Devotees Celebrate Kartika Purnima at Bhaktivedanta Ashram (2018)

The following pictures show the celebration of Kartika Purnima at our Jagannatha temple in Bhadrak, Odisha.

Every year on the auspicious occasion of Kartika Purnima, we allow all devotees to enter the garbhagriha and perform “Chandana Argali Parikrama” of Lord Jagannatha in close proximity of the Lord. Usually entry to this area is reserved only for temple priests, but on Kartika Purnima we invite all devotees to come and receive the special blessings of Lord Jagannatha, while offering flowers to His lotus feet.

Throughout the day thousands of devotees visited our temple to worship Lord Jagannatha. Devotees performed kirtan and sang local songs to the Lord. In the evening everyone offered ghee deepams to the Lord while singing Damodarashtaka.

Every year, for the 30 days of Kartika month we provide free ghee deepams to the devotees for offering, and distribute prasadam in the evenings to the visitors.

In the Puranas the glories of Kartika month is mentioned as follows:

“In the month of Kartika, which is very dear to Sri Hari, one who bathes early in the morning attains the merit of bathing in all places of pilgrimage. Anybody who offers the Lord a ghee lamp in the month of Kartika becomes free from all kinds of sins, such as brahmahatya, and he goes to the abode of Lord Hari, Sri Vaikunta.”

“If anyone fasts and observes the Kartika vrata according to proper rules and regulations, the Yamadutas (the messengers of Yamaraja) run away from him, just as an elephant runs away by seeing a lion. This vrata to Lord Vishnu is even better than performing one hundred great sacrifices that would take him to heaven because the person who observes the Kartika vrata goes to the spiritual world or Sri Vaikuntha.”