
My India — Festivals
Festivals of India — Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti
Valmiki Jayanti celebrates the birth anniversary of Valmiki, also known as Maharishi Valmiki, who is revered as Adi Kavi (first poet) in Sanskrit literature. His birth anniversary is celebrated on auspicious day of Sharad Purnima (full moon) of Hindu month of Ashvin which as per the Georgian calendar corresponds to the month of September or October. The Valmiki Jayanti is observed on October 5 in 2017.
Maharishi Valmiki was a great sage and author of the first epic poem Ramayana. Ramayana consists of 24,000 shlokas (verses) and 7 kandas (cantos) including Uttara Kanda. Ramayana is composed of about 480, 002 words, being a quarter of the length of the full text of Indian epic Mahabharata and about four times the length of Greek epic Iliad. Ramayana tells the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.
The exact date and timings of his birth is not known but it is believed that he existed in the same era of Lord Rama.
According to Ramayana, Lord Rama met Valmiki during his period of exile and interacted with him. Later, Valmiki gave shelter to Devi Sita in his hermitage when Rama banished her. Kusha and Lava, the twin sons of Shri Rama were born in his hermitage. Valmiki taught Ramayana to both twins.
The Valmiki Ramayana is dated variously from 500 BCE to 100 BCE.
It is also believed that in his early life, Valmiki was a highway dacoit named Ratnakar, who used to rob and kill people. It is believed that Narada Muni (Hindu divine messenger) transformed Ratnakar into a great devotee of Lord Rama. On the advice of Narada Muni, Ratnakar performed great penance by reciting great Mantra of Rama Nama. After years of meditation, a divine voice declared his penance successful and bestowed him with new name Valmiki, which means born out of ant-hills.
GoldenTwine Informatics wishes you
Happy Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti
Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in
Sanskrit.
Indian Festival of Mahavir Jayanti
2614th Birth Anniversary of sage Mahavira.
Indian Festival of Guru Ravidas Jayanti
Celebrating the 639th Birth Anniversary of Guru Ravidas.
Indian Festival of Trailanga Swami Jayanti
Celebrating the 409th Birth Anniversary of Shri Trailanga Swami.
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