Chitragupta Puja 2019: Here is why this occasion is celebrated on the same day as Bhai Dooj

Chitragupta Puja is observed today on the same day as Bhai Dooj, on the Shukla paksha of the Karthik month in the Hindu calendar. [caption id=“attachment_58028” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Ajay Verma/Reuters.[/caption] According to Jagran, the auspicious time to celebrate the festival is from 11.42 am to 12.27 pm. Another auspicious time period is from 3.15 to 4.56 pm. People of the Kayastha family worship Lord Chitragupta. Several stationery items like paper, pen and ink along with honey, betel nut, matches, mustard, ginger, jaggery, sugar, sandalwood, and frankincense are used in the puja to worship the deity. People who conduct the puja write down their accounts on a piece of paper and offer the same to the god so that he assesses the amount of money required to run the year smoothly. According to the lore, Lord Chitragupta — who is the child of Brahmadev — was an accountant for Yamraja, the King of Yamlok. Chitragupta used to handle accounts for the king, and hence, kept a track of all the deeds that an individual committed throughout its lifetime. He then decided if that individual went to heaven or hell. It is said that worshipping the deity granted courage, valor, strength and knowledge to a person. Some traders, merchants and businessmen consider the day of the Chitragupta Puja as the beginning of a new year for accounts. The Chitragupta Puja is said to be celebrated mainly in states of northern India like Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, along with Nepal.