Guru Purnima is the full moon of Ashadh, given to the guru. Bengal keeps it at Belur Math and at the many ashrams of its own teachers, with special worship, readings and song. It is the day disciples call on the one who initiated them; music students take sweets to their ustads and pandits; and the Buddhists of the region keep it as the day of the first sermon.
The story
Nineteenth-century Bengal produced a line of teachers who are still its saints. Ramakrishna, the unlettered priest of Dakshineswar, taught that every religion leads to the same end, and his disciple Vivekananda carried that to the world in 1893.
The Baul singers of Bengal go further: for them the guru, the murshid, is the only scripture, and the truth is to be found in the body and in song.
যত মত, তত পথ
As many faiths, so many paths
Sri Ramakrishna
How it is kept
- Guru pujaFlowers, fruit and a gift are offered to the guru or his portrait.
- At Belur MathSpecial worship, bhajans and a talk through the day.
- Guru-shishyaStudents of music and dance honour their teachers.
- DikshaAn auspicious day to take initiation.
Why this date
Guru Purnima is the full-moon tithi of Ashadh, on the day it is present at sunrise.
Guru Purnima in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Thursday | |
| 2026 | Wednesday | |
| 2027 | Sunday | |
| 2028 | Thursday | |
| 2029 | Wednesday | |
| 2030 | Monday |
More Bengali festivals
25 JulyShayan Ekadashiশয়ন একাদশী
28 AugustRakhi Purnimaরাখী পূর্ণিমা
4 SeptemberJanmashtamiজন্মাষ্টমী
19 AprilAkshaya Tritiyaঅক্ষয় তৃতীয়া
15 AprilPoila Boishakhপয়লা বৈশাখ
14 SeptemberGanesh Chaturthiগণেশ চতুর্থী
Where to see Guru Purnima
In West Bengal
- Belur MathWest BengalThe headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, on the west bank of the Hooghly.
- DakshineswarWest BengalWhere Ramakrishna lived and taught for thirty years; his room is kept as it was.
- KenduliWest BengalThe village of the poet Jayadeva in Birbhum, and the gathering place of the Bauls.
Across India
- SarnathUttar PradeshWhere the Buddha first taught on this full moon.
- PuducherryPuducherryThe ashram of Sri Aurobindo, the Bengali revolutionary turned sage.
- ShirdiMaharashtraThree days of festival at Sai Baba's samadhi.