Autar Krishan Trisal
The ancient and glorious temple of Sun God popularly known as Martand Tirath is situated at pilgrim village Mattan on Pahlagam road at a distance of 6 kms from District Hq Anantnag and 65 kms from Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K State. Before the mass migration of KPs during 1990 turmoil from the village Mattan, lakhs of pilgrims used to visit this holy shrine after performing Sh. Amarnath ji yatra. It is believed that Amarnath Yatra is complete in all respects only when on way back the pilgrims feed the holy fishes present in the holy springs of the Martand Tirath. Due to the opening of Yatra from Baltal thousand of pilgrims are lacking the darshan of this pious place. The place is very famous as a very old Hindu pilgrimage place in the valley and enjoyed prominence at par with Haridwar among the Hindus of all our the country. Many religious festivals are celebrated through out the year at Martand but the main celebration is Birthday of Martand ji (Sun God) which falls every year on Magh Shukla Paksh Saptami i.e the 7th day of the bright fortnight of Magh (February) as per the Hindu calendar. The name Martanda means “Sun God”. The village was earlier name as Machh (fish) Bhawan too. There are two main springs in the premises of the tirath known as Vimal and Kamal Kund. A beautiful Shiva temple is constructed in the center of the Kamala Kund giving an unforgettable and adorable look to Tirath. During the early morning hours pilgrims are allowed to have a holy dip in this spring. Those who know swimming are allowed to offer water over the Shiva linga in the temple and after that they proceed to have darshan of Sun God and other temples constructed in the premises of the Tirath.
Different stories exists in our religious documents which tells us about the detail of the Sun god and its abode at Mattan. According to ‘Markand Katha’ ‘ Markandyapuran’ and other texts, the Martand (Sun God) was born from Aditi, the wife of Kashyap Rishi. Earlier Aditi had given birth to 12 off springs in the form of eggs which later produced 12 sons known as Data, Arima, Mitra, Varun, Inder Vivaswan, Pushpa, Parjiney, Anshuman, Bug, Trusht and Vishnu. Aditi gave birth to 13th son before time in a fit of anger after an argument with her husband Kashyapa. She abandoned him into waters of Satisar. The 13th Sun in the form of lifeless egg remained in Satisar for a long time. To kill a demon called jalobhava who was living under the water. Kashyapa with the blessings of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh made a cut in the mountains and drained off the waters from satisar. Thereafter he found an egg in deep waters that he recalled as his 13th Son Martanda dropped by her wife Aditi. As soon as he tried to hold on him, he was warned by his son of dire consequences. Kashyapa visualized the situation and prayed the gods Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh and goddess Parvati to do the needful. Then, Mata parvati asked lord Vishnu to cut this egg into two parts with his sudarshan chakra. These two parts transformed into springs known as Vimal and Kamal Kund . In this process mysterious and flames beamed from the broken egg. The light came to known as Martand where as the flames hit four places are known as Four great Shaktis viz. Bhargshikha, Bheema Devi, Baswati and Shree Bhawani in the shape of springs. Sacred fishes are found in these springs. Water of the springs is sacred enough to take it home in bottles. The water of the springs flow down from higher level to lower through a channel made up of stones. The main and ancient site of Martand lies beneath the mountain called Devi Bal where temple of Goddess BharGahshikha the great power is in the form of a holy rock (Shila) is situated on the top of the hill. Local and other Hindus from nearby villages worship this Goddess during Navratras and assemble there to have pooja archna.
Another spot is Sangam in the village Mattan which is considered very pious for Hindus as it is place where the Shrads of departed souls are performed. The rituals like Pind daan, Pitre Shrad, Tarpan etc. performed at this Sangam in particular area are regarded as highly auspicious. However the rituals carried out in the month of Malmass and on Vijay Saptami, Sankarati, Solar and Lunar eclipse days, Amavaysa etc. and specially on Sundays leads towards salvation and peace of deceased ancestors and the same is blessed by Lord Shiva too. The most sacred and well known religious festival ‘Malmass’ is held at Mattan after every two and half years where pilgrims from all over the country assemble here and perform religious rituals along the Chaka nadi. This year the Malmaas (Adhik Maasa also) festival has started w.e.f. 16th of July 2015 and will culminate on 16th of July, 2015.
Here for the information of the community youth, it becomes obligatory to make them aware what Adhik Massa/ Malmassa is?
The lunar calendar adds one extra month every third year. This extra month is known by various names: Adhik Maas, Mal Maas, Purushottam Maas, Malimmacha. This is the thirteenth month of the Lunar calendar. Just as there is the lunar year with the extra month (Adhik Maas), so is there a lunar year with a diminished or reduced month, with only eleven months in the year. The Lunar year comprising of eleven months only is very rare indeed. It occurs once in 140 years or once in 190 years. But the extra month or Adhik Maas comes every third year. Adhik Maas adopts the name of the month that follows Adhik Maas.
Whenever Sankranti does not fall within one month then Adhik Maas occurs. When there are two Sankrantis within one month then it becomes the Lunar year with one reduced month (11 months in the year).
Vasishtha Siddhanta (the treatise of Vasishtha) mentions that Adhik Maas or the extra Lunar month occurs after every 32 months, 16 days and 8 Ghadis (a Ghadi is a period of 24 minutes and 60 Ghadis equal 24 hours).
It is a fact that the Solar year is made up of 365 days and about 06 minutes and the Lunar year is made up of 354 days. Thus both the solar and the Lunar years have gaps of 11 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes and 12 seconds. As this gap increases each year, it approximates in three years to one month.
Note: The moon takes about 27.3 days to make one complete orbit around the earth. The Earth orbits around the Sun once every 365.2422 days (= earth’s orbital speed of 29.79 km per second). The earth and the moon in 27.3 days have moved as a system about 1/12 of the ways around the sun. This means that from one full moon to the next full moon, the moon must travel 2.2 extra days before it appears full. This is due to the curve of the earth’s orbit around the Sun. The moon is still making one complete orbit (circle) in 27.3 days. But to line up with the earth and sun to become a full moon again it takes 29.531 days.
29.531 day Lunar months = 354.372 days per lunar year. Thus we arrive at a difference of 10.87 days a year between a lunar year and a solar year of 365.2422 days per year.
The Puranas also sing high praises about Adhik Maas and indicate Puja, readings of scriptures etc. during Adhik Maas. Selfless actions, without the expectations of results, are to be performed during Adhik Maas. Mal Maas (Adhik Maas) is the month for Vishnu puja. The recitation of Srimad Bhagavat Purana and of the Bhagavad Gita during this month produce top results. In addition to singing and listening to the praises of the Lord (Vishnu), undertake Adhik Maas Vrat also. This Vrat is to begin from the first day and ends on the last day of Adhik Maas. Waking up during the hours of Brahma Muhurta (between 4 am and 6 am), after ablutions, place a murti of Radha-Krishna or Lakshmi-Narayana and perform Sodashopachara puja. If there is a temple nearby then perform puja of whatever deities are usually worshipped therein. During the entire month of Mal Maas Vrat eat Sattvic food (vegetarian meals, milk, fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables). One meal at night is recommended
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