Bat Savitri Uttarakhand

The simple people in the hilly state of Uttaranchal celebrate all their festivals with a great deal of ardor and enthusiasm. The Bat Savitri Festival is a festival in which married women are the chief participants.

Description :
The Bat Savitri Festival is celebrated with feelings of great warmth and intensity by women. On the occasion of Bat Savitri, women observe fast from the morning. They offer their prayers to Savitri, the legendary heroine and Bat or Banyan tree.

They pray for the welfare of their husbands. They remember the passion of Savitri, a woman who fought against Death, the divorcer of souls and eventually emerged successful. Her will power forced Yama, the Lord of death to grant life to her husband Satyavan. All women aspire to be as loyal and intensely devoted to their husbands as Savitri. They seek her blessings so that they may follow her footsteps and be as virtuous as she was. They recite the story of Savitri Satyaban.

The banyan tree is regarded as a holy tree. According to legend, Satyavan took shelter under a banyan tree when death was approaching him. They pray to it so that their husbands may be happy, healthy and prosperous.

Time for celebrating :
This festival is celebrated each year on Krishna Amavasya (the last day of the dark half of the month) in the month of Jyestha. This corresponds to the month of June according to the English Calendar