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Tying threads around a banyan tree (wata).

Vat Purnima'' or Wata Pournima is a celebration observed in Maharashtra and Karnataka, India. Pournima means "full moon" and is celebrated on the full moon day (the 15th) of the month of Jyeshta on the Hindu Calendar, which falls in June on the Gregorian Calendar. Women pray for their husbands by tying threads around a banyan tree (wata) on this day. It honours Savitri, the legendary wife who rescued her husband's soul from the ruler of the departed, Yama.

The Festival[link]

Wata Pournima is the festival for Maharashtrian women, which is celebrated in the month of Jesht (May–June). Women observe a fast and tie threads around a banyan tree and pray for the same husband in every birth.

Fast[link]

On this occasion of Vata Savitri Purnima women keep fast For their husbands, women wear bridal type dresses and jewellery.Their fast is observed the whole night till the next morning.After breaking their fast, fruits, clothes and such other articles are given in charity in a bamboo basket to the Brahmin’s. Women worship a banyan (vata) tree, and listen to the story of Savitri in groups. after all this women can offer prayer and worship. during this puja women pray for good health of their husbands. women feed water to the tree, sprinkle red powder (kumkum) on it, cotton threads are wrapped round tree’s trunks and then they go seven times round and do the parikrama.

The Legend[link]

The celebration derived from the story of Savitri and Satyavan. It has been foretold that Satyavan won't live long. Resting on the lap of Savitri, Satyavan was waiting for death under a banyan tree, when the day of death comes. The messenger of Yama, the God of death came to take Satyavan. But Savitri refused to give her beloved husband. Messenger after messenger tried to take Satyavan away, but in vain. Finally, Yama himself appeared in front of Savitri and insisted to give her husband.

Since, she was still adamant, he offered her a boon. She asked for the well being of her in-laws. He granted it to her. She then followed him as he took Satyavan's body away. He offered her another boon. She now asked for the well being of her parents. This boon, too, was granted. But she was relentless, and continued to follow him. As they approached Yama's abode, he offered her a final boon. She asked for a son. He granted it. She then asked him how it would be possible for her to beget sons without her husband. Yama was trapped and had to return soul of her husband to his body.

References[link]

v t e Festivals in the Hindu calendar Major festivals Pongal Makar Sankranti Holi Rama Navami Krishna Janmashtami Maha Shivaratri Onam Ganesh Chaturthi Navratri (Mysore Dasara – Durga Puja – Vijayadashami) Diwali (Bhau-Beej) Chhath Vat Purnima Thaipusam Regional New Year Gudi Padwa (Marathi, Konkani) Ugadi (Telugu, Kannada) Cheti Chand (Sindhi) Bihu (Assamese) Bisu (Tuluva) Vaisakhi (Punjabi) Vishuva Sankranti (Oriya) Pohela Boishakh (Bengali) Puthandu (Tamil) Vishu (Malayalee) Holy days Ekadashi Gowri Habba Karwa Chauth Mahalakshmi Vrata Raksha Bandhan Sankranti Savitri Brata Thaipusam Holy periods Chaturmas Dhanurmas

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Satya Prakash (born 1929) is a retired Senior Professor from the Physical Research Laboratory.

He currently resides in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India. He is most notable for his contributions towards India's first space satellite, the Aryabhata. He has been a well-known figure during the fledgling days of the PRL, and still write articles about changes in the Ionosphere. He has received the Hari Om Ashram Prerit Senior Scientist Award, and Padma Shri Awards for his work.^[1]

Prakash attended Allahabad University on a scholarship. He later attended Caltech and graduated with his PhD under Henry Victor Neher. He was in charge of the Geo Camera on the AryabhataSatellite, which analyzed the soil of the earth and helped predict where the best places to farm. Prakash is a frequent publisher of scientific studies that deal with various fields of geophysics, including studies with the Ionosphere, and the Stratosphere. His works have appeared in the American Scientific Journal and Geophysical Research Letters.

Awards[link]

• Hari Om Ashram Prerit Senior Scientist Award- 1979
• Padma Shri- 1982

Selected publications[link]

• The Nature of Electric Field in E-Region Close to Morning and Evening Reversals (June 1976) ^[2]
• Evidence of Two Types of Electron Density Irregularities in the Electrojet Over Thumba, India (June 1974) ^[3]
• Quantification of new production during a winter Noctiluca scintillans bloom in the Arabian Sea (April 2008)^[4]
• Role of the equatorial ionization anomaly in the development of the evening prereversal enhancement of the equatorial zonal electric field (February 2009)^[5]
• E and F Region Electric Fields Over Dip Equator (April 1979) ^[6]
• Production of electric field perturbations by gravity wave winds in the E region suitable for initiating equatorial spread F (January 1999) ^[7]
• Irregularities in the Equatorial E Region Over Thumba (April 1969-Not accepted as fact) ^[8]

References[link]