Guru Purnima is the full moon of Ashadha, the day of Vyasa and of every teacher. Odisha has a claim of its own on Vyasa: local tradition places his birth and his hermitage at Vedavyas, where three rivers meet near Rourkela. The day is kept in the mathas of Puri, at the seat of the Shankaracharya there, and in schools, where children touch the feet of their teachers.
The story
Puri is one of the four seats founded by Adi Shankara, the Govardhana Matha, and has drawn teachers ever since: Ramanuja, Chaitanya, Nanak and Kabir all came, and each tradition keeps a house in the town.
Odia literature begins with a teacher as well. Sarala Dasa, a farmer who said the goddess dictated to him, wrote the Mahabharata in Odia in the fifteenth century.
How it is kept
- Byasa PujaWorship of Vyasa and the line of teachers in the mathas.
- Guru DibasaSchools and colleges honour teachers.
- ChaturmasyaSannyasis begin their four-month stay in one place.
- BhagabataThe Odia Bhagabata of Jagannatha Dasa is read in the village Bhagabata Tungi.
Why this date
Guru Purnima is the full-moon tithi of Ashadha, on the day it is present at sunrise.
Guru Purnima in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wednesday | |
| 2027 | Sunday | |
| 2028 | Thursday | |
| 2029 | Wednesday | |
| 2030 | Monday | |
| 2031 | Friday |
More Odia festivals
14 JulyHari Sayana Ekadasiହରି ଶୟନ ଏକାଦଶୀ
17 AugustGamha Purnimaଗହ୍ମା ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣିମା
5 JulyRatha Jatraରଥଯାତ୍ରା
24 AugustJanmashtamiଜନ୍ମାଷ୍ଟମୀ
15 JuneRajaରଜ
4 SeptemberGanesh Pujaଗଣେଶ ପୂଜା
Where to see Guru Purnima
In Odisha
- Govardhana Matha, PuriOdishaThe eastern seat of the four established by Adi Shankara.
- Vedavyas, RourkelaOdishaThe confluence where Vyasa is said to have lived and composed.
- Dhauli, BhubaneswarOdishaThe hill of Ashoka's edict, with its Peace Pagoda; Buddhists keep the same full moon for the first sermon.
Across India
- SarnathUttar PradeshWhere the Buddha first taught, on this same full moon.
- MayapurWest BengalThe headquarters of the tradition of Chaitanya, Puri's most famous resident.
- SringeriKarnatakaThe southern seat of Shankara, on the Tunga river.