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DhanurmasWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Dhanurmas
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Dhanurmas(
)isanamegiventoaperiodofnearlyonemonth.Dhanurmasstartsusuallyaround
1416DecemberandextendsuptothemidofJanuary(HinducalendarmonthsMargashirshaPausha).
ThisperiodendswiththeMakarSankrantitheendofdakshinayanamostlyoccursduringthePausha
monthoftheHinduLunarcalendar.Moreappropriately,thestartoftheDhanurmasismarkedbytheentry
oftheSunintheDhanurRasi(Saggitarius)thisiscalledDhanuhSankramana.Duringthismonth,thesun
transitstheDhanurRasiandenterstheMakaraRashiattheendofthismonth.InHinducalendarDhanur
Masisasolarmonthandnotanindependent(Lunar)month.Theperiodwhenthesunstartsmoving
northwardfromtheTropicofCapricorntotheTropicofCanceriscalleduttaraayana.Theoppositeperiod
whenthesunmovessouthwardiscalleddakshinaayana.UttarayanthusoccursduringtheDhanurmas.

OtherNames
DhanurmasorDhanurMasaisalsoknownbythenamesChapaMas,KodandaMas,KarmukaMasetc.
Chapa,Kodanda,Karmukaetc.,inSanskritaresynonymsofDhanusmeaningabow.Dhanurmasaisalso
calledasShoonyaMasabecauseitisconsideredasinauspicioustodoanygoodthingsotherthanGodly&
Holyfunctions.

Etymologyandsignificance
ThisperiodofmonthisconsideredashighlyauspiciousforVishnudevotees.OldHinduscriptureshaveset
apartthismonthtobecompletelyfocusedondevotionalactivities.Othernondevotionalactivities(suchas
weddings,purchaseofpropertyetc.)areprohibitedduringthismonthsothatattentioncanbegiven
exclusivelytotheworshipofGodwithoutanydiversions.InSouthIndia,especiallytheVaikuntaEkadasi,
whichfallsduringDhanurMas,attractsthousandsofdevotees.Templesconductspecialpujasduringthis
period.
SriKrishnainBhagavadGita,says
10.35.ImanifestmoreinMargashirshaMaas

amongthedifferentmonthsinayear.
Accordingtotradition,theGodswakeupearlyinthemorningduringthemonthofDhanurmas.They
performspecialprayerstoSriMahaVishnuduringtheauspiciousperiodof"BrahmMuhurta",whichisone
andhalfhoursbeforesunrise.Duringthismonth,devoteesofferprayerstotheLordveryearlyinthe
morning.ThemonthofDhanurmasisconsideredaveryspecialmonthforperformingPujaofVishnu.
DhanurmasPhalShruti:WorshipingVishnuonasingledayduringthisauspiciousperiodisequalto
worshipingVishnuwithdevotionfor1000years.Everysinglesteptakentowardsthenearbylake,riveretc.
formorningdipduringthismonthbringsforthmeritequaltoperforminganAshvamedhaYaga.
DuringthisperiodthesunisintheSagittariusor"
",[1]theperiodwhenthesunpassesfrom
SagittariustoCapricornor" "isconsideredasaperiodofscarcitytotheplentyinIndia.[2]
FeedingorgivingalmstothedeservingpoorandBrahminsduringthisperiodisbelievedtoconfergreat
meriti.e.Punya.[3]
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References
1. ^Jackson,A.M.T(2007).FolkLoreNotes.pp.ix.
2. ^AndhraPradesh13.AndhraPradesh(India)DepartmentofInformationandPublicRelations.1969.p.45.
3. ^ChalapatiRao,GudlavalletiVenkata(1983).SriVenkatachala,itsglory.TirumalaiTirupatiDevasthanam.
p.83.

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