Narada Jayanti is the birth celebration of Devrishi Narada. Devrishi Narada is considered to be the divine messenger and informant amongst Gods.
Narada Muni is considered to be founder and pioneer of communication. Narada Jayanti is observed on the pratipada tithi of the Krishna paksha of the Jyestha month according to the traditional Hindu calendar.
According to The Gregorian calendar it is observed in the month of May. In 2017, this festival is going to be observed on the 11th of May, Thursday.
Who is Narada?
Narada literally means one, who spreads the name of the God, as in Sanskrit,naraa is equivalent to Narayana which means wisdom and daa stands for daan or giver. Narada is a sage who could easily transverse through the 3 lokas, of Akash that is Heaven, Prithwi that is Earth and Patal that is Hell. He is also a musician who carries a khartal and a veena in his hands and always sings praises in the name of Narayana that is Lord Vishnu. Narada has been described as a most wise but at the same time mischievous sage from the tales that have been told. In numerous Hindu scriptures, Narada has been described as a saktyavesa-avatara or a semi-manifestation or partial avatar of God. He is often believed to have been able to perform various miracles on behalf of Lord Vishnu. Narada is said to have appeared from the forehead of Lord Brahma, while in some other scriptures it is mentioned that he was the son of Sage Kashyapa.
Attributes that are associated with Narada
Narada was an extremely qualified musician. He was completely conversant with the Vedas, knew all about the 6 angas, which is Grammar, prosody, astrology, description of religious rites, pronunciation and astronomy. He is an expert in time cycles, nyaya or logic and possessed the knowledge of the entire universe. He was a master of judicial laws, the six sciences of treaty, war, maintenance of posts against enemies, strategies of ambush, reserves, military campaigns etc and also was a master of all branches of learning possible.
He was a precursor of the modern day journalists, and was an ever-wandering communications person. It is believed that it was Narada who invented the Veena, he carried one along with him which is known as the Mahathi; and was the chief of the Gandhara musicians.
In Mahabharata, it was the formula or the solution that Narada gave which sorted out the dilemma of Draupadi having 5 husbands.
Some of the hymns of the Rig Veda are accredited to Narada Muni, or sage.
As mentioned earlier, Narada is an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, and as such Narayana is an embodiment of truth; thus when most of Narada’s untimely information causes panic, strife and dissent amongst all the three lokas, then it is believed that it is for the betterment and benefit of the universe.
Celebration of Narada Jayanti
In northern India meetings, seminars and other academic sessions are held in observance of the Narada Jayanti.
There are a few temples which are solely dedicated to Narada, like the temple in Chigateri and Korva in Karnataka. Apart from the religious draws, the beautiful places bring in a lot of devotees.