Rishi Panchami

Rishi Panchami is celebrated on the fifth lunar day of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing Moon Fortnight) in the month of Bhadrapad, as per the Hindu calendar. It falls on the very next day after Ganesh Chaturthi. This year Rishi Panchami falls on September 8th, 2024. It is a day kept aside in Hinduism for worshipping the sapata rishis - Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vasishtha who were the great sages who gave us the amazing culture known as the Sanatana Dharma.

We should also try to read their words as given in the Vedas. If we cannot do this by ourselves, we can ask a pundit to come and read a portion of some veda to us.

It is believed that fasting on Rishi Panchami day is beneficial to one and all but is more important for women. It is a woman’s way of expressing devotion, gratitude, faith and respect towards her husband. Fasting on this day can destroy the sins that one has committed unknowingly. So, let’s learn about this festival, the story behind it and the puja rituals associated with it.

 Once there was a Brahmin who lived in the country of Vidarbha. He had one son and one daughter. He got his daughter married to a cultured Brahmin but unfortunately, he had an untimely death thus making the girl a widow. She returned to her own home but soon afterwards she came out with some itches all over her body. The parents took her to an enlightened sage and asked him to prescribe something for her. The rishi told them that in a previous birth she had touched some puja materials during her monthly period and was now paying for this. He told the girl to observe the Rishi Panchami vratam and she would get rid of her previous birth’s karma.

In Maharashtra, a special meal is cooked on this day known as Rishi Panchami bhaji. It is cooked with seasonal vegetables. It is cooked very simply as the rishis used to cook in ancient times. The main ingredient of this dish is Amaranth leaves- (chawli), elephant foot yam- (suran), sweet potato-(shakarkandi), potatoes- (aloo), snake gourd- (chichinda), peanuts- (moongfali), pumpkin-(kaddu), colocasia leaves- (arbi ke patte), colocasia root- (arbi), and raw banana. These are cooked without using salt or other spices and are to be eaten by those observing the fast. This fast cleanses both the body and the mind of the devotee and strengthens the digestive system.

The rishis will undoubtedly bless the ones who observe this fast.

Hari Aum Tat Sat!