Panguni Uththiram signifies the culmination of Purnima of Phalguna month on the Uthra Star day. This day marks the merger of the twelfth month with the twelfth star. The day is considered most auspicious as it is the day of celestial marriages.
Panguni Uththiram falls on Monday, 25th March 2024. The exact duration of the Uthra Star and Purnima has to be ascertained from the respective regional calendar.
Panguni Uththiram – Celestial marriages
Panguni Uththiram is believed to be the day of marriage of Celestial couples such as
–Bhagwan Shiva with Goddess Parvathi;
–Sri Rama with Sri Sita;
-Sri Bharata with Sri Mandavi;
-Sri Lakshman with Sri Urmila;
-Sri Shatrugna with Sri Srutha Keerthi;
-Sri Andal with Sri Ranga Mannar;
–Bhagwan Muruga with Sri Deyvaanai;
-Sage Agastya with Lobamudra;
-Rathi with Manmada;
-Indra with Indrani;
-Nandi with Suyecha;
-Sri Sastha with Purna and Pushkala; and
-Chandra with 27 stars.
Bhagwan Shiva and Parvathi
It is believed that as per Devi Puran, Parvathi Devi was born as Sati, the daughter of Daksha. She was married to Bhagwan Shiva. As per Varaha Puran, when Bhagwan Shiva married Sati, He was in the form of Rudra.
Daksha never respected his Son-in-Law.
Daksha’s Yagna
Daksha did a Havan (homam / yagna) to appease Gods. His daughter and son-in-law were also present. But he had insulted Bhagwan Shiva. Sati Devi was furious. She was agonized at the treatment meted out to Her husband.
Sati’s swiftness
Anguished, Sati Devi plunged into the Yagna fire and lost Her life. Everyone was astonished. Bhagwan Shiva was forlorn. He took the lifeless form of His wife and was roaming around the world.
Sri Vishnu’s action
On seeing the misery of Bhagwan Shiva, Sri Vishnu had sent His Sudarshan Chakra to severe the corpse of Sati to 108 pieces. The pieces fell into 108 places. Each of the place is considered as Shakti-Peet.
Bhagwan Shiva’s loneliness
Bhagwan Shiva was desolate and went into deep meditation. As He did not pay attention to anything, there was chaos everywhere. He went into severe penance as well.
Parvathi Devi
Meanwhile, Sati Devi was reborn as the daughter of Parvatha Raja, the King of mountains. As Parvatha’s daughter, She was known as Parvathi. She too did penance of Bhagwan Shiva to be reunited with Him.
Marriage arrangements
Parvatha Raja had expressed his desire to the Devas of marrying off his daughter to Bhagwan Shiva. They were happy. With the help of Bhagwan Vishnu, they approached Bhagwan Shiva. Bhagwan Shiva also has accepted.
Then on Panguni Uththiram day, Goddess Parvathi and Bhagwan Shiva were married.
In Kanchipuram, Sri Parvathi Devi had married Ekambareswarar as Sri Gowri. Hence this day is also called as Gauri Kalyanam day.
In almost all the Shiva Temples in Tamil Nadu, the ceremony of conducting the marriage of the presiding Deities of Bhagwan Shiva and Goddess Parvathi is being observed. The function is done with ardent devotion. In some places, married women change the turmeric thread of their mangal sutra.
Sri Rama and Sri Sita
Sri Rama was born with three brothers, Bharatha, Lakshmana and Shatrugna.
Sage Vasishta
When Sage Vasishta had asked for the presence of Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana for protecting his Yagna, King Dasaratha had accepted.
Meeting of Sita Devi
After completion of Yagna, Sage Vasishta took the brother duo to Mithila Kingdom. It was ruled by Janaka. He had a daughter named Sita Devi. She was found as a child when Janaka was ploughing the land. Apart from Sita Devi, he had his own daughter Urmila.
At the time of visit of Rama and Lakshmana, Janaka had arranged for Swayamvara for his daughter. The subject matter was that the groom should accept the challenge of breaking the Shiv-Dhanush in order to marry Sita Devi.
Sri Rama duly had broken the Shiv-Dhanush. Janaka had arranged for the marriage of his daughter with Rama.
The marriages of Sri Rama with Sri Sita, Sri Bharata with Sri Mandavi, Sri Lakshman with Sri Urmila and Sri Shatrugna with Sri Srutha Keerthi are believed to have happened on Panguni Uththiram day.
Sri Andal and Sri Ranga Mannar
Sri Andal was the incarnation of Bhooma Devi, the second consort of Sri Maha Vishnu.
Kothai
She was found as the child at a Tulsi garden at Sri Villiputhur by Sri Periyazhwar. He named Her as Kothai.
Even as a child, She was an ardent devotee of Sri Maha Vishnu. She had all her attention, love and respect on Sri Vishnu. She strongly believed that She and Sri Vishnu were inseparable.
Kothai’s practice
She used to string the flowers into a garland for Sri Vishnu. However, before handing over the garland to the father, She would wear the garland, stand before a mirror and appreciate the beauty. Then she would give the garland to Her father to take to the temple. Her father was not aware of Her pre-wearing the garland.
One day, he saw what Andal was doing. He was pained to see it. He knew that his daughter was well versed in the devotional practices. Despite that, She had pre-worn the garland which was against the practice.
Sri Vishnu’s advice
After reprimanding his daughter, he took the fresh garland to the temple. But Sri Vishnu did not accept the garland. At that night, He appeared in the dream of Sri Periyazhwar and told that He could accept only the garlands worn by Andal.
When Sri Andal attained marriageable age, Her father arranged for Her marriage. But She refused to marry any human and told Her father that she would marry only Sri Ranganatha of Sri Rangam. The father was very much worried.
Again, Sri Vishnu appeared in his dream and asked him to bring Andal to Sri Rangam and that He would marry Her.
Marriage
Sri Andal married Sri Ranganatha (Ranga Mannar) on Panguni Uththiram day.
Bhagwan Muruga and Devi Deyvanai
Bhagwan Muruga is the son of Bhagwan Shiva and Parvathi Devi. Devi Deyvanai is the daughter of Lord Indra.
Bhagwan Muruga was incarnated for the purpose of defeating the demons who were tormenting the Devas. Indra was the leader of the Devas. He wanted to give his daughter to Bhagwan Muruga in marriage.
Commencement
It is believed that during Panguni month, Bhagwan Muruga had embarked on the war with Asuras. Before starting, He took the blessings of His parents.
Krouncha Hill
When He was progressing with His army, he sighted a small hill. The hill started growing bigger which was obstructing Their way. When the Devas’ army was baffled with this, Sage Narada Said, “This is Demon Krouncha who had become a hill due to Sage Agastya’s curse; Though it is immobile, it simply grows huge and disrupts whoever passes by”.
Tarakasura
Sage Narada also said, “There is a place called Mayapuri Pattinam nearby. There the brother of the demon Surapadma lives. He is torturing Devas.”
Veerabhagu
Veerabhagu is the commander of Sri Muruga’s army. After hearing Sage Narada’s lamentations, He had ordered Veerabhagu to take a part of the army, go and fight Tarakasura.
Veerabhagu obliged. The battle was fierce. Both the sides suffered losses. Tarakasura had beaten down Veera Kesari, a warrior in Veerabhagu’s army. Veerabhagu got furious. He attacked Tarakasura more ferociously. Tarakasura had landed a severe blow on Veerabhagu. Veerabhagu fainted.
When Veerabhagu regained consciousness, he saw Tarakasura damaging the Devas’ army. This time, Veerabhagu made his battle highly intense.
Tarakasura’s tactics
Tarakasura could not bear the ferocity of Veerabhagu’s attack. He changed his form to a rat and went into Krouncha hill. Krouncha hill, being a demon itself, had accommodated Tarakasura conveniently.
When Veerabhagu and his army entered into Krouncha hill, Tarakasura and Krouncha had teamed up and were damaging the Devas’ army.
Bhagwan Muruga
Hearing the status from Sage Narada, Bhagwan Muruga had decided to directly get into action. He took the spear (Sri Shakti Vel) in His hand and sent it as a missile on the Krouncha hill. The Krouncha went to pieces and Tarakasura also died.
Thus, Bhagwan Muruga did the samhara of Krouncha and Tarakasura.
Marriage to Deyvanai
After winning the war, Bhagwan Muruga married Deyvanai on Panguni Uththiram day.
Panguni Uthiram is grandly celebrated in all Muruga temples. In Palani, it is very prominently celebrated with taking the procession of Bhagwan Muruga in the Chariot.
Bhagwan Ayyappa birthday
Panguni Uththiram is also the birthday of Bhagwan Ayyappa.
It is believed that Bhagwan Ayyappa was born as Sri Manikanda on this day.
Mohini and Bhagwan Shiva
Bhagwan Vishnu took the form of Mohini to usurp the nectar pot from the Asuras. After retrieving the pot, He had distributed the same to the Devas.
Then, still in Mohini form, He went to see Bhagwan Shiva. Bhagwan Shiva and Mohini got united and a son was born.
Maniganda
The child was put in a forest in Pandala Kingdom. He had a bell around His neck. The childless King of Pandala had found the child with the bell. He named the child as Manikanda and took him home.
The King’s wife was elated to have the child. However, when she got her own biological child, she wanted to get rid of the found child.
Ayyappa with tiger
So, she pretended to have a headache. She also made the doctor say that only the milk of the tiger would cure her. Everyone was scared to milk a tiger.
She requested Ayyappa to bring her the tiger’s milk. Without any hesitation, he went to the forest and came back sitting on a tiger.
Realization
The queen then realized that the child Ayyappa was not an ordinary kid but a divine being. She apologized for her mistakes.
Bhagwan Ayyappa
From then on, the child Manikandan was known as Bhagwan Ayyappa. He had proceeded to demolish the asuras to fulfill the purpose of his incarnation.
The place where he was found as a child is called Sabari Mala in Kerala. The other names for Sri Ayyappa, to cite a few, are Hariharan and Dharma Sastha.
Special poojas are done at all Ayyappa temples on this day.
Panguni Uththiram – other special events
-Sri Maha Lakshmi was born as Bhargavi to Maharishi Bhargava on this day.
-Sri Maha Lakshmi had observed Kalyana Sundara Vrat and got place in the heart of Sri Maha Vishnu on this day.
-Sri Saraswathi had got a place in the tongue of Sri Brahma on this day. From this day, She resides in the utterances of Sri Brahma.
-Chandra appears without any blemish on this day. It is believed that worshipping Chandra on this day shall bestow prosperity.
-Sri Valli, the second consort of Sri Muruga was born on this day.
Panguni Uththiram – auspicious acts
It is believed that the commencement of the following auspicious activities on this day shall being good results:
-Writing Lagna Patrika for marriage
-Melting gold for making mangal sutra
-Buying new things for home
-Medical treatment
-Setting up vigrahas in new temples
-Joining new career
-Starting new venture
-Shifting to new place
-Creation of water bodies.
Panguni Uththiram Vrat
It is customary to observe Kalyana Sundara Vrat on this day. The devotees observe fasting for the day. Some may have food for one session only.
It is believed that observing Vrat towards either Bhagwan Shiva & Parvathi or Bhagwan Muruga or Bhagwan Vishnu and Lakshmi or Sri Iyappa shall result in fulfillment of the wishes.
