother Herodia and she promptly asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod did not quite wanted to dirty his hands with the murder of John the Baptist, but then he had no choice and immediately sent executioners to bring the head of John the Baptist. Herodia was against John as he had opposed the wedding of Herod and Herodia as she happened to be the widow of Herod’s brother.

Celebrations of birthdays were considered as evil by the early Christians who considered it to be a Pagan remnant. A birthday celebration was seen as self-indulgent leading to sinful behaviour like excessive drinking, etc. Also the above two myths had resulted in murders, which also got associated with early Christianity which led to such thinking. They also felt that on this day, people and the celebrant praised himself/herself as against god and thus the celebrations were looked down upon.

In due course of time, and with the arrival of neo-Christians, birthdays got associated with celebrations. Today, the birth of Jesus Christ is a mass celebration across continents. A remnant of the Pagan thinking however believed that on the day of one’s birthday, the celebrant was most vulnerable to both good and bad spirits. So on ones birthday, a celebrant was supposed to be surrounded by friends and relatives and all would wish good for the celebrant. This would deter the bad spirits from acting, thus began the concept of wishing well on Birthdays.

The usage of Birthday cake and candle too has its origin in Greek mythology. Greek goddess Artemis was the goddess of moon, and her birthday was celebrated once every month in ancient Greece. As a practice, the Greeks offered her a round cake (in the shape of a moon) and also lit candles on the cake in the likeness of a glowing moon! Needless to say that fire always had a special significance in religious orders and rituals. The practice got carried on to the modern age and today it is mandatory to cut cakes, lit with candles and making a wish.

Birthday celebrations have come a long way from the Pagans to today. But as someone has said – A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the free trip. And if you get gifts and wishes, take them as bonus!

A Quote by Joseph Campbell

‎"Whenever men have looked for something solid on which to found their lives, they have chosen not the facts in which the world abounds, but the myths of an immemorial imagination."
                                  - Joseph Campbell, "The Masks of God, Vol. I: Primitive Mythology"

Goddess Kali

What is it about Goddess Kali that makes it so grotesque and repulsive? What is in the depiction of the goddess that invokes a sense of fear and a sense of worry? Her complexion, her nakedness, her blood-lust and her uncivilised conduct is not only deplorable but equally embarrassing for all.

She is quite an antithesis to the very concept of Mother Goddess. Instead of dressing up in bridal finery like all the other goddesses, she shuns clothes. She doesn’t tie her hair like all the other goddesses, a sign of total disdain for homely norms. She does not partake of pleasing food as others, but prefers blood! Unlike all the other goddesses, she is not a meek shadow of her husband; rather she actually puts her foot on him, a concept that is blasphemous to all and sundry. She is a goddess who lacks grace, benevolence and femininity. So what is it about her that could have been misunderstood?

In myths lie messages and the hidden symbolism. If you view Kali through the metaphysical lens, then there is nothing that can upset anybody. She is depicted to shock one and all as she is making a radical statement by her appearance and her conduct.

Kali’s nakedness represents the raw form of nature, that which cannot be bound by the norms of man-defined culture. Hair has always been a metaphor of sexuality. In the olden days, a woman’s hair-do communicated her status. Unmarried girls were supposed to plait their hair; a married woman was supposed to oil and have a centre parting and knot her hair. She was not supposed to be seen with untied hair outside her bedroom. A widow was supposed to be sans-hair. Kali’s disheveled and untied hair indicated that she was not bound by the sexual norms laid down by the people. She represented the untamed, wild aspect of life.

Kali has been the epitome of cultural reversal. She does everything that a ‘cultured’ woman would not dare do. Her lack of dressing, her mad murderous dance and her anti-culture stand, forces one and all to see things that we detest, fear or suppress in our lives. She forces us to see the raw and naked form of things that exist outside the purview of human moral or ethical standards. She is a reminder of the fragility of culture. Her nakedness represents the collapse of modesty and all that culture so strongly tries to uphold. She represents what can happen when a society does not respect the feminine forces of the world. She shows that the same docile woman who is the fountainhead of creation can lead to destruction in the goriest form, if and when provoked.

Her stepping on her husband is a challenge to the institution of patriarchal values. It’s a reminder to the ‘upholders of the moral conscience of the society’, not to rid the woman of her rights and dues and the respect that she so deserves. A woman who is expected to worship her husband can step on him to protect her own self-respect. Many modern writers see Kali as the goddess of feminism.

Our early thinkers who have given docile goddesses, have ensured that the modern-day self-made gods of the world do not get carried away and are kept in check by giving us the likes of Goddess Kali too!