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| Diwali »
Five Days Of Diwali » Diwali Padwa and Govardhan Puja |
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The day following Diwali or the fourth day of the Diwali celebrations is known by the names of 'Padwa & Govardhan Puja'. These two festivals are celebrated differently in the diverse geographical parts of the country. While the festival of Padwa is celebrated in order to celebrate the coronation of king Vikramaditya, the festival of Govardhan Puja is celebrated for commemorating the incidence of lifting of Mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna.
Though both the festivals 'Padwa & Govardhan Puja' are celebrated wit much fervor but in different parts of the country
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While Padwa is celebrated in parts like Maharashtra and the western states of India, Govardhan puja is mainly associated with the northern parts of the country.
Padwa
'Kartik shuddh padwa' or simply 'Padwa' is the name given to the day following Amavasya. According to a famous legend, on this very day the very powerful King Bali comes out of the patala lok every year to rule over his kingdom on Bhuloka, as per the boon awarded to him by Lord Vishnu. Since then this day came to be celebrated as Padwa in order to honor and welcome the King Bali. This day is also known by the name of 'Bali Padyami'. The day of Padwa also has a historic importance, as it is considered to be the day of the coronation of king Vikramaditya. Gudi Padwa is also a symbol of husband wife love and on this very day according to a famous custom the newly married daughters along with their husbands are invited to their parental homes for special meals and feasts.
Govardhan Puja
Govardhan Puja is celebrated with much enthusiasm in the northern part of the country. This festival is celebrated in honor of the incident of lifting of the mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna. According to a famous legend in the olden days, the people of Gokul village used to offer puja to Lord Indra at the end of the monsoon season. But one year after following Lord Krishna's advise the people of Gokul didn't offer any kinds of puja to Lord Indra, which made him very much angry and in a fit of anger Lord Indra sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. To save people from drowning Lord Krishna lifted the mount Govardhan on his index finger and provided shelter to humans as well as animals. This provided Lord Krishna with the epithet of Govardhandhari.
Mount Govardhan is a small hillock in Braj, Mathura and on the auspicious day of Govardhan Puja, people from different parts of the north India like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar make cowdungs and decorate them with flowers and worship them.
This particular day is also celebrated as Annakoot meaning the mountain of food. People stay awake for the whole of night and cook fifty-six or 108 different varieties of food for the bhog or in other word the 'offering of food' to Lord Krishna. In the temples in Mathura and Nathadwara, the idols of the deities are given milk bath, are dressed in shining attires with lots of ornaments. After the offering of prayers, sweets are raised in the form of a mountain before the deities as 'Bhog' and after that the devotees approach the mountain of Food in order to take prasad from it.
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