Guru Purnima

Guru Purnima
Official nameGuru Purnima (Guru Worship on a summer full moon day)
Observed byJain, Hindu devotees & Buddhist disciples in Bhutan, India and Nepal
TypeNational, religious, cultural
SignificanceTo express gratitude towards spiritual teachers[1]
CelebrationsWorship of Guru and temple visit[2]
ObservancesGuru Puja
DateAshadha Purnima
2023 date3 July (Monday)[3]
2024 date21 July (Sunday)[4]
Frequencyannual
Explanatory note
Hindu festival dates

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day).

Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa.

A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar.

Guru Purnima (Sanskrit: गुरुपूर्णिमा, romanizedGurupūrṇimā) is a religious festival dedicated to offering respect to all the spiritual and academic gurus.[5] It is celebrated as a festival in India, Nepal and Bhutan by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists. This festival is traditionally observed to honour one's chosen spiritual teachers or leaders. It is observed on the full moon day (Purnima) in the month of Ashadha (June–July) according to the Hindu Calendar.[6][7][8] It is also known as Vyasa Purnima, for it marks the birthday of Veda Vyasa, the sage who authored the Mahabharata and compiled the Vedas.[9][5]

  1. ^ "Guru Purnima India: Date, Story, Quotes, Importance, Special Messages". SA News. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Guru Purnima 2020: Know Why We Celebrate Guru Purnima". NDTV.com. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Guru Purnima in India".
  4. ^ "2024 Guru Purnima".
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ गुरू पूर्णिमा - Guru Purnima: https://www.bhaktibharat.com/festival/guru-purnima
  7. ^ Article poornima.html "Guru Poornima (Vyas Puja)" Archived 24 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine As on 22 July 2013 on www.Sanatan.org
  8. ^ Thomas Weber (2 December 2004). Gandhi as Disciple and Mentor. Cambridge University Press. pp. 34–36. ISBN 978-1-139-45657-9.
  9. ^ "Guru Purnima 2019: Date, Time and Significance of Vyasa Purnima". News18. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.