Hayagriva Jayanti Pooja Date And Puja Timings

Hayagriva Jayanti is the birthday of Lord Hayagriva, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The day occurs on Sawan Maas Purnima Tithi, the beginning of the full moon. The avatar is related to Vedas, and he is the Lord of knowledge and wisdom. Students who pray to Lord Hargriva on this day succeed in their endeavors and receive help in higher education.

 

The Lord also helps a person show the right path in his life. People celebrate the Hargriva Jayanti every year and pray to gain knowledge and wisdom from the Lord.

 

Haygriva Jayanti Puja Timings

This year Hayagreeva Jayanti will be celebrated on Thursday, August 11, 2022.

 

Full Moon Tithi starts - on 11 August 2022, at 10:39

Full Moon Tithi ends - on 12 August 2022, at 07:06

 

Hayagriva Avatar

 

The Lord is an incarnation of Vishnu. The god seems half human with the head of a horse. Vishnu took such an avatar to protect the Universe from the two demons Madhu and Kaitubh, who stole the Vedas when Brahma was in his sleep state.

 

The Lord is white in color and wears white attire. He sits on a white lotus; the Lord is mainly celebrated in the temples like Hojo, Assam, and Hayagreeva Temple in Nanganallur Chennai.

 

The Lord has four hands; one hand holds wisdom, and another one holds books of knowledge. The other two hands hold a conch and discus. His beauty is sparkling and clean like a crystal. He has such brilliance that it never becomes dull.

 

In many stories, he is the white horse that brings the Sun back to the horizon every morning. He is sometimes depicted in the seated mediation pose, which is also called Yoga-Hayagriva. Such a pose exists in the temple Thiruvananthapuram. In all the places, he is worshipped with his consort goddess Laxmi and hence also known as Lakshmi-Hayagriva. 

 

The start of the worship of Lord Hayagriva dates back to 2,000 BCE. This was the time when people worshipped the horse for its strength, speed, and intelligence. Hayagriva is also a deity in Vaikhanasas, Sri Vaishnavism, and Madhwa Brahmins traditions. He is worshipped before beginning to read sacred and secular subjects.

 

Mythological Story Related To Hayagriva

 

There are many legends related to Lord Hayagriva or why Vishnu had to take the avatar of a horse-headed God. One such legend is related to Mahabharata. It was also the time when Earth was submerged in water from all sides. While creating the Universe, Lord Brahma fell asleep, and two demons named Madhu and Kaitabh took advantage of the situation.

 

They reached Brahma and stole the Vedas, which were used to create the Universe. The stealing of Vedas put the whole Universe in a dark pit by ending the knowledge in the Universe. All the devas lost their wisdom, and everyone seemed to grow ignorant. It was getting difficult to monitor the Universe for Brahma in the absence of those Vedas.

 

As a result, Lord Vishnu was woken up to sustain the balance. Lord Vishnu hence took the form of Lord Hargriva jayanthi and fought with the demons. Vishnu hence saved the Vedas and restored the balance in the Universe.

 

In another legend, Vishnu’s head gets separated from his body due to a raised bow. The legend says that Lord Vishnu while fighting the demons, falls asleep and goes into a deep idea. All the Gods, along with Brahma and Shiva, see Vishnu in this position and get worried. They all become frightened to not awake the Lord, or they will have to bear his anger.

 

Hence Brahma creates an insect and asks it to cut off the bow to wake up the Lord. However, when the row cuts off, it also takes away the head of Vishnu. It is believed that this whole incident happened because once Lord Vishnu made fun of his beautiful wife, Laxmi. In return, Laxmi curses Vishnu, and hence Vishnu faces his beheaded body.

 

Then to fix the head of Vishnu, the head of a horse is attached to his body. This brings Vishnu to life, and he was named Lord Hargriva.

 

Another legend is there that says once there was a demon named Hayagriva. The demon performed various penances to please Goddess Durga. The Goddess became pleased with the penance of the demon and granted him the boon to be immortal and that no man could ever defeat Hayagriva.

 

Later, after some time, Hagriva became ignorant, and he started creating chaos in the whole world. Seeing this, all the Devas approached Lord Vishnu and prayed to him to stop the actions of Hayagriva. The demon received a boon that he could only be killed by another man with the head of a horse.

 

That is why to kill the demon, Vishnu took his Hagriva avatar with the head of a horse. Lord fought with the demon and became victorious while putting an end to the chaos and restoring the balance.