Chitra Pournami (festival)

Chaitra Pournami is an Indian festival celebrated by Hindus.^[1]

It is observed on full moon day in the month of Chithirai or Chaitra, corresponding in the Gregorian calendar to a day in April or May. The festival is dedicated to Chitragupta, a Hindu god who is believed to record humans' good and bad deeds for Yama, the Hindu god of death and the underworld. On this day, devotees ask Chitragupta to forgive their sins. On the festival day, many devotees bathe in rivers or other water bodies to symbolise their sins being washed away. This is especially popular at the river Chitra in the district of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, India.

In Kerala's capital, Thiruvananthapuram, there is an old temple of Chitra Pournami Valiya Thottam Bhagavathi at Pachalloor en-route Kovalam. Here, this festival has been celebrated for the last 200 years. The temple belongs to Melanganathil Veedu-Valiya Thottam Tharavadu of the region, which possessed almost all its people. This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shakti or Bhagavathi.

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