Bheemana Amavasya

Bheemana Amavasya is a festival celebrated in South India, mostly in parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated on the new moon day (amavasya) of the ashadha month of the Hindu calendar.[1]

Amavasya is the day of new moon occurrence. Any fortnight containing the new-moon is considered auspicious by Hindus. They believe that during this period, their offerings reach their forefathers and in return offerants are blessed. It signifies the beginning of auspicious period, and many pooja's are performed to Hindu deities seeking blessing.

The last day of Ashada is marked as the very auspicious Bheemana Amavasya. It is believed that on this day Shiva, is impressed by Parvathi's devotion towards him and accepts her as his wife. Parvathi is considered by some schools of Hinduism as the supreme Divine Mother or Lordess and all other goddesses are incarnations or manifestations of her.

Parvathi embodies many virtues: fertility, marital felicity, devotion to the spouse, asceticism and power. It is believed if women abstain from consuming food on this day and offer prayers to Lord Shiva, Parvathi would seek a virtuous husband for unmarried women while married women would pray for their husband's long life, success and happiness.

Idols

Usually idols of Shiva and Parvathi are made using red mud clay, dried and decorated. Idols are made of panchaloha (five materials – gold, silver, copper, bronze and zinc).

References
  1. A handbook of Karnataka by S. R. Honnalingaiah, Karnakataka Gazetteer Dept., Govt. of Karnataka, 2001.
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