Ṛtu Pūjā

Ṛtu Pūjā, simply known as Ritu Puja, Sanskrit: ऋतु पूजा, Telugu: ఋతు పూజ, Hindi: ऋतु पूजा.

Ṛtu Pūjā is the seasonal pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu taught in the Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 123. On the Dvādaśī tithi (the twelfth lunar day) that belongs to each ṛtu (season), Bhagavān Vishṇu is honoured with the flowers, fragrances and mantras of that season. The Purāṇa describes how each season comes: trees that flower, monsoon clouds that gather, the heat of summer. It then says how Bhagavān Vishṇu is to be honoured in keeping with each season.

When it is kept

The Varāha Purāṇa builds the ṛtu pūjā around Dvādaśī, the tithi most sacred to Bhagavān Vishṇu in each fortnight. On the Dvādaśī of the main month of each ṛtu, flowers and mantras special to that season are used. Bhagavān Vishṇu is present in the life-force that marks each season. He is honoured best with the very flowers he has made bloom.

Vasanta Ṛtu: spring (Phālguṇa–Caitra)

  • Sign of the season: Wild jasmine (vana-malle) blooms thickly in the forests and fills the air with its scent.
  • Flower: Vana-malle (wild jasmine, Jasminum).
  • The pūjā: On Phālguṇa Dvādaśī, Bhagavān Vāsudeva is honoured with garlands and offerings of wild jasmine. The mantra calls him Vāsudeva, the one who fills and lives in all things. The scent of spring spreading through the forest is Bhagavān Vāsudeva’s own presence spreading through creation.

Grīshma Ṛtu: summer

  • Sign of the season: The fierce heat of summer comes. The śāla trees (Shorea robusta) come into full flower.
  • Flower: Śāla flowers.
  • The pūjā: On the Dvādaśī of summer, Bhagavān Vishṇu is honoured with śāla flowers, together with the mantra for this season. Śāla blossoms flower in the heat. Offering them shows Bhagavān Vishṇu as the source of strength even at the hardest time of the year.

Varshā Ṛtu: late spring or pre-monsoon (Vaiśākha)

  • Sign of the season: The maddi (mahua, Madhuca longifolia) trees come into their own flowering, and the air is full of their scent.
  • Flower: Maddi (mahua) flowers.
  • The celebration: The Varāha Purāṇa describes the Vaiśākha Dvādaśī pūjā as a joyful celebration with the music of gandharvas and apsarās. The celestial musicians honour Bhagavān Vishṇu as the year comes to its fullness, just before the monsoon begins. The heavy, sweet-scented mahua flowers show the plenty of late spring.

Āshāḍha: Śayana-kāla (the start of the monsoon)

  • Sign of the season: Dark monsoon clouds gather on the horizon. Lightning lights the sky. The rains begin to fall.
  • The Śayana-pūjā: Āshāḍha Dvādaśī marks the start of the yoga-nidrā (the yogic sleep) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the period of Cāturmāsya (the four months of the rains). Bhagavān Vishṇu is lovingly laid to rest on his bed of Ādiśesha, on the cosmic waters. The Purāṇa tells this moment with great tenderness. As the clouds gather and the rain begins, the devotee does the Śayana-pūjā. He lays Bhagavān Vishṇu to rest for the four months of the rains and keeps watch over him through the monsoon, like a loving servant. This rite of close service is among the most loved in the Vaishṇava calendar of worship.

What the pūjā teaches

The Varāha Purāṇa teaches that the natural world is not apart from what is sacred. The flower, the scent and the air of each season show the beauty of Bhagavān Vishṇu: jasmine in spring, śāla in summer, mahua before the monsoon, and the dark gathering clouds when the monsoon comes. To offer the flower of the season is to know Bhagavān Vishṇu in the season itself and to give his gift back to him.

Place in Pañcarātra worship

The ṛtu pūjā is given within the wider Vaishṇava worship that comes through the Pañcarātra path. The Dvādaśī tithi, the seasonal rites, and mantras that name the forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu (Vāsudeva and his vyūha forms) belong to Pañcarātra practice.

Sources

  • Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 123