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Guru Purnima

Full moon night is called Purnima.  Guru Purnima, falls on the first full moon after summer solstice.  This is the first peak of the lunar cycle after the peak of the solar cycle.  This festival falls in the Ashadha month of Hindu calendar.  This year Guru Purnima will fall on Friday, July 27th, 2018.

Significance of Guru Purnima:

Hindus holds the Guru or teacher in the highest honor after God and parents.  We celebrate Guru and pay obeisances to them for all the knowledge they impart to us.  The following shloka equates Guru to the Holy Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

 

Gurur Brahma, gurur Vishnu,

Gurur devo Maheshvarah
Gurur saakshaat parabrahma
Tasmai shree gurave namah.

 

This festival is also called Vyas Purnima as Ved Vyas is believed to have been born on this day.

How Guru Purnima is celebrated:

Guru Purnima is the festival where the Guru or teacher is revered and celebrated.  Students and alumni visit their academic teachers or their spiritual masters and seek their blessings.  They recommit themselves to the teachings of their gurus.  This festival also holds significance for the dance and arts disciplines that follow the guru-sishya parampara.  Students of this discipline also worship their guru and thank them.  Thus this festival has a cultural as well as a religious significance.

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