Utsava Vidhi

Utsava Vidhi, “the rules of the festival”

The utsava (festival) and yātrā (procession) are the public side of temple worship in the Agni Purāṇa (chapters 68 and 70). The utsava-mūrti, the processional image, is brought out of the inner sanctum, placed on a decorated ratha (chariot) and carried round the town in pradakshiṇā (a clockwise round). The same teaching includes the consecration of sacred trees.

Bhagavān Hayagrīva teaches the utsava, and he begins with a rule: a mūrti of a devatā without an utsava is fruitless. So in the very year the devatā is installed, a festival of one night, three nights or eight nights is held, and at the solstices and equinoxes the deva is taken through the city in procession. The night before, the ācārya asks the deva’s leave for the tīrtha-yātrā (the journey to the holy waters); the mūrti is bathed all night with streams of ghee; then it is carried on the ratha to the river, where homa is offered, the tīrthas are invoked, and the mūrti is bathed in the water before it returns to the temple. For those who carry the mūrti and follow the yātrā, every step gives the fruit of an aśvamedha yajña, and the utsava gives both bhoga (enjoyment) and moksha.

The utsava-mūrti

The Agni Purāṇa describes two kinds of mūrti in temple worship (chapter 68):

  • The mūla-mūrti is the original image, installed for good in the garbhagṛha, the innermost sanctum. Once consecrated it stays in its place. It is the lasting seat of the full presence of the deva.
  • The utsava-mūrti is the festival image. It is smaller and can be moved. It is also consecrated, but it is made to be carried in procession. It is the “public form” that the deva shows to the wider world at festivals.

The utsava-mūrti has its own consecration (pratishṭhā). During the procession it is worshipped with the full sixteen upacāras.

The ratha

The ratha is the vehicle on which the utsava-mūrti sits during the yātrā. The Agni Purāṇa gives the ratha’s measures and its decoration (chapter 68).

  • The chariot is richly decorated with flowers, flags, coloured cloths and ornaments, as befits the procession of a divine sovereign.
  • Musicians walk ahead of the ratha. They play drums (mṛdaṅga and paṭaha), conches (śaṅkha) and other instruments. The music announces the coming of the deva and readies the people for darśana.
  • The royal canopy (chatra) is held above the image. Cāmaras (fly-whisks of yak-tail hair) are waved on both sides, as a service to a king.

The whole procession shows the deva as the supreme sovereign of the cosmos, moving through his domain to bless it.

The yātrā

The yātrā begins with the mantras for taking the utsava-mūrti out of the temple (chapter 68).

  1. The deva is formally invited to come down from the fixed mūla-mūrti into the processional image. This is honoured with full pūjā offerings.
  2. The route follows pradakshiṇā, a clockwise round of the town or the temple grounds. This round makes holy the whole land inside its path. It brings the presence and protection of the deva to every household and every person within reach.
  3. After the procession, the return rite (āvāhana-vidhi) is done. Mantras are said to bring the utsava-mūrti back through the temple gates. The sanctum is opened again with Vedic mantras, and the deva is set back in place.
  4. At the end of the festival, the full sixteen upacāras are offered to both the utsava-mūrti and the mūla-mūrti.

The vidhi of the yātrā-utsava

Bhagavān Hayagrīva said: “Now I tell the rite of the utsava.”

When it is held

  • A mūrti of a devatā without an utsava is fruitless. In the very year the devatā is installed, a festival of one night, three nights or eight nights is held.
  • At an ayana (solstice) or at the vishuva-saṅkrānti (equinox), the deva is taken on a procession through the city: to the śayana-upavana (the garden of repose), to the deva-gṛha, or wherever suits the one who holds it.

The sowing of sprouts and the bali

  1. At that time the auspicious sowing of sprouts (aṅkurāropaṇa) is arranged, with dance, song and instruments.
  2. Earthen bowls are best for the sprouts.
  3. Nine seeds are washed and sown: yava (barley), śāli (rice), tila (sesame), mudga (green gram), godhūma (wheat), white sarshapa (mustard), kulattha (horse gram), māsha (black gram) and nishpāva (a bean).
  4. Going round at night with lamps, bali (offerings) is given in the east and the other directions to Indra and the other dikpālas, to Kumuda and the other elephants of the directions, and to all beings.

The night before

  1. On the day before, the ācārya comes to the temple and asks the deva: “O best of devas! Tomorrow your tīrtha-yātrā is to be held. You are ever able to grant leave for it.” Then he begins the festival.
  2. He goes to the adorned vedi with its four granthas and a ghaṭa (pot) of sprouts. In its middle he places a svastika and the mūrti, writes his wish, sets it upon pictures, and performs the adhivāsana (the rite of dwelling for the night).
  3. With learned Vaishṇavas, he smears the limbs of the mūrti with ghee, reciting the mūla-mantra, and bathes it with a stream of ghee through the whole night.
  4. He shows the devatā a mirror, offers ārati with song, instruments and other auspicious acts, waves a fan and worships. Then comes pūjā with lamp, fragrance, flowers and the rest.
  5. Turmeric, camphor, saffron and white sandal powder sprinkled on the mūrti and on the heads of the devotees give the fruit of all the tīrthas.

The procession to the river

  1. The ācārya places the festival mūrti on a ratha, worships it, and with parasol, cāmara and the sound of conches takes it to the bank of the river.
  2. A vedi is built there before the bath. The mūrti is taken down from the ratha and set on the vedi.
  3. Caru (cooked rice) is prepared there and offered in homa, and after it a homa of pāyasa (milk-rice).
  4. With the mantra of Varuṇa all the tīrthas are invoked. With the mantras āpo hi shṭhā, arghya is given to them and they are worshipped.
  5. The mūrti is carried into the water and aghamarshaṇa (the rite that washes away pāpa) is done. The brāhmaṇas and the people bathe.
  6. After the bath the mūrti is brought back and set on the vedi. That day it is worshipped there, and then it is taken back to the temple.
  7. The ācārya worships the devatā present in the fire.

The phala

  • For those who carry the mūrti of the devatā and follow the deva-yātrā, every step gives the fruit of an aśvamedha yajña. There is not the least doubt of it.
  • The powders sprinkled on the mūrti and on the devotees give the fruit of all the tīrthas.
  • This utsava gives bhoga and moksha.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 68

The eight annual festivals

The Agni Purāṇa speaks of the eight mahotsavas (great festivals) of the year (chapter 68). At these the full utsava-yātrā with the ratha procession is done. They match the main turning points of the sacred calendar, when the grace of the deva flows most fully into the world.

The Agni Purāṇa teaches:

  • Merely watching the procession, seeing the utsava-mūrti pass through the streets, gives great puṇya (merit).
  • Taking part in the singing, dancing and service of the procession gives still greater puṇya.
  • The whole community takes part in the utsava: the brāhmaṇas who say the mantras, the craftsmen who decorate the ratha, and the ordinary devotees who line the route. This is itself a shared act of worship.

Consecration of sacred trees

Chapter 70 describes the consecration of auspicious trees as living seats of the divine presence. The aśvattha (pippala), bilva, āmalakī and tulasī are among the trees that receive formal pratishṭhā in this chapter. For each tree, its presiding deva is called.

  • The aśvattha is understood as a form of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, come forth from the first creation.
  • The bilva is sacred to Bhagavān Śiva.
  • The āmalakī is linked with Bhagavān Vishṇu.
  • The tulasī is the beloved consort of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The ceremony for a tree is like the utsava. The community gathers, mantras are said, and the presiding deva of the tree is formally honoured and worshipped. From then on the tree is treated as a living seat of the divine presence.

Going round sacred trees, pouring water at their roots and bowing before them are all forms of worship. They join the devotee to the divine through the natural world.

The vidhi of tree pratishṭhā

Śrī Bhagavān said: “Now I tell of the pratishṭhā of trees, which gives bhoga and moksha.”

  1. The tree is smeared with water of all herbs, sprinkled with fragrant powder, adorned with garlands and wrapped with cloths.
  2. For all the trees the ear-piercing (karṇavedha) is done with golden needles, and añjana (collyrium) is applied with a golden rod.
  3. Seven fruits are placed on the vedi. The adhivāsana is done for each tree, and a kumbha (pot) is offered.
  4. Bali is given to Indra and the other dikpālas.
  5. At the adhivāsana of the trees, homa is done with mantras of the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda or the Sāmaveda, or with the mantras of Varuṇa or of Mattabhairava.
  6. An excellent brāhmaṇa bathes the trees and the yajamāna with the kalaśas of the tree-vedi.
  7. The yajamāna, adorned, gives the brāhmaṇas cows, land, ornaments and clothes as dakshiṇā, and feeds them with food made with milk for four days.
  8. Homa is done with sesame, ghee and palāśa sticks.
  9. The ācārya is given double dakshiṇā.
  10. The maṇḍapa and the rest are built as taught before.

The phala: by the pratishṭhā of trees and gardens, pāpas are destroyed and the supreme siddhi is gained.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 70

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, chapter 68 (utsava-mūrti, ratha, yātrā, the eight annual festivals)
  • Agni Purāṇa, chapter 70 (consecration of sacred trees)