All Konkani temples have a tulsi plant at a prominent part of the temple premises . .From the day Kartik Vrat starts , the tulsi plant & khatto are decorated with flowers ,mango leaves thorans , Rangolis and panjire / Gud deep are hung . At homes too this is done and a lamp lighted , Aarti is waved in the morning & evening along with the family deity , the holy Saligramam and prasad offered . So also in the temples – morning , noon & evening when the main deity is offered aarti . the tulsi plant too is worshipped .
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Pic courtesy – Asha Radhakrishna Shenoy
Bhajana saptahas and ekke bhajans are conducted at temples with paschim jagar pooja as the Tulsi plant is at the west side of the temple .. In karthik maasa Many temples in South Canara hold Vishwa roopa Darshan at dawn..where the entire temple is lit only with diyas ( deepothsavasa )and any artificial lighting is not used are performed in temple, .The 11th day of kartik bright fortnight or the Kartik Ekadashi marks the end of Vishnu’s four months sleep, known as Prabodidhiny ekadasi !Full night bhajans are held in temples to awaken the Lord from His sleep ! On Kartika ekadashi Lord Vithoba an amla or avalo is made in aarti and also as a garland is offered to the lord.No “Dhanya”/ pulses is used for cooking in temples & for functionsand only tubers are used in the curries during Karthik maasa.
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pic courtesy- Padmini Kamath |
On Utthana Dwadashi day – 12th day of the first half or Shukla Paksha ,Tulsi Vivaha/tulsi pooja is performed in every house to commemorate the marriage of Vishnu and Tulsi .Tulsi is one of the most sacred plants of the Hindus and is believed to be the incarnation of Vrinda, the virtuous wife of Jalandhar . The holy Tulsi plant is decorated with flower garlands,a special avale aarti is waved and also a garland is made with cotton marked with kumkum.In & around Mangalore side a wooden stand is kept around the tulsi katte to tie mango leaves and keep ponthi (clay lamps).
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pic courtesy-Asha Radhakrishna Shenoy |
Some prefer to call family priests while some perform on their own. Godi surnali with Ekpaani chutney is prepared in the morning with godu phovu /panchkadayi for the evening pooja For lunch mooga gashi with kookka upkari is had with other delicacies.
Kele ,phovu harshale is also kept for prasad .The 15th of the full moon day of Kartik,is celebrated as Karthik Poornima / Punnav Signifying Lord Shiva’s destruction of the demon Tripura thereby destroying evil and celebrating goodness. Lots of fireworks and illuminations of houses marks the God’s celebration of their victory.and is hence also called the Dev-Didiwali or Diwali of the Gods.
In Kerala Kanhangad and Tellicherry kartik punnav is famous.and in Karnataka Karkal karthik punnav is famous.In Kerala Kochi TD temple the presiding deity Goshreepureswar is adorned with an amla garland
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pic courtesy – Vijayalakshmi Prabhu |
Pallaki utsava , Vanabhojana and katte puja are the highlights of Kartik Punnav !
This blog post has been compiled with the Valuable help of all our FB group members – Asha Radhakrishna Shenoy , Sandhya Puranik , Vijayalakshmi Prabhu , Padmini Kamath ,Shobha Kumar , Veena Nayak , Priya R Shenoy .Thanking them all !
Yet another festive post with lots of information.hatssoff to your effort ushakka
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Lots of credit for your inputs too dear 🙂
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