Ayudha Puja

Ayudha pooja or Saraswathi pooja is performed on the Mahanavami Tithi during Maha Navratri phase, the day before Vijayadashami. In this festival people worship and pay gratitude to weapons that we use in daily life and vehicles like car & bikes. The word Ayudha pooja translates to Vehicle or Vahana puja. Ayudha Pooja is an important and popular festival in Southern Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. This festival is also called as Shastra Puja and Astra Puja.

Ayudha Puja 2023

Significance

Ancient practices and festival aimed at seeing divine in everything around us. This day is dedicated to pay gratitude to the tools and weapons we use in everyday life that make our life easy. In the olden days people did farming, weaving and blacksmith or other craft work where tools play an integral role in their livelihood. On the day of Ayudha pooja, people clean their work instruments, tools and commuting vehicles and perform pooja. In the modern world, usage of tools has been reduced and gadgets have gained major role. Mundane tools and implements utilised in everyday life like computers, scanners and kitchen tools, vehicles like car, motor bikes, educational tools like pen, pencil and books are cleaned, decorated and worshipped. Though originally Ayudha Pooja was to worship weapons, today we worship all kinds of instruments and especially in South India, craftsmen and businessmen worship their factory tools and instruments. This festival is similar to the Vishwakarma Pooja performed in other parts of India

Rituals

On this day people clean the pooja altar and set Saraswathi Devi idol on chowki or place a picture of the goddess in the centre of the worship altar in the household. Children bring their school stuff like book, writing pens/pencils and notebooks to be placed in front of the Goddess. Family members place the gadgets and kitchen tools. On this day, people clean their whole house, furniture, appliances and gadgets. Apply holy ash, sandalwood paste and kumkum on the appliances. Vehicles from bicycles to big trucks are cleaned on this day and colourfully decorated with flowers and mango leaves, banana saplings. Then Saraswathi pooja is performed, family gathers and chant mantras, offer flowers, incense and light lamps. Followed by aarti, Neivedhyam offering. Murmura and fruit basket are the popular offerings in South India. After this pooja, aarti is performed to the vehicles to pay gratitude to their role in commuting.

Shopkeepers and businessmen clean their store and office spaces, decorate the whole store. Staff gather and perform pooja to the machinery and workstations in the office. They do not work on any machinery during this pooja, instead give a day’s rest to the machines and weapons. Even the print media do not distribute newspapers or magazine on this day since the machinery is not operated on Ayudha pooja. All public transport vehicles are also cleaned and decorated for worship. There is a specific ritual followed by aarti where a white pumpkin or an ash gourd is decorated with vermilion & turmeric and smashed in front of the vehicle. This is believed to remove nazaar and evil eye also guard against accidents and injuries.

Ayudha Puja festival dates between 2019 & 2029

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