Significance
Chaturmas is the four-month monsoon period during which Jain monks and nuns remain in one place to avoid harming the abundant life of the rainy season. Kartik Purnima marks its conclusion, after which ascetics resume their wandering (vihar) and lay pilgrimage routes reopen.
The day is most strongly associated with Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana, the foremost Shwetambar tirth. The Shatrunjaya pilgrimage is closed during chaturmas and reopens on this day, drawing very large numbers of pilgrims.
Jain tradition holds that innumerable ascetics attained liberation on Shatrunjaya, among them Dravid and Varikhilla, whose moksha is remembered on this tithi.
For those unable to travel to Palitana, the day is observed by paying reverence to a representation or pat of Shatrunjaya in the local temple. The Shatrunjaya observance is characteristically Shwetambar, while the close of chaturmas is marked by Jains of all traditions.
How it is observed
- Pilgrimage and climbing of Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana, the season's first permitted yatra.
- Darshan and veneration of a Shatrunjaya pat (pictorial representation of the tirth) where the journey itself is not possible.
- Fasting or dietary restraint by many observers on the day.
- Devotional processions, stavan and puja in temples.
- Formal conclusion of chaturmas, with the community taking leave of the ascetics who stayed for the retreat as they resume vihar.
At a Glance
- Lunar date
- Kartik Shukla Purnima
- Tradition
- Observed in both traditions