Guru Poornima

The Poornima after Vaikuntha Chaturdashi is called Guru Poornima. On this day, we worship Lord Satyanarayana and Goddess Mahalakshmi. We have already shared about this before. On this day, Lord Shiva had killed Tripurasura and thus, we worship Lord Shiva as well. Lord Vishnu had also taken the Matsya Avatara on this day.

We place Lord Anantapadmanabha idol on a large plate and perform His abhishekam with milk. Then, we drop a small silver or gold fish into the milk. We chant Vishnu Sahasranama, Ranganatha Ashtakam and Matsyavatara Stotra and read the story of Matsyavatara. Then, we offer Tulasi to Lord Anantapadmanabha idol and the fish. Then, we perform aarti of the milk.

We take some milk out, just enough for our family as theertha and a little Tulasi. The idol is removed, washed and placed in front of Satyanarayana pooja place. After performing pachopachara pooja to Lord Anantapadmanabha idol and aarti, we partake of the theertha. Then, the remaining milk with the fish is poured into a new vessel and it is donated to a Brahmin with some dakshina.

This day also signifies the end of Tulasi Vivaha and we place oil lamps (in odd numbers) near the Tulasi Plant, whose marriage has been performed and aarti is also performed. On this day, the Kartigai Pengal or Kartigai Girls appeared in this world. They are also worshipped on this day for bearing a child as well as their prosperity. Chanting any mantras or shlokas or meditation in the open under the moon-light night gives siddhi.

This time Guru Poornima fell on a Saturday, so we perform pooja to Lord Hanuman as well. We chant Hanuman Chalisa as well. We can offer jaggery, gram and bananas to Him.

We used to be in New Delhi and have been habituated to visit Gurudhwaras. Thus, we celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti, on this day as well, by placing his photograph in the Guru’s place. We offer sundal made from black gram and distribute it with lemon juice.