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{{Short description|Hindu holy day}}
{{Infobox holiday|
| holiday_name = Vaikuntha Chaturdashi
| image = Vishnu Shiva.jpg
| caption = Painting of Shiva presenting the Sudarshana Chakra to Vishnu
| nickname =
| observedby = [[Hindu]]s
| date = Decided by the [[lunar calendar]]
| relatedto = [[Kartik Purnima|Kartika Purnima]]
| observances = Prayers and religious rituals, including [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] with lotus flowers, lighting dipas and battis (cotton wick) for [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]]
| type = Hindu
| significance =
| date2016 =
}}

'''Vaikuntha Chaturdashi''' ({{Langx|sa|वैकुंठचतुर्दशी|lit=The fourteenth day of Vaikuntha|translit=Vaikuṇṭhachaturdaśī}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2018-05-25 |title=Vaikunthacaturdashi, Vaikuṇṭhacaturdaśī, Vaikuntha-caturdashi: 3 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vaikunthacaturdashi |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Hindu festival|Hindu holy day]], which is observed on ''[[chaturdashi]]'', the 14th lunar day of the waxing moon fortnight ([[shukla paksha]]) of the [[Hindu month]] of [[Kartika (month)|Kartika]] (November–December). The day is sacred to the deities [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]]. They are worshipped individually or together in different temples in [[Varanasi]], [[Rishikesh]], [[Gaya, India|Gaya]], and [[Maharashtra]].

The holy day of Vaikuntha Chaturdashi is also observed in [[Maharashtra]] by the [[Marathas]] as per the custom set by [[Shivaji]] and his mother [[Jijabai]] for this occasion and by the [[Gaud Saraswat Brahmin]]s, though in a slightly different format.<ref name="Choudhury1999">{{cite book|author=Pranab Chandra Roy Choudhury|title=Best Loved Folk Tales Of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoTiOp3pkk4C&pg=PA155|access-date=13 December 2012|date=1 August 1999|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=978-81-207-1660-5|pages=155–}}</ref>

==Legend==
{{Vaishnavism}}
According to ''[[Shiva Purana]]'', once, the preserver deity, [[Vishnu]] left his abode [[Vaikuntha]] and went to [[Varanasi]] to worship [[Shiva]] on this day. He pledged to worship Shiva with a thousand lotuses. While singing hymns in glorification of Shiva, Vishnu found thousandth lotus missing. Vishnu, whose eyes are often compared to lotuses, plucked one of them and offered it to Shiva. A pleased Shiva, restored Vishnu's eye and rewarded him the [[Sudarshana chakra|Sudarshana Chakra]], Vishnu's discus and sacred weapon.<ref name="Kapoor2002">{{cite book|author=Subodh Kapoor|title=The Indian Encyclopaedia: Biographical, Historical, Religious, Administrative, Ethnological, Commercial and Scientific. Kamli-Kyouk Phyu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYN0n0pzlpcC&pg=PA3904|access-date=18 December 2012|year=2002|publisher=Cosmo|isbn=978-81-7755-270-6|page=3904}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/hinduholidays025034mbp#page/n87/mode/2up Hindu Holidays]</ref>

According to regional folklore related to the Varanasi festivities, a [[Brahmin]] named Dhaneshwar who had spent his lifetime committing several sins, visited the bank of the [[Godavari River]] to take a bath and wash off his sins, when Vaikuntha Chaturdashi was being observed by a large number of devotees by offering earthen lighted lamps and ''batti'' (wick) to the sacred river. Dhaneshwar mingled with the crowd. When he died, his soul was taken by [[Yama]], the god of death, to [[Naraka (Hinduism)|hell]] for punishment. However, Shiva intervened and told Yama that Dhaneshwar's sins were cleansed due to the touch of the devotees on Vaikuntha Chaturdashi. Then Dhaneshwar was released from hell and got a place in the Vaikuntha.<ref name="VidyarthiJha1979" />

==Folklore in Maharashtra==
This [[folklore]] in [[Maharashtra]] state in India is a practice that was set by King [[Shivaji]], the founder of the [[Maratha Empire]] and his mother [[Jijabai]]. After King Shivaji was crowned, the capital was built at [[Raigarh]], which also had a large lotus tank called Kushavarta. The lotus flowers in the tank bloomed during the month of Kartika in a splendour of white, blue and red colours. When Jijabai and Shivaji saw the blooms, and Jijabai commented to Shivaji that Vaikuntha Chaturdashi was in the offing. Shivaji recalled the Vishnu and Shiva legend. Like Vishnu, Jijabai also wished to offer a thousand white lotus flowers to Shiva at his Jagadeeshwara temple. She was very particular that the flowers should be unblemished white lotus flowers, fresh and unplucked by any other person (as by such an act its divine quality would be lost). As the aged Jijabai would be able to pick the flowers by herself, Shivaji was unable to find a way to fulfil her wish and convened his court to discuss the problem. In the court, Vikram Dalvi - the young a personal body guard of Shivaji had a solution. Then Dalvi offered to undertake this task and assured Jijabhai and Shivaji that he would pick the lotuses without touching them. Shivaji told him that if he failed he would be subject to severe punishment. On Vaikuntha Chaturdashi, Dalvi went to the tank, early in the morning, offered his obeisance to Shivaji and Jijabai, when other courtiers and citizens had gathered to watch the event. Then he lay down flat on the ground in front of the tank and shot arrows one after the other in quick succession to cut the lotus stems. Then he got into the tank in a boat and used a pair of tongs to pick the flowers without touching them, as promised. Shivaji and Jijabai were pleased with the ingenious and incomparable performance of the archery skill of Dalvi, and as a gesture of appreciation presented him with a gold and emerald necklace, in the presence of the assembled crowd.<ref name="Choudhury1999"/>

==Worship rituals==
Devotees of Vishnu offer him a thousand lotuses while reciting the [[Vishnu sahasranama|Vishnu Sahasranama]], the thousand names of Vishnu.<ref name="Kapoor2002"/> The [[Vishnupad Mandir|Vishnupada Temple]], which is believed to have footprints of Vishnu, celebrates its main temple festival in this period. The festival is also celebrated as ''kartika snanam'' (bathing in a river or stream during the Kartika month) by Vaishnavas.<ref name="CommunicationsSingh"/> In [[Rishikesh]], this day is observed as ''Deep Daan Mahotsav'' to mark the occasion of Vishnu waking up, out of his deep sleep. As a mark of environmental awareness, the deeps or lamps are made of flour (which would disintegrate in water) instead of burnt earthen lamps. The lighted lamps are floated in the holy [[Ganges River]] in the evening. This is accompanied by several cultural festivities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukinews.com/00032-Deep-Daan-Mahotsav-organized-on-Vaikunth-Chaturdashi-in-Rishikesh.html|title=Deep Daan Mahotsav|access-date=15 December 2012|publisher=UKI News}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On this occasion, Vishnu is given a special place of honour in the sanctum of [[Kashi Vishwanath temple]], a prominent Shiva temple in [[Varanasi]]. The temple is described as Vaikuntha on this day. Both the deities are duly worshipped as though they are worshipping each other. Vishnu offers [[tulsi]] (holy basil) leaves (traditionally used in Vishnu worship) to Shiva, and Shiva in turn offers [[Aegle marmelos|Bael]] leaves (traditionally offered to Shiva) to Vishnu, which is taboo otherwise, to each other. Devotees start the [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]]s after taking baths, fasting for the whole day, and offering ''[[akshat]]'' ( turmeric mixed rice), [[sandalwood]] (''Chandan'') paste, [[sacred waters]] of the Ganges, flowers, incense and [[camphor]] to both the deities. Then they offer lighted ''deep''s (earthen lamps) and ''batti'' ([[Candle wick|cotton wick]]) as a special offering for the day.<ref name="VidyarthiJha1979"/> In Varanasi, women, particularly old women, outnumber others in offering prayers on this occasion. Over the years, the number of devotees participating in this festival has increased.<ref name="VidyarthiJha1979">{{cite book|author1=Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi|author2=Makhan Jha|author3=Baidyanath N. Saraswati|title=The Sacred Complex of Kashi: A Microcosm of Indian Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOR1hvfH8s8C&pg=PA71|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1979|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|pages=71–72|id=GGKEY:PC0JJ5P0BPA}}</ref>

At the [[Grishneshwar]] temple of Shiva, Vishnu is offered Bael leaves and Shiva is offered Tulsi leaves. It is considered to portray the union of Vishnu and Shiva.<ref name="CommunicationsSingh">{{cite book|author1=ICEM Communications|author2=Sanjay Singh|title=Yatra2Yatra|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWqPwWpkhg0C&pg=PA115|access-date=14 December 2012|publisher=Yatra2Yatra|pages=115, 169|id=GGKEY:LTN9ZD2D2Y0}}</ref> In the Tilbhandeshvar temple in [[Nashik]], the {{convert|2|ft}} [[linga]] - [[Aniconism|aniconic]] form of Shiva - is dressed up in finery and a silver mask, as [[Ardhanarishvara|Ardhanarinateshvara]], the half-male, half-female form of Shiva. Thousands of people worship the Tilbhandeshvar and Shiva Kampaleshvar temples in Nashik. The festival is one of the three important festivals of these temples.<ref name="CommunicationsSingh"/><ref>[http://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Nasik/022%20Places/001%20Place.htm Nashik District Gazetteers]</ref>

Another observance is by celebrating ''avail bhojan'' (means a dinner) taken under the ''[[Phyllanthus emblica]]'' tree (Indian gooseberry).<ref name="Gupte1994">{{cite book|author=B. A. Gupte|title=Hindu Holidays and Ceremonials: With Dissertations on Origin, Folklore and Symbols|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_FSWKWzNSagC&pg=PA12|access-date=19 December 2012|year=1994|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0953-2|page=12}}</ref>

It is also prominently celebrated in Vishnu temples like [[Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam|Srirangam]] (Tamil Nadu), Tirupati Srinivasa temple (Andhra Pradesh), Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt (Karnataka) and many more. It is a custom to light lamps in a cut summer squash, after removing its core, thus fashioning a lamp (others use earthen lamps) and using 360 wicks, that some make by themselves specially for this occasion. These wicks are customarily as long as the pod of a cereal (moong dal)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hindu holy days]]
[[Category:November observances]]
[[Category:December observances]]

[[Category:Hindu festivals]]
[[Category:Vaishnavism]]

Vaikuntha Chaturdashi - Revision history

JunkoQxl0473817: Created A Info