Kanchipuram Shri Chitragupta Temple – A must Visit Temple on the day of Chitra Pournami !!
As we all know, the Full moon day in the month of Chithirai is celebrated as Chitra Pournami. This day is considered auspicious to the Divine Bookkeeper, Chitragupta. Chitragupta is considered as the Chief accountant and minister of Lord Yama, the God of Death. It is believed that Chitragupta keeps the record of one’s Good and Bad deeds and sends them to heaven or hell accordingly.
According to the Hindu Mythology, there are various myths and beliefs regarding the birth of the Lord Chitragupta. Some are listed below:
- Being burdened with the heavy workload, Lord Yama pleaded with Lord Brahma for having an assistant to help him with the chores. Lord Brahma thought that Sun God would be the right person to create an assistant and so sought his help. The Sun God then gave birth to a baby boy with the help of Neeladevi (female formed by the integration of 7 colors of a rainbow). The boy was born in the Month of Chithirai and on a Full Moon Day. Hence he was named as Chithraputhiran (known as Chitragupta). The child was said to have born with a book and a writing nail on its left and right hands respectively.
- It is also believed that the holy cow named Kamadenu gave birth to Chitragupta in order to get relieved from the curse of Lord Indra. That is the reason why we normally avoid curd and cow milk for the abishekam of Chitragupta.
- Once Lord Shiva and Parvathi were having a discussion on someone who could closely watch the people on the earth and maintain a good account of their deeds. Lord shiva drew a picture on a Golden plate. Goddess Parvathi was impressed by the picture and she detailed the same. Later the picture turned into a deity by the grace of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Then Lord Shiva gave life and bestowed with intelligence in order to have accountability of the deeds of the humans on earth. He is named as Chitragupta (Chitra – Picture, Gupta – Accountant) and was appointed as the new accountant of Lord Yama, the God of Death.
Whatever may be the reason behind the origin of Shri Chitragupta, he is considered as one of the important and heavenly representatives of the God of death. He is considered as the main God of worship on the day of Chitra Pournami. Now, the question is, do we really have any temple dedicated to Shri Chitragupta? The answer is certainly ‘Yes’. The unique temple of Chitragupta is located in Kanchipuram, a holy temple city having a number of Shiva and Vaishnava temples. This unique temple of Chitragupta was constructed by the Chola Kings during the 9th Century.
The main deity of the temple is Shri Chitragupta and he can be seen in a sitting posture holding a pen in his right hand and a palm leaf of his left hand. The panchaloka Utsava Moorthy of Shri Chitragupta is seen along with his wife Karnika Ambal.
People believe that Chitragupta is the Athi Devatha for the planet Ketu which is one of the Navagrahas. So it is strongly believed that by worshipping Shri Chitragupta wholeheartedly, one can overcome the difficulties that are caused by the planet Ketu. It is normally said that we have to visit the temple in Kalhasthi for overcoming the Naga Dosha. But this is considered incomplete since Kalahasthi is a Parihara Sthala only for Rahu. The Naga Dosha Parihara would be considered as complete only after visiting the Chitragupta temple on the same day.
A large number of people visit this temple on every Pournami or Full Moon day. Special pooja is done to Chitragupta on this day. People offer cereals, Multicolor clothes, light 7 lamps and do abishekam to Shri Chitragupta. The major festival celebrated in this temple is Chitra Pournami. On this day, the devotees observe fast and consume food without salt during the day. Special pooja will be done to the Lord in the evening by offering Chakra Pongal (Sweet Pongal) as Prasadam. The Full Moon day of Chitra Pournami is a perfect day to appease Chitragupta and there is no doubt that anyone who worships Chitragupta at this temple would be bestowed with Prosperity and Wealth.
