Arunachala
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Kartigai Deepam day
Nov 16, 2021: The Times of India
Karthigai Deepam is one of the most significant festivals as per the Tamil calendar. It is observed on Karthigai Pournami when Karthigai Nakshatram prevails (Full Moon day in the month of Karthigai when Karthigai Nakshatram lasts).
Devotees worship Lord Shiva and his Lord Kartikeya (also hailed as Murugan, Shanmugham, Subramanian). Interestingly, like Diwali, Karthigai Deepam is a festival of lights because Deepams or oil lamps are lit in homes and in temples in the evening. Read on to know the Karthigai Deepam 2021 date, Nakshatra timings and other details.
Karthigai Deepam significance
According to one of the legends associated with Karthigai Deepam, Lord Murugan was born on Karthigai Deepam day. Lord Shiva created Lord Murugan from the flames of his third eye to eliminate a demon named Tarakasura. Baby Murugan, born with six faces and twelve hands, was raised by six different nymphs (Kritikas), namely Dula, Nitatni, Abhrayanti, Varshayanti, Meghayanti and Chipunika. As per another tale, they are also known as Prabha, Abha, Teja, Bhavya, Shobha and Sukriti. Each of the six faces represents a specific characteristic: Tatpurusam, Aghoram, Sadyojatam, Vamadevam, Eesanam and Adhomukam. As per another version, Baby Murugan was created from the fire of Lord Shiva's third eye and was born in six different parts in a lake called Saravana Poigoi. Subsequently, Devi Parvati brought the six parts together to give form to Lord Murugan.
As per another legend associated with Karthigai Deepam, Lord Shiva emerged like a beam of light (Jyoti) on this day after seeing Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma claiming supremacy over one another. Therefore, Lord Shiva wanted to remind them that pride and arrogance lead to one's downfall. So he asked them to find the source and the end of the beam of light.
Hence Lord Vishnu transformed into a boar and dug deep into the earth. And Lord Brahma took the form of a Swan and flew up in the sky. After a long search, when Brahma failed to discover the light source, he attempted to trick Lord Shiva by producing ketaki or thazhambu (in Tamil) as a witness to testify his success in the task. However, Lord Shiva, who knew the truth, punished Brahma for lying by severing one of his five heads. The flower, who gave false testimony, was also punished. This is the reason why devotees do not use of Ketaki flower for Shiva puja.
