The Holiest Month: Shravan Maas

Even though there are Hindu holidays scattered throughout the year, we’re coming up on the most and biggest festivals there are.

The Hindu holiday season starts in mid summer and goes through Diwali in November. Within that period is the month of Shravan (in Tamil called Aadi), which is considered by some to be the holiest time of the year because of its density of important festivals.

It is also said that the churning of the oceans took place during this month. Each day in the month is dedicated to a particular fast or ritual:

Mondays: Lord Shiva fast

Tuesdays: Gauri worship (Instructions here)

Wednesdays: Vithala (a form of Vishnu) worship

Thursdays: Guru worship

Fridays: Lakshmi and Tulsi worship

Saturdays: Wealth Saturdays for the worship of Shani (Instructions here)

Sundays: Sun worship (Instructions here)

Also within this period are the celebrations of:

• Nag Panchami
• Raksha Bandan
• Krishan Janmashtami

http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/shravan-month.html offers the following advice for how to observe Shravan Month:

Let me break down what some of those things are…

Rudraksh Malas: These are prayer beads made from Rudra seeds and are used particularly for Shiva worship. You can count prayers on them and you can also wear them wrapped around your wrist or around your neck. Here are some rules for wearing Rudraksh.

Bhibuti (also sometimes called Vhibuti) is sacred ash. You should be able to get some from Indian grocery stores.

Punya:  This is like good karma. It is earning future goodness. Growing up we used to call it “getting punya points”!

Shiv Chalisa There are lots of versions of this sacred song. Here is one:

And here is the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra recited 108 times: