Devotees throng temples, ghats on Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepawali

Devotees throughout the country offered prayers in various temples and ghats on the occasion of Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepawali.

Devotees throughout the country offered prayers at various temples and ghats on the occasion of Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepawali. Devotees offered prayers at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam on the occasion.

A huge crowd was seen at Digha Ghat in Patna to take a bath in the Ganga on Monday morning. People also offered donations. NDRF teams were seen continuously patrolling the river Ganga as a safety measure. Devotees took a holy dip on the banks of Narmada at Gwarighat in Jabalpur and also concluded their one-month fast. From early morning 4 am today at Narmada Gwarighat people started thronging the place and took a dip.

Devotees also bathed Laddu Gopal (childhood form of Lord Krishna) and worshipped him with devotional songs. Devotees said, "In this holy month we have been fasting for the whole month, and took a bath in Narmada. Today our fast has ended on the full moon night and this is the grace of God. It is the blessings of Laddu Gopal that we are able to celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm. There is a lot of joy in our hearts."

The full moon day or the eighth lunar month, is referred to as Kartik or Kartik Purnima. This year, Kartik Purnima fell on Monday, November 27. The festival falls on the full moon of the Hindu month of Kartika and takes place fifteen days after Diwali.

The day of the full moon is called by several names throughout the nation according to the Hindu calendar, including Poornima, Poonam, Pournami, and Pournimasi. Kartik month is referred to as Damodar month in the Vaishnava religion. One of the names of Lord Krishna is Damodar. Kartik Purnima is also celebrated as Dev Deepawali and marks the fifteenth lunar day of the Hindu month of Kartik.

The festival is linked with Prabodhini Ekadashi and it marks the end of Chaturmas, a four-month period when Lord Vishnu is believed to sleep. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)