Үнді өзендерін құрметтеу фестивалі

Indian river worship festival

Pushkaram is an Indian festival dedicated to worshiping of rivers. It is also known as Pushkaralu (in Telugu), Pushkara (in Kannada) or Pushkar. It is celebrated at shrines along the banks of 12 major sacred rivers in India, in the form of ancestor worship, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programmes. The celebration happens annually, once in 12 years along each river. Each river is associated with a zodiac sign, and the river for each year's festival is based on which sign Jupiter is in at the time. Due to regional variations, some of the zodiac signs are associated with multiple rivers.

According to a legend mentioned in astrology treatises such as Jataka Parijata (1426), a Brahmin was granted a boon from Shiva after severe penance. The boon was that he would be able to live in water and purify the holy rivers. The Brahmin came to be known as Pushkara ("the one who nourishes"). On a request from Bṛhaspati (Jupiter), he decided to enter one of the 12 sacred rivers when Bṛhaspati traveled from one zodiac sign to another.

Pushkaram celebrations include reverence of ancestors, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programmes. The devotees engage in activities such as snana (bath in the river), dāna (charity), japa (recitation of mantras), archana and dhyana (meditation). The first 12 days when the Jupiter enters the zodiac sign and the last 12 days when it exits the zodiac sign are considered as most auspicious. A dip in the sacred river is believed to erase all sins. In Tamil Nadu, Pushkaram is celebrated in Tamraparni River when Jupiter is in Scorpio. In the four places where River Tamraparni flows from south to north, Banathirtham, Papanasam, Thirupudaimaruthur and Sinthupoondurai, the festival is celebrated in accordance with tradition. The Tamraparni temple at Suthamalli is also a place of religious celebration during the Pushkaram year.