One of the highlights of the month of Karthika is the Thirukarthika Light Festival. On this day it is customary to light lamps in the houses for worship. The best of worships is the worship of fire. The Lord is torch-shaped. The one who destroys the inner darkness and amplifies the inner light. It is our tradition to worship such a Lord as a lamp in our homes. Thirukarthika Day is the day on which Lord Shiva arose as an invisible fiery idol. Also on the day of Thirukarthika, Eason gave half of his body to Ambika and appeared as Arthanarisvara. So on that auspicious day we light lamps in the houses and worship the Lord in the form of a torch.
Thirukarthika mixed with the life and history of the Tamil people. Thirugnanasambandar refers to this festival as the ‘presentation’. ‘நலமிகு கார்த்திகை நாட்டவரிட்ட …’, ‘கார்த்திகைச் சாற்றில் கழிவிளக்கைப் போன்றவே….’ The Sangam literature indicates that houses and streets were adorned with lights on Thirukarthika.
In the month of Karthika, we celebrate Karthika Deepath Thirunal on the day when Belarnamithi joins the star of Karthika. The scene that flashes before the eyes of all of us with the Karthika lamp, if not the Thiruvannamalai lamp, is no exaggeration.
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