Ayudha Pooja 2023 Date: Is it Celebrated on Maha Navami?

Ayudha Pooja 2023 is being celebrated on 23rd of October. Known more commonly as Astra Pooja (Worship of Instruments), it is a part of the Navratri festival that is celebrated with great pomp in India.

On this day, people worship their tools and instruments that they use in everyday life to earn livelihood. In earlier customs, people used to worship their weapons for success in battle. But with modernization, It has now been extended to the worship of machinery such as vehicles, computers, agricultural equipment, etc.

Known by different names in different states such as Ayudha Pooja in Tamil Nadu, Astra Pooja in Odisha, Shastra Pooja or Khande Navami in Maharashtra, the festivities and ritual of this festival remains almost same everywhere. In this article, the important details related to Ayudha Pooja 2023 have been provided along with its date, time Pooja vidhi, etc.

Ayudha Pooja 2023 Date

Ayudha Pooja is observed on the tenth day of Shukla Paksha in the Hindu month of Ashwin and coincides with Maha Navami of Durga Pooja festival. If seen in Gregorian calendar, Ayudha Pooja falls in the month of September or October every year.

Calculated according to the Hindu calendar, Ayudha Pooja in the year 2023 will be celebrated on Monday, 23rd October. Muhurat (or most auspicious time) for Ayudha Pooja will be from 1:58 PM to 2:43 PM on 23rd of October.

Story behind Ayudha Pooja

It is believed that the tradition of worshiping tools and weapons is very old and it is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. The legend goes as follows.

On the day of Vijayadashami, Arjuna of the five Pandava brothers, retrieved his weapons hidden beneath a Shami tree (or Banni Tree). The weapons were hid by Arjuna himself before the Pandvas proceeded for their vanvas (exile) of 13 years including Agyatavas (living incognito) of one year. He retrieved the weapons and worshiped them before going on a war against the Kauravas. The Pandavas were victorious and since then the tradition of worshiping weapons began to be practiced.

Other than this, the Ayudha Pooja also celebrates the victory of Goddess Durga over demon king Mahishasura. After the demon king was killed, the weapons used for his killing were worshiped. It is also believed that Lord Rama worshiped his weapons in front of a Shami tree before his fight and victory over demon king Ravana.

Significance of Ayudha Pooja Festival

All types of tools, machines, and instruments, including vehicles, musical instruments, stationery are worshiped on the occasion of Ayudha Pooja. This festival is observed to express thankfulness to the tools and instruments that help one earn the livelihood. From small items like scissors and pins to large piece of machinery used in factories are worshiped on Ayudha Pooja.

It is believed that worshiping the tools on this day gives success in one’s profession. The Shami or Banni tree is also of great significance in Ayudha Pooja and people seek blessings of the tree to achieve success in their ventures.

Ayudha Pooja 2023 Celebration

Celebrated all over India as Maha Navami, the last day of Navratri festival is observed as Ayudha Pooja in the southern states. On this day, other than tolls, weapons and machinery, the principal deities, i.e., Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom, arts and literature, Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and Goddess Parvati, the divine mother are worshiped. There might be certain variations in the procedure of worship but the main idea remains the same, and that is to express gratefulness to the tools and machines that help in earning livelihood or make living simple.

On the morning previous to day of Ayudha Pooja, people take out their tools and other implements and clean them well. They also paint and polish their tools and them apply turmeric paste and sandalwood paste on them as a part to ritual (turmeric and sandalwood are considered as auspicious in Hindu religion). Books, musical instruments, vehicles, etc are also cleaned and prepared in the same way. When the evening comes, all the tools are placed in front of images of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati and decorated with flowers.

On the next day, i.e., the day of Ayudha Pooja, all the tools, instruments, books, vehicles, etc that were cleaned and decorated are worshiped along with the images of the three goddesses. Once the Pooja is done, the implements are left in front of the gods and are not to be disturbed.