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Significance of the Month of June in Hindu Calendar

The month of Ashadha June-July commences with the celebrations of Ganga Dashami on 25^th June 2007

Ganga Dashami is appearance day of Ganga Devi. (The day of Ganga). Usually Ganga Dashami. This is the month of Shukla Paksha (Waxing Fortnight)

Holidays and festivals normally follow the Indian lunar (Vikramaditya) calendar, and therefore each year they fall on a different day of the Western or solar calendar. A few festivals fall on a solar day, such as Makara Sankranti, which falls on the 14th of January. The normal Indian calendar is based on lunar months, which begin with the full moon. This system is 57 or 58 years ahead of the Christian calendar. In Braja they use the punimanta system, where the months end on the full Moon day (purnima). In the South Indian system the month ends on the new Moon day (amavasya). The year actually begins on the first day of the dark half of Chaitra (Shukla Paksha). Sometimes calendars will indicate two difference dates for the same festival. This is because there is a Vaishnava and a Smarta calendar. The Vaishnava date will usually be one day after the Smarta date.

Hindu Tithis (Days)

1. Pratipat

2. Dwitiya

3. Tritiya

4. Chaturthi

5. Panchami

6. Shashthi

7. Saptami

8. Ashtami

9. Navami

10. Dashami

11. Ekadashi

12. Dwadasi

13. Trayodashi

14. Chaturdashi

The Story of Goddess Gangai!

The pious king Sagar performed the Ashva Medha Yagya to enhance his valor. God Indra, who became jealous at the power Sagar will wield at the completion of the Yagya, stole the Ashva (horse) and left it near Kapil Muni, who was meditating. Searching for the Ashva, Sagar’s grandson Anshuman and his followers found it, and thinking that Kapil Muni had stolen the horse, called him a thief. Enraged, Kapil Muni opened his eyes and turned Anshuman and his followers to ashes. One of Sagar’s descendents, Bhagirath, took an oath to properly cremate his ancestors who had been burned to ashes due to Indra’s trickery. The only way to accomplish this was to bring Goddess Ganga from the heaven to the earth. He took great penances in worshipping Lord Brahma, who finally was pleased but told him that the appearance of Ganga on the earth will completely inundate it, and the only recourse was to seek Lord Shiva’s assistance. Then, Bhagirath again took great pains to please Lord Shiva, who finally was satisfied and agreed to help him. Thus, Goddess Ganga descended from the heaven in to the locks of Lord Shiva’s hair, from where He let go a small stream to the earth. Bhagirath led Ganga through the place where his ancestors were still waiting for a proper cremation. Since Bhagirath brought Ganga to the earth, Ganga is also known as ‘Bhagirathi’.

One of the great rivers of the world, Ganga appears in the Himalayas at Gangotri, and travels through myriad holy places, until it reaches Allahabad or Prayagraj, which is located at the confluence of Ganga with the other major river of India, Yamuna, and the celestial river Saraswati. For this reason, this confluence is also known as ‘Triveni’, which is the most pious place for Hindus, and is the site of the world’s largest religious congregation of Kumbha Mela. From there, Ganga travels to the Bay of Bengal, draining almost all of the rivers of North India, and Brahmaputra, the other mighty river coming from Tibet via Assam. The religious, cultural, historical, and now industrial fate of India is deeply intertwined with the river Ganga, and it is not an understatement that we affectionately call this river Ganga Mata or mother Ganga.

Source: http://hinduism.about.com

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