Customs : Karthika Deepalu – to light the way for pilgrims?
Karthika Masam is the first month after the rainy season. It usually falls in November and is a great time to travel to most places in India. Not wet, not hot and not yet really cold. The sky is also very well lit by the moon.
As a kindness to pilgrims at a time when there were no electric street lights, it was a great advantage to have all the villages light up their streets and temples.
I think this was one of the practical reasons behind deepa daanam and deepavali… the festival of lights that lasts through the entire karthika maasam.
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