ezhundha

 

No other month has a full bouquet of events — spiritual and cultural — as the Tamil month of Margazhi. Although weddings and housewarming ceremonies are traditionally not conducted, Margazhi is in fact the queen among the months. It is the month in which bhakti resonates in the air, with devotees coming out on to the streets, singing bhajans, homemakers welcoming ascetics, and devotion snowballs among the ordinary people.

Margazhi, also known as dhanur, in view of the fact that Sun moves into dhanur rasi, is the month that is dear to Lord Krishna Himself. “I am Margazhi among months,” he says and all those who think of Him and pray to Him, will be assured of Krishna’s grace, said Dhamal Ramakrishnan in a discourse. The Bhagavatam says the highest duty of a man consists in doing that which generates devotion to the Supreme Being, devotion which fills the heart of man with peace. One may wonder at the need to wake up early in the morning, when it is still cold and set forth singing bhajans or songs. There is a reason for this.

The Tamil months from Thai to Aani are termed Uttarayana and the months from Aadi to Margazhi as Dakshinayana. From Aadi to Margazhi, the devas are said to be in slumber (a calendar year for us is just one day for devas) and come awake from the first of Margazhi. The early morning hour of 3 a.m. is Brahma Muhurtam, the auspicious hour when devas open their eyes and bless the devotees. This is the reason why students are entreated to study early in the morning. “ Kalai ezhundha vudan padippu” says poet Subramania Bharati. If one meditates on Krishna and prays to Him, even sins will not come near such a devotee.