Today, we will facilitate the process of celebrating Chitra Pournami at home. The day Chitra Pournami is observed on the day of Poornima or Full Moon day in Chithirai, the Tamil month. The occasion falls between April 15th and May 15th and is primarily observed in Tamil Nadu.

This day is known as the birthday of Chitragupta, who is the keeper of the karmas of people and created by Brahma. Chitragupta is the one who transmits the deeds of a person to God. Based on the records of Chitragupta, a person determines his next birth. He sends the records to Yama as the soul first goes to Yama after leaving the body.

We ward off our bad karma and improve our karma by observing this day and worshipping Chitragupta. In South India, there is only one Powerspot for Chitragupta, located in Kanchipuram.

Now, let’s get started with the Puja procedure.

Observance of Chitra Pournami

On the day, poojas happen at the temples. People wake up early and take a holy bath to visit the temples. They take a bath in the sacred rivers and temple ponds if possible. This is believed to clean the past sins and improve the cycle of karma. Many people also pay their visit to Tiruvannamalai.

Devotees stay calm and keep clean thoughts. They help the needy and receive blessings. People celebrate Chitra pournami by drawing the kolam at the house entrance and offering Navadhaniyam.

Celebration Procedure

To proceed with the celebration, first, prepare the following ingredients:

• Winnowing basket or Muram
• A mud pot for making Pongal
• Navadhaniyam or nine grains such as Chana/chickpeas, Green moong dal, Masoor dal, Toor dal, Urad dal, Ragi, Wheat, Arisi nel, Yellow moong dal, chana dal. You can also use Rajma and Black-eyed peas.
• Raw rice or Rice flour to draw maakolam.
• One Raw Mango.
• Indian Hand Fan or Kai visiri in Tamil.
• One full coconut.
• One paper written with “Chithiranar Puthiranar Sivanadiyar Perungkanakar.”
• One Pen.
• Lamp, wick, Oil/ghee, matchbox, incense stick, dhoop, camphor.
• Betel leaf & nut ( Vetrilai paaku), banana ( 2 nos), and coconut.

For Neivedyam

• Raw rice, or you can also buy the flour from the store.
• We will use raw mango, Jaggery, Green chili to make Mango pachadi.
• Curd, water, ginger, green chili, seasoning ingredients to make neer mor.
• Raw rice or sona masoori for making white Pongal without salt.
• Water, edible camphor, jaggery, cardamom, cloves for making panagam.

The Night Before Chitra Pournami

On the night before the actual day, we complete the preparations, which helps us the next day. Wash the lamps and make turmeric and Kumkum dots; put thread, and you are done.

Keep the home clean and make sweet pidi kozhukattai using rice flour.

Draw maakolam at the entrance and in the Pooja room. Draw Chitragupta’s foot as well, along with an umbrella, hand fan, horse foot, bull foot, and a flag. This will go from the entrance to the Pooja room.

Preparing the Muram

Wash the muram or the Winnowing basket and draw nine parts using kolam. Take the nine types of grains mentioned above and place them at nine different places in the Muram. Place a coconut, raw mango, and palm hand fan near the muram.

Now in a white paper, write “Chithiranaar Puthiranaar Sivanadiyaar Perungkanakkar.”

On Festival Day

On an actual day, start your day by taking an early morning bath. Then, begin making dishes to prepare neivedyam. You can also make sweet Pidi kozhukattai, for which you will need rice flour, jaggery syrup, 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder & 2 tbsp of grated coconut. You can make any shapes and place them in an idli pot to steam.

Now you can make Panagam for which you will need water, jaggery, a pinch of edible camphor, crushed cloves, cardamom. You can also make sambar with no onion and garlic.

Make shapes using fingers and steam them in an idli pot. In the meantime, wash and pressure cook 1/2 cup of raw rice, adding 2.5 cups of water. Cook for two whistles in very low flame. Remove and mash the rice. Transfer to a bowl. Make a dent in the center. Keep a small piece of banana jaggery and add a tsp of ghee. If you wish, you can make a no onion no garlic sambar.

Finally, make the neer mor and keep all the neivedyam dishes in mud pots and plates.

Light a lamp in front of God in the Puja room and offer the neivedyam. Watch for Rahu Kalam and Yama kandam and avoid worshipping during these periods. Now place the muram with nine grains, handwritten paper, and a pen.

Take a plate and place betel leaves, nuts, banana, and a coconut. Now take the panagam, neer mor, pidi kozhukattai, and white pongal on a plate. Perform the Arti by showing the deep, dhoop, and mangala harathi.

You can also read the story of Chitra Gupta. This is how the Pooja of Chitra Pournami is performed.