Hindu Feasts, Fasts and Ceremonies/Chapter 11
ll. The Krittika
THE Krittika is a feast in honour of the glory of Siva. The legend regarding this feast is as follows: Brahma and Vishnu had a dispute among themselves as to who was the superior of the two, and appealed to Siva. To decide the superiority, Siva devised a means. He said that he would stand up as an all-pervading pillar of fire, that Brahma should traverse the sky and discover the top of the pillar, and that Vishnu should find his way to the nether world and discover the foot of it. Brahma-called at once his swan vehicle and started, and Vishnu assumed the form of a boar and went on boring and boring to the nether world and down and down to discover the foot. He, who returned first and reported what he was asked to see, was to be pronounced the superior of the two. That was the test of superiority. So Brahma and Vishnu were very busy travelling one to the upper and the other to the nether world. They are said to have gone on and onand on for several Yugas (eras) with no avail. While Brahma was travelling up he observed a Ketaki (Tamil: Talambu) flower, the sweet scented flower of the screwpine, travelling down towards the earth. It is stated that Brahma stopped the flower and asked him to relate his history. "O, I was on the head of Siva several centuries ago. I left it and am going down to the earth. O, what a long travel I have had! How far is the earth yet from this place? And who are you, please, and what is your object in travelling up," said the flower. Brahma:—"I am Brahma, and was asked by Siva to discover the top of his head. I left the earth several Yugas ago. If what you say is true, I have not done half the way yet. But will you mind doing me a small favour? Vishnu and I were asked by Siva to discover his head and foot, respectively. I shall say that I saw the head, and cite you as my witness. You must confirm me as you say that you occupied once that part of Siva’s body" "Agreed,” said the screwpine flower, for, as he had along journey to perform to reach the earth, he liked the idea of securing a companion in Brahma for his travels and this he could gain by uttering a petty lie. So Brahma and the Ketaki flower started together on their downward journey and came to Siva after several Yugas. Brahma, of course, had carefully got by heart what he had heard from the Ketaki about the head of Siva. As soon as they reached the earth, Brahma said to Siva:—"Holy Sir! I have seen your head." Siva understood in himself by his superior powers that it was impossible. Still, to prove that Brahma was uttering a lie, he asked him to describe it. Brahma repeated the story that he had heard from the flower and cited the Ketaki as his witness. "Vile wretch," said Siva to the screwpine, "as you have uttered a falsehood before me, may you never be used in my worship." And even to this day the sweet scented screwpine flower, on account of this curse of Siva, is never used in Siva temples for the worship of Siva. And as Brahma lied before Siva he was cursed to go without temples in this earth. So even now Brahma has no temple in the whole of India. Thus in short runs the legend. The Krittika feast is celebrated to commemorate the occasion of Siva’s having stood up as a fire-pillar on this day. What the Dipavali is to the Gujaratis in the Gujaratipet of Madras, so is Krittika to the other Hindus: A row of lights will be observed in front of every house on this night in the whole of Southern India. Children take to firing crackers. The non-Brahman population of Madras wear new cloths on this day. As Siva is supposed to have appeared in the form of a pillar of radiance on this day, in every place where there is a Siva temple a big rod some 25 or 30 feet high is planted opposite to the temple in an open space and left covered up with a thick coating of dried palm leaves from top to bottom. The whole work assumes the form of a leafy cylinder of about five feet in diameter. In the evening, after sun-set, the Siva god of the village or town is taken out of.the temple in procession. The procession stops before the cylinder. A brief ceremonial worship is performed and then lighted camphor is thrown at the foot of the cylinder. The whole work now blazes up and a great conflagration ensues which, of course, is so well arranged as not to injure any house or property. While this cylinder continues to burn, the worshippers assembled there throw pulverised resin over it. This is the closing of the feast in temples situated in the plains. As soon as the leafy pillar is reduced to ashes, the villagers assembled collect the embers which are considered to be the body of Siva, and miraculous powers are attributed to them. Sometimes they are used for manuring the fields in the expectation of a good harvest. In the places sacred to Siva, where temples are situated on the tops of mountains, the burning of the leafy pillar takes place a day after that observed in the plains. Sometimes a big caldron containing ghee, camphor and other combustibles is lighted on the mountain top and this continues to burn for a whole month. At Tiruvannamalai, Trichinopoly, Tiruttani, Mayilam, and other places where the temples are situated on hills, the whole rock on which the pagoda stands is illuminated and the sight is rendered as grand as temple funds will admit. The view at Tiruvannamalai on the Krittika feast night is supposed to be the grandest in Southern India. This feast takes place in the month of Krittika (November— December) when the constellation of that name is in conjunction with the moon, which occurs on the full-moon day of this month. What Shah-e-berat is to Muhammadans so is Krittika to the Hindus—a night of illuminations and lights. This feast is generally supposed to conclude a course of heavy rains that follow the North-East Monsoon. "After Krittika there is no rain" is the Tamil proverb—"Karttikatkkappuram malai illai." As in the Dipavali, there are special presents in the Krittika feast also to the newly married bride in the shape of cloths, vessels, orass or bronze lamps, and others.
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