Mithilanchal women celebrate Bata-Savitri

By Laxmi Chaudhary,Janakpurdham, May 21: Bata-Savitri festival, which until recently used to be celebrated only by married women of Maithili, Brahmin, Kayastha and Sonar castes, has started to be celebrated by women of other castes with the change of time.

The festival is observed every year on the new moon day of the Nepali month of Jestha. Women of Mithilanchal celebrated Bata-Savitri festival with much fervour on Friday. This festival is celebrated by married women wishing for long life of their husbands and for a happy married life.

The married and newly married women of other castes such as Shah, Mandal and others   have been celebrating this festival over the last few years. Rubi Shah, a resident of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan Ward No.8, was celebrating the Bata-Savitri festival by worshiping the Bar tree with wishes for the long life of her husband and happy married life.  

"Earlier, women of Maithila, Brahmin, Kayastha and Sonar caste used to celebrate the festival. But nowadays women of all castes are celebrating. The women of my family have been celebrating since four to five years ago," said Shah.

Similarly, Savitri Devi Mandal of Mahottari district has also been celebrating this festival for five years now. She said that women started celebrating the festival because of the belief that doing so will prolong the life of their husbands.  

"I also started celebrating it after others started celebrating it," she said.   

Women from Janakpurdham and Mithilanchal celebrate Bata-Savitri festival worshipping the Bar tree in their locality and perform worship tying a red and yellow thread around the tree. Bat, the Bar tree, is connected with Sati Savitri's life. 

According to Hindu myth and legend, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadev reside in the Bar tree.  So, the practice of worshiping it still in practice since time immemorial. It is believe that, during Satya Yug, Sati Savitri, with the power of this pooja, was able to bring her husband Satyavan back from Yamaraj (the god of death). Therefore, the women perform this fast and worship with same rituals for the longevity of their husbands’ age.

To celebrate this festival, the Koseli (gift items) are sent from the families of newly married women and it is also customary to perform pooja from the same Koseli. According to intellectuals, the life of the Bar tree is longer than other trees, and under the Bar tree, the life of Savitri's husband, Satyavan, was returned.