What is the significance of Guru Purnima, and why is it celebrated?

Gaatha Anand

| Posted on 9-May-2022

According to Hinduism guru means 'teacher'. It is believed that we were created with an innate teacher within us that we need to discover as part of our spiritual journey from ignorance to enlightenment.
On the day of full moon in the month of Jyeshtha, Hindus commemorate Guru Purnima. The celebration commences with a ritualistic bath, which is followed by prasad or food blessed by a guru. The practice originated from ancient India and has started to gain importance among modern Hindu communities across North America, Europe and Asia.

Letsdiskuss

Jessy Chandra

Fashion enthusiast | Posted on 27-Jul-2018

This year Guru Purnima falls on 27th July, 2018, and there is going to be a Lunar Eclipse on this day. This makes the occasion even more special.

Guru Purnima is an important day according to Hinduism and Buddhism. The day is considered best for attaining any kind of knowledge. It is celebrated in Asharh Maas, according to Hindu calendar.

Guru Purnima is celebrated before the commencement of Monsoon. According to scriptures, the days between summer and monsoon (those days which are neither very hot nor very cold) are the most appropriate for the attainment of knowledge. Hindu and Buddhist followers in the early times used to gather large crowd on this day, and lecture them on how to achieve knowledge.

Importance of Guru Purnima

The relevance and the reason of Guru Purnima in earlier times was derived only from a singular motive, which was, attainment of knowledge.

Today however, its meaning has changed and taken a rather religious and irrelevant course. The only thing that people do now on this day is to visit temple and worship. Knowledge and rationality has nothing to do with these adopted practices. Now a days, when religious fanaticism has taken an ***** look, faith only means stone idols and uninformed worship.

Earlier Guru Purnima used to be a day on which students would thank their teacher or Guru for the knowledge he has imparted, but today, students don’t even know about this day. It’s more about worshiping than thanking your teacher for knowledge and education.