Karthika Masam and Karthika Pournami

Introduction

Karthika Masam – the month of Karthika – is considered the holiest month of the year by Telugu devotees. It begins on the day after Deepavali Amavasya and is dear to both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. For the whole month, homes and temples glow with lamps every evening, rivers and ponds fill with devotees at dawn, and Mondays – the Karthika Somavarams – are kept with special devotion. The month reaches its peak on Karthika Pournami, the full-moon day, when Shiva temples raise the blazing Jwala Thoranam and lamps float on rivers and lakes across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Significance and Legend

According to tradition, every act of worship in Karthika – a lamp lit, a holy bath, a prayer offered – brings great merit, and the Karthika Puranam is read in many homes through the month. Karthika Pournami is also remembered as Tripurari Pournami, the day on which, according to tradition, Lord Shiva destroyed the three cities of the demons (the Tripuras). The month is equally sacred to Lord Vishnu: on Ksheerabdhi Dwadashi many homes celebrate the wedding of Tulasi with the Lord, and the usiri (amla) tree, believed to be a dwelling of the gods in this month, is especially worshipped.

How it is Celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

• Karthika snanam: devotees bathe before sunrise in rivers such as the Godavari and the Krishna, in temple tanks or at home, and begin the day with prayer.
• Deepams every evening: lamps are lit at dusk at the doorstep, beside the tulasi plant and in Shiva temples throughout the month. Many families light an akasha deepam raised high on a pole.
• Karthika Somavaram: on the Mondays of Karthika, Shiva devotees fast through the day, offer abhishekam and bilva leaves, and break the fast after the evening lamp and puja. Shiva temples are especially crowded on these days.
• Floating lamps: on Karthika Pournami and the Somavarams, devotees float small lamps on leaf-boats or banana-bark rafts in rivers, canals and ponds – a beautiful sight as hundreds of tiny flames drift on the water.
• Vana Bhojanalu: families, neighbours, colleagues and community groups gather in gardens and groves for a picnic meal under an usiri (amla) tree, after worshipping the tree. These Karthika Vana Bhojanalu are one of the happiest customs of the month.
• Pancharama darshan: many devotees try to visit all five Pancharama Kshetras of Lord Shiva during Karthika, often on a single day, and special buses are run to the five temples during the month.
• Nagula Chavithi: early in the month, devotees offer milk at anthills (putta) to worship the serpent deities.

Rituals and Puja

• Nakta vratam: many devotees eat only once a day, after sunset, through the month, and follow a simple vegetarian diet.
• Abhishekam and bilva archana to Lord Shiva, especially on Somavarams; tulasi puja and the recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam for Lord Vishnu.
• Karthika Pournami: a holy bath, worship at a Shiva temple, the lighting of a lamp with 365 wicks (one for each day of the year) in many homes, the floating of lamps, and in many families the Satyanarayana vratam.
• Jwala Thoranam: on Karthika Pournami evening, Shiva temples erect two tall poles with a cross-beam wrapped in dry grass and set it alight as a great arch of flame; the processional deities of Shiva and Parvati are carried beneath it, and devotees pass under it for blessings.
• Deepa danam: giving lamps as an offering is considered especially meritorious in this month.

Foods and Offerings

• Simple, sattvic meals through the month, often eaten once a day after the evening lamp.
• Vana Bhojanam meals shared under the usiri tree – home-cooked dishes such as pulihora, curd rice, payasam and seasonal vegetables, brought by each family and shared together.
• Usiri (amla) fruits and lamps made of ghee are offered in worship.

Temples Known for this Festival

• Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple, Srisailam – the Jwala Thoranam on Karthika Pournami, when the processional deities pass beneath the arch of flame, and large crowds on every Karthika Somavaram.
• The five Pancharama Kshetras, visited by lakhs of devotees during Karthika, many in a single day:
  • Amararama – Sri Amaralingeswara Swamy Temple, Amaravathi
  • Draksharama – Sri Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Draksharamam
  • Somarama – Sri Someswara Swamy Temple, Bhimavaram
  • Ksheerarama – Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple, Palakollu
  • Kumararama – Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Samarlakota

The Karthika Masam, Somavaram and Karthika Pournami dates are shown in the festival dates above. Karthika is the Telugu month that begins after Deepavali Amavasya, and Karthika Pournami falls on its full-moon day as per the Telugu panchang.