Garuda Panchami – A festival to show the Never-ending Bond between Mothers and their Sons !!
Garuda Panchami or Garuda Jayanthi is a festival celebrated in honor of the divine bird Garuda who is an ardent devotee and the bird carrier of Lord Vishnu. This day is usually celebrated on the 5th day of Sukla Paksha in the month of Shravan.
Garuda is also known as the Garudazhwar or Periya Thiruvadi and is considered as the Vahana of Lord Vishnu. It is said that he lives on the planet known as Salmalidvipa where he is constantly offering prayers to Lord Vishnu.
As per Hindu Mythology, Sage Kashyapa had two wives named Kadru and Vinita. Kadru gave birth to a thousand snakes, whereas, Vinita gave birth to Garuda alone. Garuda is described as the one with a white face having an eagle’s beak, a strong personality with the golden body, huge-red wings and wears a crown on his head.
Once both Kadru and Vinita, bets on the color of the tail of Uchaishravas, the flying horse with seven heads that came out during the churning of the ocean. Kadru, the mother of thousand snakes, claimed the color to be black whereas Vinita, the mother of Garuda, claimed the color to be white. The stake of the bet was that whoever fails in the bet should serve the other. Kadru cheated on Vinita by asking her sons, the Nagas, to hang on to the tail of Uchaishravas, so that the white tail of the horse would turn black. Now, Vinita and Garuda were declared as losers and they were forced to serve Kadru and her sons. The nagas then misbehaved and ill-treated Vinita and her son Garuda. Later, the Nagas agreed to free Garuda and his mother if he gets Amruth (divine nectar) for them, which was owned by Indra, the King of the Devas.
Without any hesitation, Garuda stole Amruth from Indra in order to free himself and his mother from the sufferings of the nagas. Observing this, Lord Vishnu got impressed with Garuda as he stole Amrutha from Indra to save his mother and he did not even take a single drop for himself. So, he asked Garuda to ask a boon. Garuda immediately said that he needed a position to stay along with Lord Vishnu and so he became his Vahana. Though they were freed by the nagas, their cheating and worst behaviors made Garuda turn vengeful towards snakes. 🙂
Garuda Panchami is celebrated to show the never-ending bonding between Garuda and his mother, Vinita. This day is observed by mothers and sons to enhance the love and affection between them. Mothers worship God, Garuda for better health and the future of their children.
