Annapurna Puja Festival The eighth day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, kept for Annapurna, Parvati as the one who fills the rice pot, with Shiva standing before her holding out his begging bowl.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Annapurna Puja
- हिन्दी
- अन्नपूर्णा पूजा
- বাংলা
- অন্নপূর্ণা পূজা
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The eighth day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, kept for Annapurna, Parvati as the one who fills the rice pot, with Shiva standing before her holding out his begging bowl. It falls inside the Basanti Puja days and is kept in the same houses; the old pujas at Barisha and Rashbehari in Kolkata are the ones people go to. Cooked rice is the offering, and nobody who comes to the house that day is sent away unfed.
- Deity
- Annapurna, Parvati, Shiva
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Chaitra Shukla Ashtami at sunrise; the puja is in the morning and the anna bhog offered at midday.
The fast
Those who keep it fast until the bhog is offered. The offering is cooked rice, dal, five fried vegetables and payesh, and it is eaten by everyone afterwards.
Where the regions differ
Bengal keeps the Chaitra Ashtami; Varanasi keeps Annapurna beside the Vishwanath temple and gives out the dhaan at Diwali instead. The south keeps Annapurna without a day of her own.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.