Why Iyers and Iyengars celebrate festivals differently?

[sunita]

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Today is Krishna Jayanthi and when i wanted to dress up my daughter as young krishna, my mother tells me that only tomorrow (Aug 29th) is for us and today is for Iyers?

Can someone enlighten me on why Iyers and Iyengars celebrate certain festivals on different dates???

 

[Srimadhan]

To my limited understanding, there are two days
1. Day of the birth star (Rohini is Lord Krishna's birth star)
2. Ashtami

Some people celebrate the birth star others do Ashtami (Tithi).

I go to temple on both these days and celebrate both!!

 

[vgane]

After all it is a matter of a day...There are many festivals like that...Even the Avani Avittam falls on different day depending on whether you follow Yajur or Sama or Rig..

The acharam, anushatnam (rituals & traditions) of Iyer & Iyengar may be different

I think you should see the spirit.

Unity in diversity should be the credo...

 

[Nara]

Today is Krishna Jayanthi and when i wanted to dress up my daughter as young krishna, my mother tells me that only tomorrow (Aug 29th) is for us and today is for Iyers?

Can someone enlighten me on why Iyers and Iyengars celebrate certain festivals on different dates???

Why Iyer and Iyengar, even within Iyengars, why even within Vadakalai Iyengars, Matham and Munithraiyam have different ways of reconciling thithi and nakshatram and fixing the date.

 

[sunita]

I think you should see the spirit.

Absolutely no denying that. I only wanted to know if there was any reason behind this. Tomorrow if my daughter asks me the same i should be able to answer her.

 

[P.J.]

SRI KRISHNA JAYANTI OR SRI KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI IS CELEBRATED ON TWO DIFFERENT DAYS IN YEAR.

Krishna Took Birth At Midnight On The Ashtami Or The 8th Day Of The Krishnapaksha Or Dark Fortnight In The Hindu Month Of Shravan (August-September). This Auspicious Day Is Called Janmashtami. Indian As Well As Western Scholars Have Now Accepted The Period Between 3200 And 3100 BC As The Period In Which Lord Krishna Lived On Earth.

According To Traditional Hindu Astrology, Lord Krishna Was Born When The Moon Entered The House Of Vrishabha (Taurus) At The Rohini Nakshatram (Star) On The Eight Day (Ashtami) Of The Second Fortnight Of The Month Of Sravana (This Corresponds To The Month Of Bhadrapada Krishnapaksha In North India). All These Conditions Have To Match To Celebrate Sri Krishna Jayanti But Most Of The Time These Conditions Never Match In The Calendars Of Various Hindu Sects.

So The Different Sections In Hinduism Have Adopted Their Own Standards For Celebrating The Birthday Of Lord Krishna. For Some Sect, It Is The ‘Ashtami’ Day That Is Important. For Some Sect, It Is The Star ‘Rohini.’ To Make It More Complex There Is The Lunar And Solar Calendar Issue.

The Two Different Dates Is Because Importance Is Given To Tithi – Krishna Paksha Ashtami Tithi In Certain Regions. Like In Maharashtra, Bengal And By Some Communities In Karnataka And Andhra Pradesh.

In North India, The Date That Has Krishna Paksha Ashtami And Moon Sign Vrishabha (Taurus) Is Given Importance.

In Kerala And Tamil Nadu, The Date That Has Krishna Paksha Ashtami And Rohini Nakshatram Is Given Importance But This Date Has To Be In Tamil Aavani Month And Malayalam Chingam Month.
Celebrating Sri Krishna Jayanti On Two Different Days Is More Common In South India. In North India, To A Greater Extent There Is Uniformity.

Most People In India Celebrate Krishna Janmashtami Based On Lunar Calendar But Few Temples And Some Regions In South India Observe Krishna Janmashtami Based On Solar Calendar. In Most Years These Dates Don’t Differ By One Or Two Days But In Some Years Janmashtami Date Based On Lunar Calendar And Janmashtami Date Based On Solar Calendar Might Differ Up To One Month.

In Kerala, Tamil Nadu And In Some Parts Of Karnataka, Krishna Janmashtami Is Popularly Known As Ashtami Rohini And Is Observed Based On Solar Calendar.

Two Famous Temples, Udupi Sri Krishna Temple In Karnataka And Guruvayur Guruvayurappa Temple In Kerala Celebrate Krishna Janmashtami As Ashtami Rohini Based On Solar Calendar.

Ashtami Rohini Is Also Known As Sri Jayanthi And Gokulashtami




Source:KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI 2013 | Faith And Rituals Blog on Speakingtree.in

 

[Nara]

Absolutely no denying that. I only wanted to know if there was any reason behind this. Tomorrow if my daughter asks me the same i should be able to answer her.

The problem is thithi and nakshatram often fall on different days. So, to reconcile this difference and choose between the two days different sampradayams follow different rules, some give more importance to thithi while others give more importance to nakshatram. Some of these rules are quite arcane.

Hope this helps ....

 

[sangom]

Today is Krishna Jayanthi and when i wanted to dress up my daughter as young krishna, my mother tells me that only tomorrow (Aug 29th) is for us and today is for Iyers?

Can someone enlighten me on why Iyers and Iyengars celebrate certain festivals on different dates???

Is it not possible that Krishna was born more than once, once each among iyers, vadakalai iyengars, thenkalai iyengars, and as Shri Nara says, matham- and munithrayam- followers? After all Krishna was a super human? wasn't he?

Just my humble view please.

 

[ShivKC]

While buddha & mohammed had no problem in fixing their birthday parties well in advance over a thousand years, there seems to be a big problem with Jesus & Krishna, for their municipal birth records seems to be confusing with each tradition. Iyer Vs Iyengar OR Catholics Vs Orthodox Vs Jewish Vs Eastern church..


take it easy.. but why fuel for a tooth and nail fight of Iyer Vs Iyengar? Else where, the birthday party is left it on the hands of the clouds, for it obscures the crescent citing , the birthday party gets postponed ..

 

[sangom]

If Krishna is considered superhuman in many of his feats, according to 'believers', and so it is probably not a wrong idea to consider (and also accept) that He could have given his first "darsan" to different groups of brahmins according to different parameters of time.

If Krishna is considered as a mere mortal in his birth, and that his birth has to be at one time only, then it is difficult to accept his superhuman capacities in later life and, again, an ordinary mortal kind of death.

 

[tbs]

hi
some are following thithi....some are following nakashatram.......some are following PUCCHAM....means end of the nakshatram....

basically different panchangam/matham followers differently according to their AAATHTHU tradition....

 

[renuka]

Lord Krishna is Ajah(unborn)..only when anyone becomes an Arjuna and surrenders to Him and He is "born" in our mind....that is the Janmasthami that really matters.

 

[P.J.]

[h=2] Aaj ka panchang[/h] सुप्रभातम् ! सुदिनमस्तु ! शुभमस्तु !
Namaskar
As per Hindu Almanac i.e.Vedic Panchang For 29th August, 2013, Thursday.
kaliyug Varsha 5115, vikram samwat-2070, shak varsh-1935
Diwas – Guruwar
Maas -Bhadrapada
Paksha – Krushna Paksha
Tithi –Navami
Nakshatra :Rohini
samwatsar naam- parabhav
surya aayan-Dakshinayan





Tanuja Thakur (Blog)

 

[Iyyarooraan]

It is a problem of majority-minority. The later want to prove themselves. The differences would have been there right from the day each Panchangam was cast. Lack of communication systems would have been another factor in non-corresponding. Nobody can help. God is one but in our "television" he looks different. This also must be helping in dispersing crowds or gathering crowds!

 

[venkat2206]

To conclude, one is based on star and other is based on thithi. So let us start celebrating on both the days like we celebrate our star birthdays and date of birth.

Venkat K