The essence of Sanatani culture lies in the following:
- We are forever in a celebratory mode; we have a celebration every other day listed in our Panchang be it Ekadashis, Purnimas etc.
- The media may be full of ads promoting all kinds of tourism; however, teerth yatras attract more tourists in India than any other kind of tourism.
- We don’t go to Mandirs to pray; our Mandir visits are about “Darshan.” Its similar to going to see a person you respect and honour; we go, look the god/goddess in the eye, bow our head and seek blessings.
The west has invented celebrations beyond Easter Sunday & Christmas; like mothers’ day, fathers’ day, Valentine’s Day etc. Islam’s celebrations are about Prophet Mohammad’s birthday or about expressing devotion to them.
All our celebrations are as per the lunar and solar calendar. The Navaratras are about change of seasons where Ramnavami is Bhagwan Ram’s birth or about Dussehra which is about victory of good or evil. Diwali falls on the darkest Amavasya of the year, Ekadashis are about worshipping Bhagwan Vishnu, Purnimas about moon and Krishna and so on
Shravan is about worshipping Mahadev, the one who had consumed poison; it is the rainy season and Ma Ganga’s water is brought by devotees to cool Bhagwan Shiva’s burning throat – and the water used is from a river he had brought to earth using his hair.
Haritalika Teej falls during a time which falls between monsoons and winter; women keep fasts and dress up such that they present themselves as highly attractive to their husbands. The fact is that women are at their most fertile at this time and thus this teej is celebrated at this time.
Now, about the teerth yatras. The teerth yatras aren’t just about taking a dip in a holy river’s waters and going to temples. Our teerths, at various holy occasions around the year are also a gathering of several saints and pundits. These are not just holy people; they are repositories of knowledge which is why whenever we are at a Mela – Kumbh as well as others across the country – the air is charged with mantras and havans and much more.
Which is why our elders tell us to not just finish the teerth yatra with merely a dip and a darshan; we are told to go meet Sadhus and Sanyasis and learn from them, get charged with their energies and their knowledge. So, teerth yatras for us is a transformative activity in many ways.