Guru Purnima 2023: Date and Time, Significance, Celebration

Guru Purnima is a festival celebrated by the Hindus, Jains and Buddhists on which they honor their respective Gurus. A Guru is someone who guide us on the path of life without wanting anything in return and is considered superior to all. Other than India, this festival is also celebrated in Nepal and Bhutan. Guru Purnima is normally observed in the month of June and July but the date keeps changing every year. Know more about the festival of Guru Purnima 2023 like date, history, significance, celebration, etc from this article.

Guru Purnima 2023 Overviw

Guru Purnima 2023 Date

The date for Guru Purnima festival is calculated as per the Hindu calendar and it falls on the full moon day in the month of Asadha. As per the Gregorian calendar, it usually falls in the month of June or July. Calculated as per the Hindi calendar, Guru Purnima 2023 will be observed on 3rd July 2023.

Significance of Guru Purnima

Guru is made from two Sanskrit word, gu and ru, which means someone who removes the darkness of ignorance and provide us with knowledge. In the earlier times, Guru was given a place higher than the god and in their honor, the festival of Guru Purnima is celebrated. Thus, Guru Purnima is a festival of thanking the Gurus or teachers who remove the darkness from our lives and provide us illumination by sharing their knowledge with us.

Whether Hindu, Buddhist or Jain, this festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm by people of all the three religion. The festival of Guru Purnima has both religious and spiritual significance.

History of Guru Purnima Festival

Guru Purnima is a major festival for people of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions and each of these religion has a history of their own behind the celebration of Guru Purnima.

Let us know a little bit more about the history of this festivals according to different legends.

Hindu History

As per the Hindu legend, on the day of Guru Purnima Shiva become the first Guru or Adi Guru. When Shiva first appeared in the Himalayas, nobody knew anything about him. A first everyone was attracted to him owing to his unique appearance and aura but eventually they begin to feel scared and everyone, except seven people, left. The seven men wanted to feel and experience everything Shiva experienced and they asked him to teach them too. After resisting a bit, Shiva agreed and told them to perform Sadhana. After 84 years of Sadhna, the seven man started to shine and became spectacular. The day after this was a full moon day (Purnima) when Shiva sat in front of the seven men, who begin to be called as Saptrishis. Shiva became their Guru or Adi Guru and taught them about the truth of life and the Saptrishis spread the knowledge gained to the world.

It is also believed that the great sage and author of Mahabharata, Rishi Ved Vyas was born on the day of Guru Purnima. Not just this, he also completed writing the Brahma Sutras on the day of Guru Purnima only. In his honor, this festival is also known as Vyasa Purnima.

Buddhist History

When in the process of obtaining Enlightenment, the five followers or companions of Buddha had left him to went to Rsipatana in Sarnath. After attaining enlightenment, Buddha joined his companions and taught them everything he learnt through being enlightened. It was a full-moon day of Asadha month when Buddha gave the first sermon and shared his learning to his disciples who also became enlightened.

Jain History

As per the Jain tradition, on the full moon day of Asadha month, Mahavira Swami, the 24th Tirthankara of Jains, took Indrabhuti Gautam (Gautam Swami) as his first disciple thus becoming his guru. This festivals is celebrated as Treenok Guha Purnima among the Jains.

Guru Purnima Celebration

Guru Purnima is the day of expressing thankfulness to the Gurus who lead us from the path of darkness to enlightenment. On the day of Guru Purnima, Guru Puja is held which is devoted to all the Gurus who enlightened their disciples and who in turn enlightened the whole world.

The puja can be performed in homes as well as temples where preaching of the Gurus are recited. Offerings are presented to Gurus in the form of prasad and flowers and many classical events are also conducted by many communities.

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