Bhubaneswar: June 02: June 3 is ‘Amavasya’ of the Month of ‘Jyestha’. The day is having great importance to married Hindu women whose husbands are alive. They observe it for the well being of their husbands, particulalry for the long life of their husbands. This Amabasya is called ‘Sabitri Amabasya’ and the Married Hindu women observed ‘Sabitri Brata’ on this day, remembering the dedication of Sabitri who brought back her husband Satyavan from Yamraj.
The preparation for the day begins almost a week before the Amabasya. Married women buy sharees/new clothes for the day and also bangles & ornaments to wear on the day. Almost all the Share shops, dress shops/malls, bangles’ shop and ornaments’ shops gear up to present various new collections and discount schemes to attract the customers. Besides, the women prepare/purchase Bhoga or different types of offering for Goddess Sabitri like wet pulses, Mango, Jackfruit, Banana, Palm, date palm etc. As per the tradition, nine types of fruits and nine types of flowers are offered to the Goddess Sabitri.
On this day, the married women wake up early in the morning and after taking bath, wear new sharees/dresses, bangles and ornaments. They also use red vermillion on the forehead.
Goddess Sabitri is represented by the grinding stone, locally known as ‘Sila Pua’. The grinding stone is thoroughly cleaned and worshiped as Goddess. Then, women offer Bhoga consists of varieties of fruits and all.
They do whole-day fasting. Usually, the fasting begins at Sunrise and ends at Sun set. During the Puja, they read or listen the Brata Katha (the story of Sabitri and Satyavan). In the evening, they eat the offering and break the fast.
Also, the women visit Temples of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi to pray for the long life of their husband. It is seen, women devotees made beline in front of different temples with different types of offering.
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The day is to recollect the story of Sabitri and her husband Satyavan who was destined to die within a year but was brought back to life by Sabitri’s dedication and determination.
Sabitri was the beautiful daughter of king Aswapati of Madra Desa. She selected Satyavan as her life’s partner, a prince who was in exile and living in the forest with his blind father — Dyumatsen.
After the marriage, Sabitri left the palace and lived with her husband and the in-laws in the forest. With complete devotion and determination, she took care of her husband and in-laws.
One day while cutting wood in the jungle Satyavan head reeled and he fell down from the tree and then breathed his last on the lap of his beloved wife, Sabitri. Yamraj appeared to take away the soul of Satyavan from his body. Sabitri did not allow Yamraj to take her husband’s soul. Sabitri said to Yamraj, if at all he would take away the soul of her husband she would also follow. Yamraj moved by the devotion of Sabitri and returned the life of her husband. Satyavan got back his life again and both of them lived happily thereafter.
The Sabitri-Satyavan Katha expresses the determination of Hindu women and their devotion to their husbands and family.
