Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/94



HE Hindus regard the two occasions of Arddhodaya and Mahodaya as very sacred occasions for taking baths in holy rivers and in sacred spots on the sea-shore. The Arddhodaya is considered to be the more sacred of the two. It is the rising of the sun and the moon in conjunction at the beginning of which the sun is in Capricorn—Makara—on a Sunday in the month of Pushya (January-February) and the moon in the 22nd asterism—Sravana and the seventh Yoga. These five events do not occur in conjunction oftener than once in sixty years. The most important circumstance in the Arddhodaya 1s the half-rising of the sun with which are connected the four events above mentioned. Owing to this half-rising of the sun this occasion is called the Arddhodaya, which isa Sanskrit compound meaning the half-rising. Thus the Arddhodaya is a very rare opportunity for sacred