Today is Kartik Purnima i.e. Dev Diwali. Gods descend to earth. The weather is pleasant. We welcome them with earthen lamps. The real Diwali happens today in Banaras. The entire city and ghats are covered with lamps. These lamps are not just lamps, these earthen lamps carry the memory of Goddess Lakshmi. The light of its flame has the springy glow of mustard. The creaking sound of the crusher is heard in these glowing lamps. The laughter of cotton flowers is visible. There is a charming aroma of its soil.
The speed of the potter’s wheel is breathtaking. There is beauty in human labour. We welcome the Gods with this enchanting blend of tradition and nature. A bamboo lamp is placed on the ghats and the sprinkler of the lamp is carried up through a rope, this is called Akashdeep. The lamp is also our sun. Moon too. There is also fire. Since the lamp is made of clay, it also has earth element. It contains the essence of nature’s essence. When it burns day and night for rituals, it is called Akhand Deep.
Kartik, Magh and Vaishakh. In religious scriptures, the importance of these three months is special for bathing, chanting and rituals. There is a tradition of lighting lamps near the Tulsi plant throughout the month. Kartik is the opposite side of autumn. After rain, the river water becomes crystal clear. Shefali falls. The sky is blue and the night is pink. The intoxicating smell of Saptaparni hangs in the air. Dew forms pearls on the leaves. Bathing in the Ganga in dew-soaked dawn makes this birth meaningful.
Lots of festivals in Kartik
Kartik is an agricultural month. The farmer’s courtyard is filled with the smell of threshing new paddy. Vidyanivas ji says that Shyama sparrows chirping early in the morning, sow the land – sow the land. This Chiraiya is considered to be Saguni. The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji also happens today. Four days before Ekadashi, Vishnu wakes up after sleeping for four months. Their awakening is the awakening of the entire world. The entire sky is illuminated with lamps. Swati Nakshatra comes in this month. Showers nectar for Chatak. Kartik is the month of prosperity. It is of celebration, of joy.
There are abundance of festivals in the month of Kartik. It is believed that in this month, Vishnu grants eternal fruits to those who take bath, do pilgrimage, donate and do penance. Religious scriptures say that worshiping in Kartik gives relief from the mortal world, i.e. direct salvation. It is the eighth month of the Hindu calendar. Kartik starts as soon as Suryanarayan arrives in Libra. This month lasts from Sharad Purnima to Kartik Purnima. Kartik Shukla Ekadashi is Devotthan Ekadashi. This is the biggest Ekadashi of the year.
The Chaturmas of saints ends on this Ekadashi day. Vishnu’s marriage with Tulsi also takes place on this day. There is a belief of worshiping Tulsi and lighting lamps in the sky throughout this month. On the ghats of Banaras, a lamp burning in a bamboo basket is found hanging on the bamboo. I have been attracted towards this sky since childhood. In Banaras, ‘Akashdeep’ (sky lamps) were hung on the ghats during Kartik, probably for the ancestors only. It is a very captivating sight. Great poet Jaishankar Prasad wrote a story, Akashdeep, keeping this Akashdeep at the centre.
Banarasi friend Sudhendu Patel who is currently residing in Jaipur. He also wrote a poem on these lamps hanging in the sky…
printed carefully
Cottage on Neem-Gach
sitting in vaishnavi posture
not able to fall even to the waist
walked towards infinity
not a single line composed
instrument of mind
remained in mind only
the stairs were wooden
the idea was chic
This was the hallmark of my mood.
remain rare
enjoy to your heart’s content
spontaneously
Drink poison and smile!
you were bluethroat
researcher
Ramta-Yogi
no one knows the meaning
sifting through the sky and the underworld
went to Nijdham
ever-traveller
who returned
which you will return
in your memory
At Panchganga Ghat of Kashi
I will light a ‘sky lamp’
Every year in the month of Kartik
on those stairs of the ghat
to Kabir
Ramanand met
whenever while wandering
you will come to the celestial hut
you will find yourself burning
a ‘sky lamp’
on the banks of northern Ganga
Kashi-freedom from death!
The living history of Dev Deepawali on the ghats is found at Panchganga Ghat. Panchganga is one of the five mythological ghats of Kashi, Assi, Dashashwamedh, Manikarnika, Panchganga and Adikeshav. Mythological belief is that Yamuna, Saraswati, Dhutpapa and Kirana rivers meet with Ganga at Panchganga Ghat. This is how the name Panchganga came from. Kabir’s Guru Ramanand lived on this ghat and his Shrimath is still present here. This is the biggest Peetha of Rambhakti branch. At this very ghat, despite being rejected by his Guru, Kabir forcibly took the Gurumantra of Ram-Ram in the darkness of the night.
I have been watching since childhood. The eight kilometer long crescent-shaped bank of the Ganga in Kashi is decorated with garlands of lamps. The common man used to light lamps at these 125 ghats. There was no appeal or organizing committee for this. It is a spontaneous festival of collective participation. Mahadevi ji probably wrote this while consecrating these lamps. Deep, my waters tremble. Don’t forget even a single step. In our tradition, lamp is an illuminating element, hence it is a symbol of knowledge. Lighting a lamp means knowing the presence of the deity. Knowing our relationship with the deity is why there is no substitute for a lamp.
Now the attempt to make this divine festival a government event has made Devdiwali ugly. This was a wonderful festival in my childhood. Lakhs of people from the surrounding areas started coming to bathe in the Ganga from midnight itself and on other days the bathing continued throughout the day. Now bathing is prohibited even at those ghats where VIP people have to come. Lined lamps are floated on the banks of rivers and ponds in the city. During this time, every square of Tulsi is illuminated with lamps.
How is Kartik Purnima festival?
Kartik Purnima is the festival of union of our agricultural society and the seasonal cycle. The farmer brings the Kharif crop home after four months of hard work. Sanjo gets money by selling the food left over for the year. The gods wake up from four months of sleep. Sage saints used to become active again after finishing Chaumasa to give direction to the society. Nature was bathed with dew. The celebration that everyone used to celebrate together is the essence of Kartik Purnima.
Kartik Purnima is not only a festival of Sagunopasna but also of Nirgunopasna because it is associated with Guru Nanak Dev. He talks about worship like the sky’s thaal Ravichandra Deepak Jare. Swati Nakshatra comes in this month. Who showers nectar for the swift traveler. The moon adds coolness to the sparks of fire for Chakor. This is a month of inner and outer prosperity and this prosperity is associated with festivals.
On Kartik Purnima itself, Lord Shankar had killed the demon named Tripurasura. For this reason he is also worshiped as Tripurari. Taking bath in river Ganga on this day gives the results of bathing throughout the year. The sanctity of this month is also described in Skanda Purana, Narad Purana and Padma Purana. It is said in the Puranas that Lord Narayana has told Brahma, Brahma has told Narad and Narad has told Maharaj Prithu in the context of the ‘all-round greatness’ of the month of Kartik. Goddess Tulsi was born on Earth on Kartik Purnima. On this day, Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of Matsya to protect the Vedas and save the universe during the Holocaust.
Take a dip in the Ganges in the bitter cold
Even after leaving Banaras, Dev Diwali became an annual festival for us to meet friends, have fun, boating and visit Ganga. In my childhood, I used to take a dip in the Ganga every day in the bitter cold of the morning. At that time its festive nature was not so widespread. We used to return home after bathing in Ganga, donating and buying sugarcane of the first crop while returning. I used to go with Bau to bathe in the dark Ganga. Bau was a family friend like a father to us.
There was a Ghatiya (Panda) of Pelhu Guru Bau at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Their post used to be just below where the water police station is today. We used to take bath keeping our clothes on his stool. There was a huge crowd. Crowds of bathers used to gather from around Banaras. Cow donation would take place after bathing. In those days it was extremely cold in this weather. People used to donate cows by holding the tails of calves covered with sackcloth early in the morning in the biting cold.
Pelhu Guru had three sons. All three used to donate their respective calves to cows covered in sackcloth. Once I too was there. The calf, by whose tail Pelhu Guru’s son was leading the devotees across the river, started shouting ‘Chimpo Chimpo’ loudly as soon as it became light. People saw, ‘Hey, this is a donkey.’ People chased Pelhu Guru’s son. He ran away. Pelhu Guru just said – You are a very scoundrel. But by then his son had improved his afterlife by holding the tail of a donkey and donating thousands of cows. The Guru had three sons. There were two heifers, so in the absence of a heifer the boy was donating the cow to a donkey. This is a common thing in Banaras, which believes that God resides in all living beings.
All the monasteries and houses on the ghat were converted into hotels.
Childhood is gone. Now she is neither Ganga nor Aastha. Nor the righteousness of Kartik Purnima. Even the cow’s calf is not visible. Pandey is taking Dakshina from Paytm in lieu of cow donation. Tourism, hotels, industries and boat people together made Kartik Purnima a market. The government is marketing this fair all over the world. All the monasteries and houses on the ghat have now been converted into hotels. The rooms which used to cost seven-eight thousand rupees on normal days have reached seventy-eighty thousand rupees. A big boat which was available for Rs 5-6 thousand on normal days reaches beyond Rs 2 lakh on Kartik Purnima.
I have been coming to the banks of Ganga every Diwali for Ganga darshan. He also used to bring his friends from Delhi. The Adi Banarasi within me gets strength from this because Ganga means mobility. There is flow which is slow. It has to be intensified. For us, Ganga is the assurance of continuity of life. Ganga is not just the name of the river. The battery of life is charged through this festival and love. Dev Diwali is the moment when the nectar of God’s blessings dissolves in the coolness of the Ganga. Since time immemorial, Dev Diwali has been decorated with glowing lamps of simple faith.